OCZ has developed a nifty small form-factor solid-state drive (SSD) for netbook users to expand storage capacity without adding a battery-sapping hard drive.

The mini PCI Express SSD plugs into a PCIe slot. A SATA interface version comes with either 16 or 32GB capacity, reads data at 110MB/s and writes it half as fast at 51MB/s, although its sustained write speed is only 25MB/s. The alternative parallel ATA version, with the same capacity options, reads much more slowly at 45MB/s and writes at up to 35MB/s, with a 20MB/s sustained write speed.

OCZ mentions the expected benefits of quieter operation and better shock resistance compared to hard drives.

The two SSDs work with Windows XP, Vista and 7, plus Mac OS X. No Linux support was mentioned by OCZ and the firm isn't yet ready to announce availability and pricing. ®

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