SanDisk First To Tackle OEM SSD Caching Solution – Computex 2012 Update

Word of an OEM disk caching solution has been the talk for some time and we had to wonder who would be the first and when, until today that is.

The opportunity to purchase a laptop with both the power of an SSD and the storage capacity of a hard drive has been some time in the making and, unexpectedly, this was brought to the forefront at Computex this morning by SanDisk in its partnership with Condusiv ExpressCache software.  This was done through announcements of SanDisk with both Lenovo and Fujitsu.

Lenovo will be using the SanDisk 16GB mSATA U100 SSD and Condusiv Technologies ExpressCache software within their Thinkpad Edge E430 and E530 to provide a solution that retains the capacity of a hard drive, however, the performance of that hard drive is expected to be four times better. In speaking with SanDisk, they believe that the mSATA and hard drive will both be upgradeable, however, were very careful to point out that upgrading of the SSD may result in warranty concerns with Lenovo.

Fujitsu, on the other hand, will be introducing a new line of Ultrabooks in which the worlds smallest SSD, the SanDisk 32GB iSSD will finally be put to good use.  The iSSD, as shown above, is just about the size of a penny.   Announced at Computex today, the Fujitsu Lifebook U772, UH772 and UH552 models will all use the integrated SanDisk 32GB iSSD along side Condusiv technologies ExpressCache to deliver improved system performance.

For those who believed just a short time ago that Sandisk was out of the SSD game, you might be a bit surprised as a bit of investigative reporting resulted in this:

• Fujitsu Lifebook U772 Ultrabook – iSSD 32GB – Condusiv ExpressCache
• ASUS UX21/UX31 Ultrabook – U100 256GB
• ASUS UX32 Ultrabook – iSSD 24GB – Condusiv ExpressCache
• LG Z430 Ultrabook – U100 16GB – Condusive ExpressCache
• LGA540 Laptop – U100 8/16GB – Condusiv ExpressCache
• Lenovo E530 Thinkpad – U100 16GB – Condusiv ExpressCache

Congratulations to both SanDisk and Condusiv for a dynamic entry into the oem SSD disk caching market. First out of the gate is a huge step forward and has been some time in the making!