PATA SSD to be discontinued?

[sir. mac]

Seems that this might be the wrong place for this question, but since I don´t know any forums devoted to RAM discussion, and that the shift from HDD to SSD, when prices drop, seems to be important for a lot of potential MBA buyers I post this Q here:

As far as I can find there isn´t a lot of avaiable PATA drives in SSD-format. Considering this, and that the new 128GB SSD from Samsung is SATA-only (2.5") is PATA-SSD a dying breed?

And also, is single-platter 1.8" PATA HDD in the same danger of being outphased/discontinued?

To me it at least would seem that way, but that´s just an impression and not informed opinion

 

[JG271]

PATA SSD may well be phased out due to faster types of connection being used. I'm pretty sure 1.8" PATA Hard Drives will be around for a while yet due to their use in iPods and suchlike.

 

[barefeats]

PATA or SATA? Doesn't matter.

There's no advantage to SATA over PATA when it comes to drive speed. That's because the 133MB/s speed of the PATA interface is much faster than the fastest HDD or SDD.

The only problem with the transition to 128GB SSD (SATA) is that you won't be able to upgrade your current MacBook Air from the 64GB SSD (PATA).

But there's no reason the manufacturers of the 128GB SSD could not offer a PATA version. They would be silly not to, with the many SSD PATA owners out there wanting to upgrade. It certainly would make it easy for Apple to offer the option without retooling the MBA.

 

[kkrull]

As far as I can find there isn´t a lot of avaiable PATA drives in SSD-format

I find the opposite to be true. Check newegg.com. I find eight PATA\IDE SSD drives three SATA SSD drives (and three Expresscard SSD drives). But your point is valid.

There is an interesting technology adoption curve where your technology goes from old to antique in short order. You may notice that you DDR3 costs twice as much as DDR2 and that DDR(1) costs twice as much as DDR2. Similarly, I suspect that in several years it will be more expensive to buy PATA than SATA.

I believe that SATA draws more power, so this may be the reason that Apple, which usually is pretty progressive about using new technology even if it costs more, is using PATA.

 

[sir. mac]

I find the opposite to be true. Check newegg.com. I find eight PATA\IDE SSD drives three SATA SSD drives (and three Expresscard SSD drives). But your point is valid.

You are absolutely right, I didn´t check from outside my country. Here in Norway this is all I could find (no PATA SSD).

There is an interesting technology adoption curve where your technology goes from old to antique in short order. You may notice that you DDR3 costs twice as much as DDR2 and that DDR(1) costs twice as much as DDR2. Similarly, I suspect that in several years it will be more expensive to buy PATA than SATA.

I agree, they probably will offer PATA-SSD for a while longer, but eventually (soon?) it will be a costly obsolete standard.

I am now double unsure about getting the MBA
But I suppose we could hope for a "silent upgrade" to SATA-SSD when they roll out The 45 nm chips sometime mid-year for rev 2.

 

[Anderson3133]

Seems that this might be the wrong place for this question, but since I don´t know any forums devoted to RAM discussion, and that the shift from HDD to SSD, when prices drop, seems to be important for a lot of potential MBA buyers I post this Q here:

As far as I can find there isn´t a lot of avaiable PATA drives in SSD-format. Considering this, and that the new 128GB SSD from Samsung is SATA-only (2.5") is PATA-SSD a dying breed?

And also, is single-platter 1.8" PATA HDD in the same danger of being outphased/discontinued?

To me it at least would seem that way, but that´s just an impression and not informed opinion

Actually, both Samsung and Supertalent have LARGE SSD models coming out in the 2Q of 08, (both of which ARE PATA). And now with the MBA being official why wouldn't they continue making large SSD's to an uncatered market? It would seem odd to me that Samsung and Supertalent would just discontinue a product for something so new.

 

[kkrull]

I agree, they probably will offer PATA-SSD for a while longer, but eventually (soon?) it will be a costly obsolete standard. I am now double unsure about getting the MBA

In the end I just couldn't get by any longer with my old gear. I waited for the AppleTV announcement to see if they would switch to SATA but they didn't, so I will probably stop waiting and buy one as well. I think it will be two years before the Air switches to SATA and I just couldn't wait that long.