SanDisk modular SSD selected for Acer’s new Iconia Tab Windows 7 productivity tablet

Mobile World Congress 2011, BARCELONA, SPAIN: SanDisk Corp. announced that Acer has selected the 32-gigabyte (GB) SanDisk SSD P4 modular solid state drive for use in its Iconia Tab Windows 7 tablet. SanDisk SSD P4’s combination of capacity, size, speed and reliability offers a compelling storage solution for OEMs who design high-performance ultra-thin notebooks and tablets.

The SanDisk SSD P4 fits Acer’s thin design and low power consumption requirements for its newest tablet. Solid state drives (SSDs) use flash memory technology, and with no moving parts SSDs offer improved durability that helps prevent data loss from drive failure. SSD-equipped devices generate less noise due to their fan-less design and come in smaller form factors than are possible with conventional hard disk drives (HDD).

“The SanDisk SSD P4 is designed for thin, high-performance productivity tablets such as Acer’s Iconia Tab Windows 7 tablet,” said Kevin Conley, senior vice president, solid state drives, SanDisk. “As the tablet and mobile markets converge, cost-effective modular SSD solutions from SanDisk allow OEMs to create high-quality products that are tailored to their customers’ needs.”

“The Iconia Tab Windows 7 tablet is designed for optimum versatility in an ultra-portable tablet form factor. The docking keyboard, optimal ergonomics with superior touch experience provides ease-of-use both on the go and at your desk,” said David Lee, AVP, mobile computing business unit, Acer Inc. “The SanDisk SSD P4 module meets Acer's tablet design requirements for stability, speedy access and low-power consumption for running seamless flows of pervasive mobile Internet applications.”

The new Acer Iconia Tab Windows 7 tablet offers the functionality and ease of use that consumers demand in a high-performance mobile computing platform, and combines touch-screen user-friendliness with the comfortable experience of a physical keyboard.

The tablet comes with a docking device that includes a full-size chiclet keyboard, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity options. Thin and light, the 10.1-inch Hi-Def tablet will run on the next-generation AMD platform and is equipped with dual Hi-Def webcams for picture, video, chat and videoconference.

The SanDisk SSD P4 includes an industry-standard mSATA interface in a Mini PCIe form factor, delivering a variety of features that complement the Acer Iconia Tab Windows 7 tablet. The 32GB SanDisk SSD P4’s compact size (weighing less than 6.0 grams and measuring 30mm x 50.95mm x 3.4mm) and low power consumption (average power of 0.18W) make it well-suited to the Acer tablet’s form factor and extended battery life requirements.

The SanDisk SSD P4 can deliver greater performance to consumers through increased system responsiveness. Backed by SanDisk’s Adaptive Flash Management (AFM) implementation, SanDisk SSD P4 uses nCacheTM acceleration technology, a large non-volatile write cache technology that boosts burst random write performance of 4KB up to 600 IOPS5. nCache technology improves user responsiveness and helps prevent incidence of drive "stalling" and "hiccups.”

The SanDisk SSD P4 is available in a variety of form factors such as mSATA mini and also includes the SanDisk integrated solid state drive (iSSD) in a BGA form factor. These drives are available to OEMs in capacities ranging from 4GB to 128GB.