Samsung ramps up production of 128GB SSDs

Solid-state drives are steadily dropping in price, and Samsung seems to be taking another step in that direction today by announcing it has begun mass producing of its 64GB and 128GB SSDs, which utilize the slower – but cheaper – multi-level cell technology.

The drives are available in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch form factors and provide read and write speeds of 90MB/s and 70MB/s, respectively. Also, putting recent battery-saving concerns to rest, Samsung says power consumption for the drives is exceptionally low in standby mode at approximately 0.2 watts and in active mode at 0.5 watts. The company plans to offer a 256GB SSD by the end of the year and says it expects sales of such devices to increase 800% between now and 2010. Though pricing isn't yet known, you can expect these drives to be cheap in comparison to SLC-based SSDs.