SanDisk has announced a new set of solid state drives aimed at the phenomenally successful netbook market. Available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities, the new drives are based on the more cost effective multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory and are designed as drop-in replacements for hard disk drives using the SATA interface – unlike their first generation modules which relied on parallel ATA.

The new drives are currently being built in Japan by a partnership between SanDisk and Toshiba, and they should be available in February 2009. While the company is not providing pricing information as of yet, they did say its 32GB modular SSD will be “priced at parity” with competing 80GB 2.5-inch hard disk drive offerings.