Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is now offering a 32GB (gigabyte) NAND flash-based solid state disk (SSD), marking the first time that NAND flash has moved into mobile computing applications.

The 32GB Flash-SSD, which serves the same purpose as a hard disk drive, is a data storage medium for notebooks and other mobile computers. It uses instantly-accessible, non-moving NAND flash memory instead of the rotating discs found in hard drives; therefore can upload and download data quickly and quietly with minimal power consumption.

The Flash-SSD weighs only half as much as a comparably-sized hard drive, but reads data three times faster and writes data 1.5 times faster. The SSD uses just five percent of the electricity needed to power a hard disc drive and is noiseless. Its design is free of any motor or other mechanical parts.

Samsung says a 1.8" Flash-SSD can read at speeds of up to 57Mbps and write 32Mbps, while a similar sized 1.8" HDD will perform these operations with a maximum speed of 15Mbps. Power consumptions is 0.1W (off) and 0.5W (on) compared to 1.5W on a HDD unit.