Verdict: Flash, ahhhh, it'll save every one of us
Hard drives and portable computers aren't ideal partners, since the mechanical platters in hard disks not only suck battery power, but are more likely to wear out than solid-state components too.
To combat these failings Samsung has developed a drive that combines a mechanical hard disk with flash memory.
The first such drives belong to the FlashOn series, which includes 80GB, 120GB and 160GB models. Regardless of capacity, all the models have 256MB of NAND flash memory that acts as a buffer between the mechanical parts of the drive and S-ATA interface. The basic idea is that data is written to the flash buffer first, which means that the drive's platters can be 'spun down' until the buffer is filled. This should improve the drive's longeivity and battery life, as the flash RAM consumes 0.75W when reading and 0.85W when writing, while the mechanical parts of the hard disk consume up to 2W. It should also allow for faster boot times and 'resumes' from a hibernation state, since data is stored in the flash buffer. The FlashOn drives also have 8MB of fast buffer DRAM.
In HD Tach, we measured the HM16HJI's average read STR as 36.7MB/sec and average write STR as 33.6MB/sec. In contrast, the 7,200rpm Seagate Momentus 7200.1, a high-end laptop hard disk, clocked in at 36.9MB/sec and 35.2MB/sec respectively.
The HM16HJI scored 1.45 in Paint Shop Pro and took 48 seconds to load Far Cry, while the Momentus 7200.1 scored 1.44 and also took 48 seconds to load Far Cry.
Conclusion
In terms of raw read performance, the HM16HJI compares very favourably with high-end laptop hard disks. However, we expected it to be a lot faster at loading games, since flash memory is so quick at loading data - for example, the Samsung Flash SSD took just 34 seconds to load Far Cry. Still, the HM16HJI is more power-efficient than other 2.5in drives, and is capable of surviving a 40 per cent greater shock than the aforementioned Seagate drive too, so it's a great choice for a gaming laptop.
