Computex - Hitachi HyDrive: SSD-equipped optical drives

The mates at Engadget are reporting that Hitachi is about to release a SSD-equipped laptop optical drive.

The HyDrive is a standard form factor optical drive (DVD burner or Blu-ray will be available), but there's a 32GB or 64B SSD (not just a strip of NAND, we're told) tucked below. When this gets stuffed within a laptop, you're immediately able to access an optical drive, an SSD (for your operating system and critical launch applications) and a spacious HDD for storing music, media, etc.

If all goes well, the first HyDrive will ship in August 2010 (in South Korea; globally in September) within the 102 Series of Moneual HTPCs, though second-generation devices will scale all the way to 256GB. Other future plans are to slim the HyDrive down and possibly shove it within a netbook, set-top box or tablet (yeah, they name dropped the iPad and HP Slate here at their Computex press briefing), and there's also plans to move from SATA 3Gbps to SATA 6Gbps in due time. Of note, the very first generation will measure in at 12.7mm thick, and we're told that it won't fit into most conventional laptops; instead, it'll be aimed at small form factor (SFF) PCs, HTPCs and other mid-tower desktops. In March 2011, however, Hitachi-LG will be embedding the SSD within the PCB assembly, enabling it to reach a 9.5mm height (and thus, a much larger target market). ASUS has also announced plans to cram the HyDrive into some of its own machines, with the Eee Top all-in-one desktop line getting 'em first and the N61DA laptop getting the slimmer second generation edition.

We aren't generally the betting type, but it seems safe to assume that a whole slew of other PC makers will hop onboard here -- there's not likely to be too much of a price hike, and the benefits in terms of overall performance and system flexibility will surely appeal to the technophile crowd. Speaking of MSRPs, the company wouldn't reveal individual stickers, noting that OEM agreements prevented that kind of disclosure. It did say that an average thin-and-light priced at $649 sans an SSD would likely be priced at $849 with a HyDrive, shedding light on an estimated $200 uptick in price with a lower-level HyDrive in place. We asked if retail sales were being considered, and were told that it was "a possibility" for future years (but it wasn't going to happen in 2010) [via engadget]