Is a business card sized bootable CDROM which will migrate your operating system from a hard drive to the SSD without breaking the bootloader.

(And a way to plug both the hard drive and the SSD into the laptop at the same time).

I have a 4 year old ThinkPad T42 with a 40GB HDD in it that's working beatifully well under Ubuntu. Its only downside really is that the HDD is quite slow: as a result, a lot of applications are limited by the disk, not by the processor (it rarely leaves its lowest P-state @ 800MHz when it could run @ 1.7GHz). So a shiny new SSD like this could significantly improve the performance of the machine while still being cheaper than buying a new laptop. I want one! (this is the second time today I say this on a Reg comment, it's going to cost me...)

the last paragraph states a PATA model!!! if this is true, then sign me up for one of those!!!

my 1.67ghz G4 powerbook is almost my perfect machine, except for the limitation of an 80gb 7200rpm hard drive... now, if i can get me a drive as fast, or faster, with twice the capacity, then a very happy man it will make!!

SANDISK MAKE THE PATA model!!! :)

There was I under the impression that existing XP notebooks frequently outperformed new machines by adopting the simple expedient of not having Vista installed.

(Someone had to say it.)

Don't attempt to upgrade of an IDE drive with an SATA SSD. They aren't compatible.

Paris, cause ... oink

"The implication of this is that these SSDs won't improve the performance of newer notebook computers"

I don't think that's the implication at all. The implication is that Sandisk are trying to persuade people that it's worth upgrading their current laptops with this technology, instead of shelling out for new ones. The "three year" figure is there only to convince us that even really old laptops are worth saving. It's an inspired marketing tactic, but I can't see it working.

Luckily, as the price of these things continues to drop, they'll end up as standard in notebooks anyway. It surely has to be worth it for the durability and power consumption advantages alone.