Mushkin Unveils World's First 480GB mSATA Solid State Drive

Mushkin has unveiled what it claims to be the world's first 480GB mSATA SSD. The device is part of the Atlas line, and joins Mushkin's large catalog of SSD offerings, which includes the Callisto, Catalyst, and Chronos lines. The 480GB SSD is slated for release in January for $499.99, which prices it at a little over $1 per gigabyte.

The Atlas 480GB mSATA SSD is the latest in the series aimed at "unleashing the hidden performance" of laptops, with Mushkin currently offering 60GB, 120GB, and 240GB models. The device's price includes a three-year-warranty. While the 480GB model isn't listed on Mushkin's website yet, we did get a nice look at its specs via the company's press release.

The Atlas mSATA 480GB features high-speed MLC NAND and support for ATA APM, TRIM, NCQ, and Security Set. It offers a mini PCIe interface, and its firmware can be user-upgraded. The 6/GBs SATA III drive features a SandForce SF-2281 processor with unthrottled IOPS and integrated BCH ECC up to 55-bits. It measures in at approximately 50.8mm x 29.9mm x 5mm.

Mushkin's Director of Product Development Brian Flood offered this statement. "We're excited to present our latest Atlas 480GB mSATA solid state drive, demonstrating once again Mushkin's consistent ability to combine top performance, functionality, capacity, and low-power innovation. Keeping z-height as low as possible and managing to fit eight NAND flash chips and a controller on a mSATA PCB was no easy feat, but now capacity-hungry Ultrabook and notebook users can go beyond the 256GB mSATA barrier."