Active Media unleashes performance SaberTooth S4 SSD upgrades

Active Media has unveiled a new line of performance SSDs aimed at Asus Eee PC netbooks. The SaberTooth S4 series uses the 3Gbps SATA-II interface and offers sequential read speeds of up to 130MB/sec and sequential writes up to 50MB/sec. The drives use the Jmicron JMF602B controller and MLC flash memory for transfer speeds promised to be two to five times faster than the standard SSD that shipped in many netbooks from ASUS.

The company has posted a detailed Benchmark Report of the SaberTooth S4, tested on an Eee PC 1000 under Windows XP here. The benchmark results show the S4 soaring to read speeds over 120MB/sec, nearly four times faster than the default SSD in the Eee PC 1000. The Mini PCI-E SSDs measure 70 x 32 mm (2.7 x 1.3 inches).

They are available now in sizes of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB and support all major operating systems. The SaberTooth S4 is compatible with Eee PC models S101, 900, 900A, 901, and 1000. The 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models will retail for about $59.95, $99.95 and $169.95 respectively, but will be offered at a 20% discount for a limited time as a launch promotion.