With netbooks gaining popularity, the fact that no optical drive is included with the product has become a bit of an issue. With out an optical drive, software manufacturers are forced to provide download links for the installation packages. With very large installation packages, a download option may not be available, so vendors need to switch to a solid state device like a USB thumb drive or SD card.
Today Hitachi is trying to tackle this problem and provide a solution where everyone wins. Their ODD Hybrid Drive is the solution. The ODD [Optical Disc Drive] is a combination of a solid state hard drive and optical disc drive. Together, the hybrid drive allows the smaller netbooks and soon tablet PCs the ability to have optical accessibility.Having optical is also critical for Windows restore procedures in the event the operating system needs to be restored or repaired.
The added feature of this type of hybrid drive is the speed. Check this out, Windows 7 boots in about 29 seconds. Starcraft 2 Battlenet loads in about 38 seconds. Of course these numbers will very depending on your hardware setup, but it gives you an idea of performance.
The report from Aving didn’t mention price, but did say the hybrid drive will become available mid Oct 2010.
Source: Aving.net.
