SanDisk today announced the uSSD5000 solid state drive (SSD), which can be used as an economical substitute for hard disk drives in sub-$250 PCs. Among the first computers using uSSD solid state drives will be the Intel-powered classmate PC, intended for educational markets in emerging nations. SanDisk’s uSSD 5000 solid state drive is a USB module designed to be embedded directly onto the motherboard of low-cost PCs as a hard disk replacement. The uSSD 5000 solid state drive supports a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft’s Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded, Windows Embedded for Point of Service and Windows CE, as well as Linux.

The SanDisk uSSD 5000 solid state drive is expected to be available in capacities from 2 GB to 8 GB. At 27mm x 38mm, uSSD 5000 solid state drives are about one-fourth the size of 1.8-inch hard disk drives.