OWC SSDs For 2010 MacBook Air Models

Other World Computing (OWC) announced its Mercury Aura Pro Express Solid State Drive (SSD) line is the first high performance SSD available on the market for pre-ordering for all 2010 Apple MacBook Air models.

This announcement establishes OWC as a comprehensive U.S. manufacturer of SandForce
processor based SSDs available today with OWC Mercury Pro brand SSD
models available for nearly every Mac and PC produced over the past
decade. OWC will be demonstrating the new Mercury Aura Pro Express and
other first-to-market OWC Mercury Pro SSDs at the Consumer Electronics
Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada.

More Speed, Capacity, and Options Than Factory SSD
The OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express offers owners of and those interested
in the 2010 MacBook Air models a SSD upgrade path that delivers higher
performance, functionality, and reliability. With peak data rates of
275MB/s, the Mercury Aura Pro Express offers 22% higher speed than
factory installed SSDs. The OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express is available in
three sizes – 180GB, 240GB, and 360GB – for more upgrade choices and
nearly 3X higher data storage/backup capacity than factory SSD options
when compared to 11.1" model factory options up to 128GB and 13" model
factory options up to only 256GB.

Three Models Starting At $499.99 MSRP

• The new OWC Mercury Aura Pro Express is available immediately for
  pre-ordering in three capacities compatible with all 11.1" and 13.3"
  2010 MacBook Air models: 180GB Mercury Aura Pro Express with 7% over
  provisioning & three year warranty – $499.99
• 240GB Mercury Aura Pro Express with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty – $579.99
• 360GB Mercury Aura Pro Express with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty – $1179.99

OWC is planning initial retail shipments of Mercury Aura Pro Express orders to begin on/around Wednesday, January 12th.

Doesn’t Slow Down With Use Like Ordinary SSDs
Ordinary SSDs offer fast read/write performance during first initial
uses, but then experience significant write speed degradation over
repeated usage. Independent simulation tests by drive performance experts
confirm OWC Mercury Pro brand SSD’s efficient Block Management &
Wear Leveling technologies are able to eliminate virtually any reduction
in data transfer speeds over heavy long term usage of the drive and
without dependency on less than effective OS TRIM management.

Up To 100X Greater Data Protection
Utilizing SandForce DuraClass technology, the OWC Mercury Aura Pro
Express is able to provide up to 100X higher data protection than
provided by ordinary SSDs as well as enterprise class hard disk drives.
By combining the high level of Error Correction Code (ECC) and SandForce
RAISE (Redundant Array of Independent Silicon Elements) technology
along with 7% over provisioning, the Mercury Aura Pro Express provides
RAID like data protection and reliability without loss of transfer speed
due to parity.

"It’s very satisfying to continue a storied tradition of being the
first manufacturer to offer Mac users an upgrade path to get the most
from their machine," said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "Now
thanks to the Mercury Aura Pro Express SSD, 2010 MacBook Air owners and
those interested in buying this machine can upgrade for higher capacity
and performance when they need it."

OWC Mercury Pro: SSD Line For Macs And PCs
OWC is also unveiling four other Mercury Pro SSD model lines at the CES show:

• OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA, a high performance SandForce processor based SSD available for all 2008-2009 Apple MacBook Air models.
• OWC Mercury Aura Pro 1.8", SandForce processor based SSD available
  for netbooks, subnotebook, and other computers that utilize an internal
  1.8" sized SATA drive.
• OWC Mercury Legacy Pro,SandForce processor based IDE/ATA SSD
  available for pre-Intel PowerPC based Mac notebooks, PCs, and other
  notebook/laptop computers.
• OWC Mercury Extreme Pro Legacy Edition, SandForce processor based
  IDE/ATA SSD available for pre-Intel PowerPC based Macs, PCs, and other
  desktop/tower computers.