PC hard disks have gotten more and more capacity over the years, but they still involve storing and accessing data on rapidly spinning disks, so there's a limit to how fast they can actually work. Flash memory has no moving parts, so it's inherently faster, but the capacity is much lower than hard disks. That is, until now. Fusion-io's ioDrive drive stores a whopping 640GB of data on a PC Card, all of it flash.

The really amazing spec is the speed of this thing, though. It's capable of reading those bits at 800MB per second and writing at 600MB per second — or about 1,000 times faster than the hard disk in your average Dell, according to the company. But just like skipping long airport check-in lines, that kind of speed is only available to those who can pay, since the drive costs a seizure-inducing $19,000. When it debuts early next year, Fusion-io will offer the drive in smaller capacities as well, though you'll still be paying $30 per gig, Mr. Trump. — Peter Pachal

Fusion-io, via GizmoWatch