Intel has launched their new 80GB SSD.

The Intel X18-M and X25-M (so named for their 1.8" and 2.5" hard drive form factor) uses multi-level NAND flash chips to provide 80GB capacity for laptops and desktops without using moving parts. Apparently these SSD drives can read up to 250MB/sec and write at 70MB/sec - both figures are notably higher than standard hard drives, where the sustained read/write rate is usually around 60GB/sec. Even more importantly, as the SSD's have an almost negligable seek time (significantly less than one ms) they can perform far more operations per second than conventional hard drives.

Price? $595... OUCH.