Laptop start up times are likely to get faster following the announcement that SanDisk has launched a 32-gigabyte 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) solid state hard drive as a drop-in replacement for hard disk drives.

"The vast majority of notebook computers manufactured today use 2.5-inch hard disk drives. The SanDisk 2.5-inch SSD fits in the same internal slot as 2.5-inch hard disks, so notebook manufacturers can switch to the SanDisk SSD without altering their hardware designs", the company said in a statement.

In notebook computers, data moves to and from an SSD more than 100 times faster than data moving to and from a hard disk.

The company claims that the new drives will allow users to boot Microsoft Windows Vista Enterprise in as little as 30 seconds and access files at an average speed of 0.11 milliseconds.

A notebook using a hard disk requires an average 48 seconds to boot and an average 17 milliseconds to access files.

SanDisk also say that its Solid State Drvies have minimal power requirements, with savings rated at over 50 percent compared with a hard disk drive.

Expect to see them in computers soon.