Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today its new Mercury Aura Pro MBA Solid State Drive (SSD) line, the first high performance SandForce processor based SSD available for all 2008-2009 Apple MacBook Air models. Announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, this new product introduction establishes OWC as the most comprehensive U.S. manufacturer of industry leading SandForce processor based SSDs, 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 MBA and other first-to-market OWC Mercury Pro SSDs at CES Booth #3935, LVCC, North Hall.Available In Four Models: 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB with 4X Higher Capacity than Factory SSD
With data rates of up to 275MB/s, the OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA offers owners of 2008-2009 MacBook Air models up to 41X faster performance than the original factory hard drive, over 3X faster performance than the factory installed SSD, and 20% faster than even the latest 2010 MacBook Air models. Plus, with four models to choose from: 60GB, 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB, the OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA provides up to 4X the storage capacity compared to the factory optional 128GB SSD and nearly 2X more storage capacity than the largest SSD offered in 2010 MacBook Air models.

OWC Ultra-Efficient "Block Management & Wear Leveling" Technologies Keep Drives Fast -
Won't Slow Down With Use Like Ordinary SSDs
Ordinary SSDs offer fast read/write performance during initial use, but then experience significant write speed degradation over repeated usage. Independent simulation tests by leading drive performance experts confirm that OWC Mercury Pro brand SSDs ultra-efficient "Block Management & Wear Leveling" technologies eliminate virtually any reduction in data transfer speeds over heavy long term usage, without the dependency on less effective OS TRIM management.

Higher RAID-Like Data Protection - Up To 100X
The OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA also utilizes SandForce DuraClass technology, which provides up to 100X higher data protection than ordinary SSDs and leading enterprise class hard disk drives. By combining the highest 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 MBA provides RAID-like data protection and reliability without the loss of transfer speed due to parity.

Shootout Proves it: OWC Offers "Better than New" Performance
Based on OWC's popular Mercury Extreme SSD "shootout" video series, OWC has created new videos demonstrating how much faster an OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA equipped 2008-2009 MacBook Air 1.83GHz model is versus much faster processor based machines, including a 2010 MacBook Pro i7. To view the side-by-side comparison videos, visit this page.

"One of OWC's core missions is to help consumers maximize their technology investment," said Larry O'Connor, Founder and CEO, OWC. "By offering faster performance and higher capacity than provided by 2010 models, the Mercury Aura Pro MBA SSD enables 2008-2009 MacBook Air owners to experience better than new performance at a significantly lower cost than a new machine."

Four Models Starting At $199.99
The new OWC Mercury Aura Pro MBA is available immediately in four models compatible with all 13.3" 2008-2009 MacBook Air models:

• 60GB Mercury Aura Pro MBA with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty - $199.99
• 120GB Mercury Aura Pro MBA with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty - $299.99
• 240GB Mercury Aura Pro MBA with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty - $579.99
• 480GB Mercury Aura Pro MBA with 7% over provisioning & three year warranty - $TBA