One reason why people have been hesitant to take the leap from a spinning hard drive to the solid stateness of flash memory is capacity. When it comes to most laptops, for example, you may forced to choose between a 160GB HDD or a 32GB SSD for about the same price. But times are a-changing, yes they are.

Bitmicro Networks has created what they call the E-Disk Altima E2A3GL heavy duty SSD flash drive. What makes it so special is that it contains a whopping 461 gigabytes of memory, outdoing most 2.5-inch spinning platters on the market today. Taking on the same footprint as its 2.5-inch HDD counterparts, the Bitmicro E-Disk Altima features a standard SATA interface and will survive temperatures from -40 to +85 degrees Celsius.

It’s not for consumers, however. Instead, the Bitmicro E-Disk Altima SSD has been built for industrial and military applications, promising ten years of data integrity and resistance to “strong shocks and vibrations.” Availability is expected for March 2008. Prices will likely be through the roof.