Jun 24

Samsung goes miniscule with netbook-bound mini-card SSD

Posted in: samsung, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

With the likes of SanDisk, OCZ Technology and RunCore (just to name a few) already grabbing a foothold in the mini SSD market, you just knew that Samsung couldn’t sit around and watch an opportunity pass it by. Now, the company’s is branching out from its vivaciously colored Mini S2 HDDs to introduce a new SATA-interface mini-card solid state drive. The diminutive drive is aimed squarely at the netbook crowd, but its size makes it a beautiful candidate for a UMPC, MID or smartbook upgrade. In fact, the drive checks in at some 80 percent smaller than the average 2.5-inch HDD, and it’ll be made available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB densities. We’re told to expect respectable transfer rates of 200MBps (down) and 100MBps (up), while power consumption sits at just 0.3 watts. Look for these to pop up in your next favorite mobile device late this year or in early 2010.

[Via HotHardware]

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Samsung goes miniscule with netbook-bound mini-card SSD originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 13

What’s Your Dream Laptop Like?

Posted in: Laptops, solid state drive, Today's Chili, Wireless


This article was written on August 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

Dream LaptopI was recently invited to join a group for HP regarding the future generations of laptops. They want myself, among others, to share our "ideas, designs, thoughts or rants." This is really a great idea, and in a way reminds me of Dell launching the IdeaStorm site.

I haven’t actually owned a HP laptop in over 5 years, and I’ve gone through more computers than I care to mention. Lately Dell has been my brand of choice simply because they’ve just worked for me, and I’ve never had a single hardware problem with any of them that I’ve owned. Okay…I’ll cave. Here are the computers that Ashley and I have owned in the last five or so years: 1 HP, 1 Compaq, 1 Sony, 2 Averatec, and 6 Dell’s. Some of those had been given to me, and some of them were new when I bought them.

With that being said I’ve had quite an experience with different manufacturer’s of computers. Therefore coming up with a list of things that would make one manufacturer stand out over another wasn’t extremely difficult:

  • Make the hinges that hold the monitor the body extremely sturdy. I can’t stand when those get loose and the screen wobbles. This really is my biggest pet peeve for laptops.
  • Make an integrated wireless card that is swappable. That way when 802.11n gets into full swing (as well as future technologies) we can upgrade the wireless card ourselves.
  • Make upgrading the RAM easy for goodness sakes! There should be one cover on the bottom of the computer that I have to unscrew, and then I should be able to pop in the RAM from there.
  • At least 5 hours of battery life.
  • Some sort of video outputs. HDMI would be nice, but I haven’t seen that on a laptop before.
  • Low-cost solid state drives (SSD). I know that they are expensive right now, but they are much more energy efficient and faster than traditional drives.
  • Small power cord that doesn’t weigh as much as the computer itself. My dad’s power supply for his laptop is insanely massive.
  • Put a few small buttons down by the mouse that let you do things like launch Alt-Tab or Flip-3D for switching between programs. I want the ability to quickly switch between windows with the same hand that I’m using the mouse. And no, going to the Taskbar doesn’t count. A button wouldn’t be necessary if the next bullet was implemented:
  • Make the touchpad multi-touch capable. That way putting my finger in one corner
    and tapping another corner could initiate some sort of command that I assign it
    (like copy and paste).
  • Built-in webcam. A lot of laptops are getting these lately, and I think it is going to become a standard.
  • On-site repairs included…I hate sending a computer in to get fixed!

So now I want to know what your dream laptop is like. What would the perfect laptop be for you, and what kind of price would you be willing to pay for it? Let us know in the comments below…and HP will probably be checking up on what you have to say!

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Jun 10

OCZ intros 2.5-inch Agility SSD line: 120GB for $349.99

Posted in: solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

OCZ Technology seems to always be toiling away on new solid state drives, but it’s rare to find any from the company that are priced for the average Joe / Jane. Rather than aiming specifically for the fat-walleted enthusiast crowd, the Agility series is hoping to make a decent sized splash in the mainstream market. These 2.5-inch SATA II SSDs promise 230MB/sec read and 135MB/sec write speeds, along with 64MB of cache and a two-year warranty. We pinged OCZ for details surrounding pricing and availability, so here’s the dirt: the trio of models will be available in a fortnight or so for $129.99 (30GB), $219.99 (60GB) and $349.99 (120GB).

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OCZ intros 2.5-inch Agility SSD line: 120GB for $349.99 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 06

Corsair’s blistering P256 SSD reviewed: look out, X25-M

Posted in: review, reviewed, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

While just about any SSD will make your average computing experience a fair bit more awesome, it takes a really unique device to make said experience Animal-Style-Triple-From-In-N-Out special. Up until now, the general consensus was that Intel’s X-25M was the crème de la crème, but it seems that Corsair’s recently launched P256 may just be giving that very drive a real run for its money. After seeing a pre-production unit deliver some respectable early results, we figured it prudent to pass along PC Perspective‘s full-on review. In most cases, the 256GB P256 either topped or fell just behind Intel’s 80GB unit, though the drive did seem to suffer a bit in the random read / write tests. Still, critics felt comfortable recommending the drive, and while pricey, noted that it offered better value per gigabyte in comparison to similar 256GB units on the market.

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Corsair’s blistering P256 SSD reviewed: look out, X25-M originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 06 Jun 2009 08:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 03

Kingston makes the SSD upgrade easier with SSDNow V bundles

Posted in: solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili

Good show, Kingston. Rather than just getting into the SSD game to follow everyone else around, you’ve decided to spin things a little differently — and yeah, we dig it. Here at Computex, the company has just introduced its SSDNow V series bundles, which aim directly at mainstream consumers who need a helping hand in making the leap from HDD to SSD. Said kits arrive in 128GB and 64GB capacities, but we get the impression that these two are just the beginning. Essentially, Kingston provides cloning software, step-by-step instructions for HDD removal / SSD install instructions, mounting brackets and even a 2.5-inch USB SATA external enclosure for those picking up the laptop bundle. Prices range from $149 to $263, and so far as we can tell, these should be sliding out to retailers shortly.

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Kingston makes the SSD upgrade easier with SSDNow V bundles originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jun 03

Team Group shoves two 250GB SSDs into single enclosure

Posted in: solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

It looks like OCZ Technology did it first with the Colossus, but you won’t hear us kvetching over competition in the SSD space. Over at Computex, Team Group Inc. was caught showing off a similar product, the Combo Pro SATA II 500GB. In essence, this device pairs up two 250GB SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration, providing maximum read / write rates of 230MBps and 160MBps, respectively. There’s no word just yet on pricing or availability, but we definitely like where this is headed. Now, if only those MSRPs would head south too, we’d really have something to cheer about.

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Team Group shoves two 250GB SSDs into single enclosure originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 31

JMicron NAND flash controller could lead to significantly lower SSD prices

Posted in: arm, flash, industry, market, market share, marketshare, price, pricing, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

Truth be told, SSD prices have been declining at a noticeable tick since way back in 2007, but the reality is that the average consumer still can’t afford one — or, at least they aren’t willing to pay the lofty premium for the decent increase in speed. If a bold claim from JMicron is to be believed, all that could change in the run-up to CES 2010. A new report has it that the aforesaid company will be demonstrating its new NAND flash controller next week at Computex, with the JMF612 aimed specifically at a “new generation of NAND flash chips built using smaller process geometries that will be entering the market soon.” If all goes well, the cheap single-chip controller could lead to SSD prices falling by around 50 percent by Christmas, but after years of waiting for these things to really get priced for Joe Sixpack and his gaggle of siblings, we’re still cautiously skeptical. Not that we wouldn’t love to be proven wrong or anything.

[Image courtesy of HotHardware]

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JMicron NAND flash controller could lead to significantly lower SSD prices originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 May 2009 08:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 12

Corsair’s speedy P256 256GB solid state drive now shipping

Posted in: flash, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, storage, Today's Chili

Remember that then-named S256 we saw sneak out right around a month ago? Yeah, that bad boy’s finally on sale, and it’s shipping as we speak from a number of trustworthy e-tailers. Said SSD — which now goes formally by P256 — packs specially selected Samsung MLC flash memory and a sophisticated Samsung Controller IC, coupled with 128MB of cache memory and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) support for stutter-free performance. By the books, this one can reach speeds of up to 220MB/sec (read) and 200MB/sec (write), though you can bet you’ll be paying for the haste. We’re seeing it on sale for around $658 online, though Dell’s listing shows a wicked steep $851.99. Either way, ouch. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading Corsair’s speedy P256 256GB solid state drive now shipping

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Corsair’s speedy P256 256GB solid state drive now shipping originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 May 2009 06:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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May 05

DDRdrive’s RAM-based SSD is snappy, costly

Posted in: solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili
In the race for ever faster storage, manufacturers have increasingly been looking towards the PCIe bus. And while we’ve seen lots of interesting things out of companies like Fusion-io, it will probably be a few long moments before anything comes around that’s feasible, or reasonable, for the consumer. That said, PC Perspective has put in some quality time with the DDRdrive X1, which places 4GB DRAM and 4GB NAND in parallel on a full height PCIe card, keeping that volatile memory of yours safely backed up on a static disk, just in case. According to the reviewer, this device offers the user nothing less than “pure unadulterated random IO” that is “unmatched by any other device available.” Other pluses include its cost (I / O operations per second are calculated at about a fifth of the ioDrive) and snappy custom drivers for both 32 and 64-bit members of the Windows family (Linux drivers are promised for the near future). The Cons? This bad boy is currently limited to 4GB, and it’ll run you a cool $1495. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of for 99% of our readers, but if you should happen to find yourself the admin for an enterprise server of some type (as many of us do, from time to time) this might be something worth looking into.

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DDRdrive’s RAM-based SSD is snappy, costly originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 May 2009 12:52:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apr 19

OCZ outs its first Mini-PCIe SSDs in 16GB / 32GB capacities

Posted in: netbook, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili

Just as Buffalo did in December of last year, OCZ Technology is busting out a duo of netbook / notebook-ready SSDs in 16GB and 32GB capacities. Obviously aimed at the smaller, more low-cost machines, the company’s first ever Mini-PCIe solid state drives are a so-called “affordable flash-based storage option to significantly increase the capacity for netbooks.” The pair will be available in SATA and PATA interfaces, which will deliver read speeds of up to 110MB/sec and write speeds as high as 51MB/sec (or 45MB/sec [read] and 35MB/sec [write] for the PATA versions). Regrettably, there’s no mention of price, but you can bet these will come packed in a specced-out version of the firm’s Neutrino.

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OCZ outs its first Mini-PCIe SSDs in 16GB / 32GB capacities originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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