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.

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
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.

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
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.

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
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]

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: ,
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

Filed under:

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.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
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.

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
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.

Filed under:

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.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Apr 16

Samsung comes clean with self-encrypting SSDs

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

It seems that Dell jumped the gun a wee bit by shedding some light on Samsung’s forthcoming self-encrypting SSDs, but now Sammy is providing us with all the missing details… er, most of them, anyway. In conjunction with Wave Systems, Samsung is launching what it calls an industry first with its new line of solid state drives. Said devices are able to automatically encrypt information as it’s saved to the drive, and they each come bundled with Wave’s EMBASSY management software. At least initially, these super secure SSDs will ship in 64GB, 128GB and 256GB flavors, and while we’re told that the whole lot is available now “through at least one major OEM,” there’s no specific mention of price. Shocker, we know. The full release is after the break.

Continue reading Samsung comes clean with self-encrypting SSDs

Filed under:

Samsung comes clean with self-encrypting SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments
Apr 15

Dell adding Samsung’s encrypted SSDs to its arsenal

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

Dell’s been doing both solid state and encrypted drives for some time now, but only now is the company combining both efforts and preparing to offer encrypted SSDs in the coming months. The Samsung-manufactured drives will come in 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB options, and though the hardware encryption method isn’t specified, we’d venture a guess it’ll have something to do with Trusted Computer Group’s 128-bit standards adopted by Sammy and virtually every other drive maker back in January. No word just yet on how much they’ll cost, but if current prices are any indication, it won’t come cheap.

Filed under:

Dell adding Samsung’s encrypted SSDs to its arsenal originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags:
Apr 13

Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs

Posted in: download, firmware, intel, issue, Software, solid state drive, SolidStateDrive, SSD, Today's Chili

Wait, what’s this? Intel admitting that its X18-M and X25-M SSDs do actually have the potential to slow after extended use? After the company flat out denied allegations brought forth by PC Perspective earlier this year, it has now quietly pushed out a v1.1 update for the 80GB and 160GB versions of the aforementioned devices. All we’re told is that it brings along “several continuous improvement optimizations intended to provide the best possible user experience,” but there’s absolutely no denying what it’s really aiming to fix. Intel still maintains that the likelihood of users experiencing any long-term issues are next to nothing, but we’d suggest applying the update just in case. Wouldn’t want to be missing out on any lightning fast read / write rates, now would you?

[Via HotHardware]

Read – Intel firmware update
Read – Updated firmware review

Filed under:

Intel issues firmware update for ailing X18-M and X25-M SSDs originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

No Comments | Tags: