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Sony PS3 with new 80GB X25-M SSD

The small hard drive that comes with the Sony PS3 can easily be upgraded thanks to an easy slot loading solution; we recently upgraded our Playstation 3 with a much bigger 160GB hard drive.

Other than the problematic machine tightened screws, it’s easy to replace the internal PS3 drive. What’s better than a 160GB or 250GB hard drive is a Solid State Drive solution Read more

New Intel Z-P230 PATA SSD at Flash Memory Summit

This is the rugged, low-power Intel Z-P230 PATA Solid-State Drive (SSD) that now comes in two form factors, the original 40-pin ZIF module that is four times smaller and one-fourth the weight of a traditional 1.8-inch hard drive, and an even smaller PCIe mini-card version for more space conscious systems Read more

Micron next-generation RealSSD: P200, C200 SSDs much faster

Micron has announced their updated line of SSDs from their RealSSD range. These new storage devices are based on the slower more cheaper MLC NAND process technology.

These new 2.5-inch SSDs go up to 256GB, while the smaller 1.8-inch versions have a capacity of 32GB to 128GB. These new drives come in two variations, enterprise-class RealSSD P200 and the client-focused RealSSD C200.

Both models offer a much faster performance over older models, making application open much quicker.

Companies such as Micron know that the slimmer and faster the hard drive the stronger hold they will have over the market. The launch of the RealSSD P200, C200 SSDs is a step in the right direction for them.

You have to ask yourself just how small these SSDs are able to go; only time will tell on that one.

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Solid State Disk (SSD): Production up, prices down

Everyone should know by now what a Solid State Disk can do for your laptop or desktop computer, there have been enough comparison videos showing the boot-up time of Windows with an SSD compared to a normal drive.

Tweak Town have taken a look at the industry and where it stands now, things are looking much better than they have ever looked when it comes to SSD’s.

In their final thoughts they said “Solid state drives are not going to hit one day, cause mass hysteria and have people waiting in lines outside of their local Apple Store like some products. Even at the 300 Dollar price point for a 64GB drive, enthusiasts and business users will be the first to take advantage of the new, lower prices.

Over the next few months, big box builders will start to offer solid state drives in more of their middle class notebooks, and if big memory manufacturers like Samsung are not able to meet demand, the prices will rise again. Thankfully, these manufacturers appear to be ready to meet demand or at least know they need to ramp up production quickly.

It is my belief that upgrading your platter based hard drive to an SSD will produce the most significant change to your computing experience for a modern computer. I am neither talking frames per second nor calculation from a benchmark, but your overall, real world ‘I use my computer everyday’ tasks. The difference is similar to running an eight-year-old 20GB, 512KB cache drive with Vista installed and then moving to a new SATA II drive.

Over the next 30 days, I will run my Lenovo T61 notebook with the Super Talent Master Drive MX and give a detailed report of my experiences dealing with the battery life, losing 40GB of storage space and the overall system feel. This isn’t a shelf notebook that is used on the weekend; my T61 goes with me everywhere and twelve hours on my lap a day is not uncommon”

Read the three page market review.

256GB SSD in your Asus Eee PC or Apple MacBook Air

As you know SSD are now being used in a number of our mobile technology products like the Asus Eee 900 and the Apple MacBook Air, but the downside is that they still have limited storage capacity. The Asus at the moment only has a 12 - 20GB SSD, and the Apple MacBook Air comes with a larger 64GB SSD. The latter has a larger capacity, but it is still not enough for what people need in their laptops and UMPC’s. However; this could be about to change towards the end of the year, as PC World reports that Samsung Electronics who are the largest consumer electronics company on the planet are to release a 256GB solid-state disk, which should be on the shelves by the end of the year.

If Samsung do keep hold of their promise to release the larger more reliable hard drive, then future owners of mobile technology like the Eee PC and the MacBook Air will be hoping that both Asus and Apple decide to go with the larger SSD. It is not just laptops and UMPC’s that could benefit from such a device, even MP3 players might get a smaller version of this larger solid-state-disk, and I would put money on it that Apple will be the first to use it on their iPod range.

SSD as we know is the future in storage solution as there is nothing spinning like a conventional hard drive, this will save power which is the holy grail in portable technology, as well as reduce the risk of failure. However; there is one problem with the solid-state-disc, and that is the price. There is one problem with all new technology, the price is always high but as time goes on the price will become lower. If you do not believe me, just look how the price of Cell Phones have reduced in price, who would have thought 10 years ago that you could purchase as a cell phone for les than $10.

SSD’s Get Cheaper: SuperTalent solid-state disks in 30GB, 60GB, and 120GB

The biggest downfall to desktop computers and laptops over the years has been the slow progress of hard drives, yes they have moved on but so much slower than all the other technology like graphics cards and processors. Now the good news is in the more recent months and years we have seen SSD’s (solid-state disks) show up on the market. The reason this is exciting for the hard drive department is they have no moving parts like the run-of-the-mill storage in our computers, this means much faster file movement and quicker boot-up times for your PC.

The bad news is price and this is also the reason you do not see many laptops or desktops with SSD’s in local stores, they are around but as soon as one gets added, the computers price goes through the roof. You only have to look at the MacBook Air, look at the higher model, its the SSD mainly that moved that price up so much.

We know that the prices will come down in 2008 and 2009, but we are also hearing today that SuperTalent have added three new SSD’s to their line-up and these cheaper models are MLC flash-based gear. You can expect to pay $299 for the 30GB version, $449 for the 60GB and $699 for 120GB. Although it’s still a high price in comparison to regular hard drives, in the Solid State Disk world, that’s pretty good. You can expect to get some astounding sequential read and write speeds as well.

Source: Read

Hands On: MTRON PRO 32GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD Pro Series

MTRON have started to launch a range of new solid state disks however the MTRON PRO 32GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD is from their pro series, so you would expect the storage device to perform well in its performance test. Tweaktown has decided to give the new SSD some attention by giving us a full hands on review.

There first impression once they hooked up the MTRON PRO 32GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD was in its performance, Tweaktown said that it was truly breathtaking. However; this comes at a cost and that is the price of the thing, this is due to it being a new technology, well about three years old but as soon as more laptops start to use the device then we should start to see the price coming down.

The new MTRON PRO 32GB 2.5-inch SATA SSD has a hard brushed aluminum case, and just looking at the images you will notice that this 2.5” drive uses standard mounting holes.

As we mentioned early Tweaktown was impressed by the performance of this SSD, there final thoughts were “From everything I have seen by looking at two of MTRONs most popular products, the technology has two areas that it will need to overcome before being considered a true consumer level product. The first is price; the MTRON PRO as of this writing, costs 1159.00 US Dollars as tested in 32GB form.

The next limiting factor is size. A full install of Vista Ultimate with necessary drivers is going to take up close to 20GB, and that is before Office is installed. Most business travelers will use a version of Vista that is not so bloated, but the truly technical traveler will ditch Vista all together and install XP to regain a little extra battery life. At first I didn’t think being limited to only 32GB would be an issue for me until I went to install BAPCOs Mobile Mark 2007 and realized that I couldn’t install the software.

All things considered, the MTRON PRO is fast and I have no doubt that notebooks will gain a decent amount of battery time by using it (we will have to test this when a larger SSD in 2.5 inch form comes around). At this time, I can’t recommend the MTRON PRO to anyone that needs to fill their notebook with the usual goodies like Office, Acrobat and other typical programs that we all use every day as the amount of space just isn’t enough. The good news is that larger 2.5 inch notebook SSDs are available and DV Nation carries a large assortment. The bad news is that 64GB will cost about the same as a decently loaded notebook, and 128GB would cost what a full system does at a boutique dealer like Alienware, close to 4000 US Dollars.”

For their full review visit: Tweaktown

SSD (Solid State Disk) in laptops: prices still high, will you wait?

If your buying a laptop in 2008 then it’s a good idea to look at SSD (Solid State Disk) options as they have many benefits, but as soon as you add this to a laptop one thing changes right away and that’s price. SSD’s are still a lot of money compared to normal hard drives, maybe they will come down in 2009, but for now expect to pay more money for this little extra.

Earlier today peter reported about the upcoming Toshiba Portege R500 12Q that will come with a 128GB SSD drive and it also features a dual-layer DVD writer, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 12.1-inch LED-backlit display and a Core 2 Duo ULV U7700 processor. There is no word on price yet, but again we can expect it to be more than it’s competitor with a normal hard drive.

Will consumers make the move to SSD now or will most people wait until the price crashes, I have always been one to buy early on and also one that pays the price for it. While prices have come down a little, this time I am waiting it out and they may be some time yet.

Do you own a laptop with SSD and if not would you wait until the price comes down a lot or pay a premium now?

Toshiba Dynabook SS RX1: first laptop to get 128GB SSD

If reports are right then the Toshiba Dynabook SS RX1 could become the first laptop to get the 128GB SSD. This solid state drive will be built into the laptop and will come as an optional extra.

The Toshiba Dynabook SS RX1 has a 12.1-inch screen and uses an Intel 1.2 GHz Core 2 Duo processor. The laptop also uses an Intel graphics card, so if you are a gamer then steer clear. Toshiba have made a bold claim about their battery life, they reckon it will last for 12.5 hours. A lot of this has to do with the SSD, so this has to be the best thing in computer hardware technology for some time.

Source - Gizmodo

128 GB InnoDisk FiD

This is the InnoDisk FiD 2.5 inch, it is the first 128 GB solid state disk which has a rugged metal enclosure and it promises sustained read/write rates of up to 110/Mbps/90Mbps.

The sample of this flash drive will be going out later this month and should hopefully start shipping sometime in the second quarter of the year.

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32 and 64GB SATA II SSDs announced by OCZ: No price or dates though

OCZ have just announced their 32 and 64GB SATA II SSDs which is the good news, the bad news is they forgot to tell us the prices and release dates.

Anyway the OCZ SATA II drive works great with the performance of high-end notebooks for example and are apparently brilliant for energy-efficient mobile computing.

The 32GB and 64GB have premier speeds of 120MB/s read and 100MB/s write and are able to enhance productivity in your everyday computing and intensive multi-tasking applications. The design looks damn good as well which features a lightweight durable brushed alloy casing.

There are no moving parts which mean great for mishandling; these SSDs have an excellent two million hour mean time before failure.

If you are reading this OCZ, please give us dates and prices.

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