The newest solid-state drives are just starting to hit retail. But would you buy one?
Intel X25-M solid-state drive has received glowing reviews for its performance
(Credit: Intel)Solid-state drives are attractive because they're generally faster than hard-disk drives, particularly at reading data--generally something PC users spend most of their time doing.
But price is still an obstacle, especially to the frugal consumer.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based OCZ Technology is now offering some of the most competitively priced solid-state drives based the high-speed Serial ATA (SATA) II interface.
OCZ Vertex SSD drives start at $129 for a 30GB SSD. Other capacities include a 120GB drive for $469 and a 250GB SSD for $869. Though $869 may seem pricey compared to a 7200RPM 250GB hard-disk drive that can retail for well under $100, it's relatively cheap for a large-capacity SSD. In the past, SanDisk had sold a 256GB drive through resellers that was priced, almost incredibly, at more than $15,000. Axiom had been selling 256GB solid-state drives priced above $6,000.
OCZ says the Vertex Series of SSDs have a 1.5 million-hour mean time before failure (MTBF), "ensuring peace of mind over the long term." Solid-state drives, since their inception, have been plagued by doubts about write durability. SSD manufacturers such as Intel, Micron Technology, and Samsung say long-term durability is no longer an issue.
The OCZ drives are backed by a two-year warranty.
Intel's X25-M SATA solid-state drive is now widely available at retail. An 80GB X25-M is priced at just more than $500 at most retailers. Reviews of the X25-M's performance have been very positive.
Unfortunately, the only way to get the newest SSDs in some cases is by ordering a laptop. Samsung is now offering its latest-and-greatest 128GB SATA drives in ultraportable laptops such as the MacBook Air and the Dell Latitude E4200 and E4300.
The Latitude E4300 can be configured with a 128GB SSD for $460 more than the standard 160GB 5400RPM hard disk drive.
Samsung has begun production of 128GB solid-state drives as it tries to overcome technical hurdles with larger-capacity drives.
(Credit:
Samsung)
The Seoul-based company announced Wednesday that it has begun mass producing 1.8- and 2.5-inch 128GB solid-state drives (SSDs). The new drives are based on a technology called multi-level cell (MLC). Samsung also plans to begin producing a 256GB solid-state drive at the end of this year using MLC.
MLC allows drive makers to build larger capacity drives, though the technology also presents performance and data reliability challenges--not only for Samsung but for all solid-state drive makers.
While multi-level cell technology allows higher data densities, it is not as fast as SLC (single-level cell), the technology used in current laptops such as the Apple MacBook Air and Hewlett-Packard 2510p. "MLC is a cost-efficient model of SLC" since multi-level cell squeezes more bits in a single cell, said Michael Yang, flash marketing manager at Samsung.
"What you're doing is that you're slowing down the chip" to maintain reliability, he said. "Performance wise, MLC is slower than SLC."
Yang also responded to reports claiming that solid-state drives are less power efficient than typical 2.5-inch hard disk drives. "From all our experiences with testing from both sides--from our flash memory division and hard drive division--we found SSDs are definitely more power efficient," said Yang. Power savings are 20 percent to 30 percent at the system level compared to hard disk drives, he said.
Yang added that the supporting silicon for newer Serial-ATA II solid-state drives is also more power efficient than the previous generation of SATA drives.
Power consumption for the Samsung SSD is approximately 0.2 watts, and in active mode 0.5 watts.
The Samsung MLC-based SSDs have a write speed of 70MB/s and a read speed of 90MB/s--performance levels that approach those of SLC-based solid-state drives now in mass production, the company said.
Mass production of the Samsung MLC-based 64GB SSDs also began this month, the company said.
Toshiba has postponed the launch of the Dynabook SS RX1 notebook slated to ship with a 128GB solid-state drive, according to an announcement on Toshiba's Japanese Web site.
Toshiba Dynabook SS RX series
(Credit: Toshiba)The Japanese-market Dynabook has been billed as the first notebook with a 128GB solid-state drive, or SSD.
The notebook was originally scheduled for general availability in April but will be delayed until June, according to Toshiba.
Toshiba cited parts delays. It's not clear whether the delays are SSD-related, but Toshiba postponed the launch of a notebook last year with a 64GB SSD due to flash memory chip "procurement" delays.
The 128GB SSD-equipped dynabook is expected to sell for 400,000 yen, or about $4,000.
Meanwhile, Toshiba Europe has listed the Portege R500-12Q with an 128GB SSD, though no information on availability is given, according to Engadget.
Popular ultralight notebooks such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 and Apple MacBook Air come with 64GB SSDs.
Intel is expected to announce SSDs ranging up to 160GB this year. Samsung is expected to follow suit.
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