Updated at 3:45 p.m. PDT with additional information throughout.
Intel released a fix for its solid-state drives Monday, addressing an issue first reported back in February.
"We are releasing an end-user firmware update for our X-25M and X-18M SSD drives today," Intel said Monday.
Intel said this addresses a problem first introduced by technology Web site PC Perspective in February. "This update implements several continuous improvements and optimizations to the drive algorithms including a resolution for a performance issue first reported by the PC Perspective," Intel said.
The PC Perspective review, titled "Long-term performance analysis of Intel Mainstream SSDs," claimed, among other things, that the Intel X25-M solid-state drive would degrade in performance as a result of "internal fragmentation."
"Keep in mind that the risk of a typical PC user experiencing this issue is very low," Intel said Monday. "We are offering this firmware download to our OEM customers and any consumers who have purchased the drives. Consumers with questions can contact their PC maker or visit Intel support for more information."
A Monday post by PC Perspective said that "the Intel guys were surprisingly down to earth and receptive to our input" and that Intel "replicated our findings in their lab. An added bonus was they...passed us a new firmware and were asking for our feedback."
Intel did not recognize the problem initially, saying in February: "Our labs currently have not been able to duplicate these results."
Updated at 9:40 a.m. PST with additional information about SLC-based solid-state drives.
Some solid-state drives are more equal than others--or, to put it another way, command higher prices than rival drives, despite being seemingly quite similar.
SanDisk's G3 Series of SSDs offer capacities up to 240GB
(Credit: SanDisk)SanDisk and Toshiba offer a good lesson. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, SanDisk said it would start shipping 240GB SSDs in "mid 2009," priced at only $499. (Next to a comparable hard-disk drive, that may be a lot of money, but for a solid-state drive, it's dirt cheap.)
At the Toshiba booth, however, the story was very different. A Toshiba representative said his company's comparable 256GB SSDs are priced at $800. And this discrepancy is coming from two companies that get their flash chips from the same source: a joint-manufacturing operation in Japan.
Below are the prices Toshiba representatives were stating on the show floor versus prices that SanDisk announced.
Toshiba/SanDisk solid-state drive pricing:
- Toshiba 512GB: $1,600, SanDisk N/A
- Toshiba 256GB: $800, SanDisk 240GB: $499
- Toshiba 128GB: $400, SanDisk 120GB: $249
- Toshiba 64GB: $175, SanDisk 60GB: $149
Throw Intel into the mix, and it gets more confusing. "Introductory" pricing for Intel 160GB versions of its X25-M and X18-M Serial ATA (SATA) solid-state drive is $945 for less than 1,000 units.
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Updated at 1:40 p.m. PST with pricing information.
Intel is now shipping 160GB solid-state drives as it vies with Samsung and Toshiba to deliver high-capacity SSDs that rival hard-disk drives in capacity. Price, however, remains a big obstacle for many consumers.
(Credit:
Intel)
Intel said Monday that it will add 160GB versions of its X25-M and X18-M Serial ATA (SATA) solid-state drive. To date, Intel has limited shipments to its 80GB versions. Laptop-size 2.5-inch versions of the 160GB drive are shipping now; 1.8-inch models for ultraportable laptops will ship next month, Intel said.
Larger-capacity drives from other SSD suppliers are also on the way. In November, Samsung said it had begun mass production of 256GB SSDs. And Toshiba recently said it would show a 512GB drive at the Consumer Electronics Show in January that would ship in the second quarter of 2009.
Solid-state drives are generally faster at getting data than hard-disk drives (and in some cases, much faster) but pricing is a big hurdle for consumers. Toshiba indicated last week that sample quantities of its new solid-state will range in price from $220 for the 64GB drive to $1,652 for the 512GB drive.
That kind of pricing--even if it's for pricey sample drives--is hard to swallow when a laptop-class 500GB hard-disk drive sells for well under $200.
"Introductory" pricing for the Intel 160GB solid-state drives is $945 for less than 1,000 units, Intel said.
Currently, adding an Intel 80GB solid-state drive option to an HP EliteBook 2530p ultraportable laptop adds $659 over the cost of a 5400RPM 1.8-inch 120GB hard disk drive.
Adding a 128GB solid-state drive to an Apple MacBook Air ups the price by about $500.
Additional comments:: Note that the only first-tier PC vendor to publicly say it is using Intel SSDs is Hewlett-Packard. This is a significant customer for Intel since HP is the largest PC vendor in the world. HP offers Intel SSDs in all of its EliteBook notebooks.
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