GadGets

This model:

- Read: Up to 170MB/sec

- Write: Up to 35MB/sec

The 80 GB X25-M G2

- Read: Up to 250MB/sec

- Write: Up to 70MB/sec

Write speed isn’t considered a strong point for the X25-M and this model has half its write speed. Personally, I’d invest in a faster SSD. The capacity vs. speed vs. price ratio of this product doesn’t seem like it’s a great value.
Rating: 3 / 5

ssd drives don’t need Formatting but you won’t be able to use 3GB so this is a 37GB drive

with 37GB at $100 i thought it would be perfect for a fast boot drive and store my files on my 1tb spindle drive

after installing vista (15GB) with Service pack one (5GB) and service pack 2 with updated patches (10GB) i am left with 7.44GB of free space leaving very little maneuvering room or even installing apps like office or photo shop and you can forget about games

2 days after using this drive i watched more and more space get eaten up by vista I had to set the update to not download anymore updates.

Still a fast drive but save up for the 80GB
Rating: 5 / 5

Okay, I just built a system and I’ve only had this drive for a couple days, but it is awesome. The price was relatively right too. Yes, we would all like a much bigger drive, but I believe this will be adequate for my needs to boot Windows 7 and load my most important programs. No need to drop big bucks on faster, bigger SSDs now, because there is a lot of competition out there, and in a year, you will probably be able to replace it with a much bigger one, or just add another one, for a song. This is relatively new technology, with more than one or two players. 40 gigs is enough for now. Don’t even think about it if you are considering a new system. It’s a no-brainer to get one of these to boot with. This is my fourth build over the past thirteen years, and nothing before has seen this kind of performance jump. It’s amazing.

One more thing: It is hoped that MS will wake up and give people more control over some of the files generated by their OS. Windows XP was a hideous monster in creating huge files on the boot drive that could easily be kept on the data drive. I have about 14 gigs of the 40 left over after loading my programs, which I could uninstall and reinstall on the hd if necessary, but I don’t want to.

You should either disable the swap file in Windows 7 (most new systems don’t need them anymore with the memory they have.) or else move it to the hard drive to keep it off the SS drive. If you need a swap file, you probably should consider more memory anyway if your system isn’t so old it’s not worth adding it. Luckily, I believe Windows 7 still gives us the option of where to put swap files. I don’t know about hibernation files.. that one I’m working on.
Rating: 5 / 5

Grabbed one of these, threw it in my desktop, installed the OS onto it, and it was as good as getting a brand new computer speed-wise. Finally the bottleneck of the disk is gone. It also came with a little converter so I could mount it into the normal 3.5″ slot, which is needed for at least my desktop. It doesn’t have a USB connection, but who would use it, and it just slows down the transfer anyway. It runs very cool–not much noticeable heat generated, and, of course, is silent.

Thanks Intel!

-rp
Rating: 5 / 5

These things should be standard in all new PC’s. The space is big enough for as many programs as you could possibly add, only it won’t hold your MP3 collection or home videos (which are stored on a separate drive anyway right?).

There is no noise, no heat, and no delay for any activity. You can put it in an old computer and get similar performance to a new computer with a spinning disc if you want to delay a new PC purchase. Highly recommended. I can’t wait for them to come down in price.
Rating: 5 / 5