Crucial m4 256GB mSATA SSD Review Discussion

[Lunestic]

Are mSatas better than SSDs? And what if they were paired together?

[John Ratsey]

Are mSatas better than SSDs? And what if they were paired together?

For most people there is no choice: Most notebooks do not support an mSATA SSD so the only option is a normal 2.5" SSD to replace a 2.5" HDD. The thinnest and lightest notebooks (the 'ultrabooks' or similar) only have provision for a single mSATA SSD.

However, there is a group of notebooks which have both an mSATA compatible slot and a normal 2.5" storage bay. For these, the first thing to check is the speed of the mSATA slot. Some of these are SATA 2 (300 MB/s) whereas (on more recent notebooks) the 2.5" bay is SATA 3 (600 MB/s). With the latest SSDs able to read data at around 400 MB/s the SATA 2 speed is a bottleneck. Therefore, a 2.5" SSD is usually the better option. An mSATA SSD + 2.5" HDD is an option which combines moderate cost and high capacity.

John

[cyrilng]

It won't work unless the manufacturer has made specific provision for the slot to work as both mSATA and mini PCIe. To quote from Wikipedia:


John

Thanks for the info John. Too bad.

[jaeyang9]

Show me a mSATA (not 1.8" or 2.5") SSD that was available 6 months ago. I know that 500GB or more has been available in the 2.5" format for over two years - I bought a 512GB Kingston SNVP325 in February 2010.

John

alright fine.. "more than doubled" was an exaggeration. but samsung already released 6Gbps 256gb Msata drives back in Dec 2011

[John Ratsey]

I would consider that to be the announcement. Could you buy one then, or now, for that matter?

John

[long2905]

Do you think they would release a 512GB version at all?

[aooga12]

what is the glaring difference between msata and a regular ssd? seems to be more expensive to put a 256 m4 in a laptop as a msata than it is a ssd...

[John Ratsey]

Do you think they would release a 512GB version at all?

I'm sure that 512GB will come but don't know when. I think there will first need to be a process shrink on the chips.

John

[Iron Dan]

I want one! I have a dv6tqe-7000 with an empty mSATA slot beconing for me to fill it (I think it is even SATA III). This SSD would be OS/APP drive and my 750GB seagate hybrid would be for storage. If I found a 256GB m4 mSATA for $150 I would buy it NOW. Unfortunately $230-$250 or whatever they run is too much for now..... ugh... Hopefully soon. 256GB should be PLENTY for Windows and All my games and Apps right? I would think that it'd be hard to fill that up without storing any normal data stuff on it, but if I buy, I'd want to be certain lol. For some reason my Hybrid drive doesn't seem to "learn" to boot well. It's supposed to drop to like 16 seconds after a few boots, but after 3 or 4 weeks I'm still sitting for 30 seconds (oh well, still better than my desktop and freakin tablet). Still can anyone say Christmas present?

[John Ratsey]

what is the glaring difference between msata and a regular ssd? seems to be more expensive to put a 256 m4 in a laptop as a msata than it is a ssd...

I think that the mSATA prices are currently propped up by less competition.

I want one! I have a dv6tqe-7000 with an empty mSATA slot beconing for me to fill it (I think it is even SATA III). This SSD would be OS/APP drive and my 750GB seagate hybrid would be for storage. If I found a 256GB m4 mSATA for $150 I would buy it NOW. Unfortunately $230-$250 or whatever they run is too much for now..... ugh... Hopefully soon. 256GB should be PLENTY for Windows and All my games and Apps right?

Check what is using your current disk space (treesize is very useful for this). You may find that a 128GB SSD will be enough for Windows etc.

John