Boot from ExpressCard SSD - x200 Tablet

Samsung 64GB SLC for $199 - 10% using code "geekbert"

LINK

$180 is a pretty good price IMO for a reliable SLC drive. I don't know if 64GB is enough storage space for you though. This Samsung drive is also not super fast.

 

64GB is pushing it a little, but I could probably make it work (augment capacity with SDHC and/or ExpressCard storage). The price is also quite reasonable because most of the 64GB SLC drives I've seen have been >$500 (e.g. this Rebadged Samsung).

Is this the same, or a very comparable, drive to the one that originally shipped with the x300?

Also, the performance seems very good. My preference is to find a drive that is nearly symmetric and stable. This SLC drive (as well as the MTron 34mm ExpressCard) matches that by being 100MB/s read and 80MB/s write (I assume these numbers are stable throughout the drive and at many sizes due to the SLC technology). I do not care about ultra high sequential read speeds (e.g. the 250MB/s+ read Intel X-25M) if the write speed isn't equivalent (<70MB/s on the Intel x-25M) as I'd never be able to appreciate the sequential read throughput.

 

The SSD in the X300 was an SLC Samsung AFAIK. The one at geeks for $180 is either the same drive that has shipped in the X300 or a newer version. I think this exact drive is currently shipping in several notebooks from Dell and Lenovo.

From the reading that I've done the Samsung SLC drives are hard to criticize in terms of performance and stability. Even the mighty X-25 has purportedly been exhibiting inconsistent performance lately (although I think the synthetic environments achieving those results may not have much validity).

 

I'm not sure what's up with the price of the Samsung SLC drives, but now even Newegg has the 64GB for $175 - this time for the 1.8" version. Weren't you kind of looking for a good 1.8" drive Jon?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147056

 

That's a great find.

Best guess is that Samsung is lowering the price on these drives as they have a new high performance (220 read, 200 write) drive coming out very shortly. However, the new drive is MLC, so I might just go with the older 64GB SLC drive (especially at these price points).

Now I just need to find a good price on the 1.8" to 2.5" storage converter. Or, buy the 2.5" drive off Geeks.com.

 

Jon-

I see that you have a 64GB *SLC* SSD on your signature. Did you recently purchase a drive? I'm curious which you ended up buying, and if you bought the small Samsung SLC SSD off of NewEgg, how do you like it, and was it a hassle to install?

I'm currently running XP Tab Ed w/ intentions of finding a Windows 7 Act Key, but I want to get an SSD first. I'm a medical student in Detroit and need excellent battery life w/speed, min. 6 hrs active in class/day. Still there is always time to nerd out online. Thanks!

-Matt

 

I bought the 1.8" Samsung SLC off Newegg. You need part 42W8019 from Lenovo (IBM parts store) to make it work (1.8" Micro-SATA to 2.5" SATA), but aside from that it's very easy. I did a clean install of Windows 7 Beta (a release candidate should be coming soon), and had no problems installing it.

I haven't done heavy battery testing yet (I just installed it last night) but I am very impressed with the drive already. It cut down on the noise from my notebook considerably (I have to put my ear right over the exhaust to hear the fan moving very slowly; there is NO OTHER NOISE). System boot time and general performance is extremely good. Windows boots in <15 seconds, and hibernate/resume is also <15 seconds (it was >60 on my 320GB 5400 RPM drive). General felt performance is also very good, I have not felt any slowdowns at all, and applications install extremely fast.

You also gain a reduction in weight. The 1.8" SSD in converter is <50 grams; conversely, my 2.5" HDD with rubber rails is >100 grams (I have pictures on a scale that I will post soon).

I highly recommend you make the upgrade. Unfortunately, the <$200 bargains on this drive (geeks.com and newegg) appear to be sold out. So you will either need to pay more, select a different drive, or wait for another sale (Samsung is releasing a new high speed MLC drive soon, so this SLC drive may go on a fire sale).

 

Would this drive work? It is 2.5 and considering the I just paid 48 dollars for the part and the Samsung drive is 175, making 225. Perhaps it would be worth the extra $100 for the Intel?

 

Intel SSDSA2MH080G1C5 X25-M 80GB MLC 2.5-Inch 9.5mm Solid State Drive

Sorry, forgot the name of the drive in the last post

 

The Intel x25-M will work fine, but it DOES NOT REQUIRE THE ADAPTER. The x25-M is a 2.5" drive and uses the same rubber rails as a standard HDD. If you want to use the adapter, you should look for the Intel x18-M (18=1.8" 25=2.5").

Also, be aware that the Intel SSD is MLC. As a result, it offers fewer erase cycles, uses slightly more energy, is highly asymmetric (reads much faster than writes), and does suffer some long term performance degradation (cleared by issuing the "secure erase" command). However, the Intel x-25M does offer superior read and small random write speeds due to a controller that employs write combining and parallel reads.