back to article WD shipping consumer SSDs

Western Digital has started shipping consumer-focused solid-state drives (SSDs). The SiliconEdge Blue family is a range of 2.5-inch form factor SSDs storing up to 256GB of data, and having a 3Gbit/s SATA interface. The read speed is up to 250MB/sec and the write speed up to 170MB/sec. WD says the products have "maximum …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anton Ivanov

    That is still a very hefty price tag

    That is not consumer pricing. Fanboi and performance freak - maybe, but definitely not "consumer".

    Pity Kingston stopped the 40G V series. That was the only drive which was within reasonable budget (and it sold almost like Zeppelin tickets).

    1. Disco-Legend-Zeke
      Pint

      I Am Showing..

      ...my age when i recall the $1750 price tag for 1G drives in the mid 90's.

      So i have to choose between 1X256G drive or 1998X211 beers.

    2. zenp
      Thumb Up

      40gb becomes 30gb, still gves ninja abilities...

      ...check the new range, released from Kingston feb 15th 2010. There's a 30Gb version that's clearly aimed at the consumer market.

      And you're right about the Zeppelin tickets! I bought a 40 Gb recently (they did get the best reviews!) from e.bay for a fraction MORE than it's new price. Most unusual in the component market, i know, BUT WORTH EVERY PENNY!! Best upgrade i've ever bought into, turns your machine into a ninja, incredibly fast, totally silent.

      Awesome....

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Intel X25-V

      Intel X-25V for Value is identical to the discontinued Kingston 40GB one apart from the sticker on the top and the firmware, which supports TRIM.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vertex?

    "The obvious competing products seem to be the Intel X25-M SSDs, as well as products from Seagate, Micron, OCZ, Vertex, and others"

    You know the Vertex is a product from OCZ? :)

  3. dr48

    Lifespan

    The operational lifespan is said to be unlimited for reads and 42.1GB/day for writes with the 256GB version, 21GB/day for the 128GB model, and 10.5GB/day for the 64GB product.

    For how many days? I'm guessing just the 3 year warranty, which wouldn't be that great.

  4. steward
    FAIL

    Three-year warranty with "unlimited" reads?

    The only thing this is good for is swap files and other temporary processing spaces to speed things up. A three-year warranty means it's -expected- to break. SOON.

    1. ben 29

      Finite chips and infinite fish.

      >>A three-year warranty means it's -expected- to break. SOON.

      NAND breaks down after a few thousand writes per cell. It doesn't have the same problem when reading data.

      Unless there is an infinite supply of replacement cells the device is going to fail eventually.

    2. Brutus
      FAIL

      You are so wrong

      It works exactly the other way around. These devices will perform best as repositories of un- or seldom-changing data, e.g. OS and program files, hence the unlimited reads bit.. Swap files will kill them faster than just about anything else.

      The three year warranty is more likely to reflect the idea that the devices will be replaced for capacity/performance reasons within that timeframe.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    I'm waiting for the Vertex 2

    It's the Sandforce-based Vertex 2 due out in March (from OCZ):

    • Max Read 280 MB/s*

    • Max Write 270 MB/s*

    • IOPS (4K random write) 19,000*

    • 50GB, 100GB, 200GB, and 400GB

    Like most folks though I hope these are more consumer pricing friendly!

    Paris, as she loves fast stuff that goes like the clappers ;-)

  6. Phil Rigby
    Welcome

    Consumer level?

    I was thinking about getting the 64gb one just for my OS - but not at nearly $300. That's not consumer or entry level, sorry. Halve that, and maybe we can talk.

    I for one welcome our new SSD Cheap Price Overlords (when they arrive).

  7. b 3

    $999 for the 256GB product ???

    ok, well, F&*K THAT!!!

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like