anyone have the Kingston SSDNow V+100 96GB?

[Queen of Spades]

Kingston SSDNow V+100 SVP100S2B/96GR 2.5" 96GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Finally ready to jump in on an SSD, and this particular model is $120 at newegg AR. I did some research, and it got high marks for low power consumption, but scored behind in other areas. It doesn't have any reviews on newegg, but they seem positive. Maintaining battery life is important to me, so that part seems good.

Does anyone have this particular drive, and if so, how has it worked out for you? Would you recommend it? Seems like a good deal getting 96GB for $120. FYI this will be my boot drive as part of an OptiBay setup.

Thanks!

 

[cprrowberry]

get it lol.

 

[Queen of Spades]

get it lol.

Uhm, thanks? That response me LOL, actually.

 

[frankieboy]

I am curious about the Kingston "bargain" drives too, especially their performance or lack of it, over time as the drive is used.

 

[Patrick J]

I am also interested in this, thinking about buying this drive or the V100 128GB (or the V+100 128GB).

Any comments would be very appreciated.

 

[Queen of Spades]

So I finally pulled the trigger on this SSD. If anyone else is interested, it's $157 on amazon with a $50 MIR, making it $107. I'm going to use it as my boot/applications drive in an OptiBay setup.

It's got 93% 5-egg reviews on newegg, and I've read good things about it. Bumping up from a 5400RPM HDD, so I'm sure I'll enjoy the speed, even if it's not quite a Vertex 3.

I'll report back once I get it setup. There's a delay on shipping on amazon for it right now.

 

[frankieboy]

Review: Kingston SSDNow V+100 128 Gb

If you are interested in reviews and stats, check anandtech.com's review of the Vertex 3, which includes benchmarking of the Kingston SSDNow V+100 128 Gb. That is a larger capacity model than your purchase, and so the numbers may be different: smaller capacities generally exhibit lower performance than larger capacity models.

The low power consumption you reference can be seen in the charts on this page of the review.

My main concern about the SSDNow would be random write performance, generally, and the possibility of beachballing, failures to boot, problems installing the OS, or difficulty cloning your current HDD.

Do let us know how it works out. Please do some benchmarks that include 4K random writes on your HDD and the SSDNow for comparison. Thanks, and Good Luck!

 

[Queen of Spades]

Got the SSD today. I did a fresh install of Snow Leopard and am slowly installing my crucial apps/files. I am not going to go the OptiBay route right now, the 96GB will actually be enough for everyday use. I haven't found a cost effective and nicely designed OptiBay option I like yet, so I'm going to wait and just use the SSD.

I picked up 2 x 1TB firewire My Books from craigslist for $80 - the only huge files I had on my MBP were TV shows. My TV folder was like 250GB out of the 290GB I had used. So I'm keeping that on my external storage for now.

I have to admit, I was in the camp of "not worth the money right now" with regards to SSDs, but this $107 ($99 now, after rebate) drive has sold me. Booting up is crazy fast, apps open in a bounce or two, and basically my computer flies. For me, it's the perfect intro SSD to hold me over until prices drop further. It was relatively inexpensive and gives me good speed bang for the buck.

I'd be happy to benchmark as requested, but I honestly don't know what program to use. If someone could direct me, I'll post up the numbers. But I'm already thrilled with the performance thus far. I was used to 5400RPM spinners, this is like night and day.