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My Kingston SSDNow 128gb died on me

B

bighill89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 10, 2010
2
0
Hi guys,

Last week I bought a new 13" 2.53GHz MBP. I also bought a Kingston 128 GB SSDNow V Series from a local computer store (Canada Computers) and installed it myself. It was fast as hell (startup time, restart time, sleep time, application launch time, etc.) and I thoroughly enjoyed it while it lasted.

Last night, I restarted my MBP and got the white screen of death with a question mark on a folder. After several calls with Apple and the local computer store, it seems my SSD is dead and I lost all my data. I installed the original/stock 250 GB HD that came with my MBP and that's what I'm using now. During business hours on Monday, I will phone Kingston for help.

My questions for you guys:
  1. Has anyone else had a problem with the Kingston SSDNow dying on them? Or any other SSDs?
  2. Apple Care said it could be completely Kingston's fault (ie faulty SSD) or the MBP could simply not be compatible with this SSD (although it worked great for a week). The local computer store said it could be my EFI, but I'm running the latest EFI. What do you think?
  3. Should I get a refund on the Kingston SSD and stick with the stock 250 GB HD, or should I get a replacement SSD and hope it doesn't happen again? I'm worried about the reliability now :(

Thanks guys.

PS, some random information:
- Got the SSD from Canada Computers for ~$300 CAD incl tax, http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=023921&cid=HDD.859
- Here's the Kingston website if you want to see the datasheet, http://www.kingston.com/ukroot/ssd/v_series.asp, SNV125-S2BN/128GB
 
You should ask for a replacement. This is clearly a manufacturing error, don't loose you're faith in SSD ;)
This has in no way to do with you're EFI or macbook, it's just the ssd drive that was doomed even before you bought it.
 
When I was looking for a SSD for one of my machines (MB Alu 2 GHz), the consensus seemed to be that Intel was making the best drives. I followed and bought an 80 Gb Intel SSD and had no problem with it for several months now.
You could return your drive and get an Intel instead, they seem to have a good reputation.
 
Same issue - 128GB SSDNOW + MBPro 13"

Failed 2x in less than 2 months. Kingston says they will only refurbish it, because it is discontinued. That's right, the SSDNow v2 is discontinued. How/why do you refurbish a bunch of flash chips?

In each case, the machine started acting 'funny' apps wouldn't open for example. So I restarted, but the machine would not reboot. The bootloader did not seem to recognize the disk. In each case I used my install disks to reformat and recovery from Time Machine. I'm up and running with the OEM 5400rpm disk, but it seems very slow compared to the ssd.
 
mikewest said:
Failed 2x in less than 2 months. Kingston says they will only refurbish it, because it is discontinued. That's right, the SSDNow v2 is discontinued. How/why do you refurbish a bunch of flash chips?
Click to expand...

The same way you refurbish memory. It's a pretty common practice especially since these companies are Taiwan based. What they do is run it through a series of diagnostics and see which chips are bad. They remove them then replace them with new or sometimes not even new but working chips. Afterwards, they retest it and if its working within specs, they resell it. Sometimes at a "new" product price too.

I know this because my mom works for an company that produces OEM products of ram and SSD
 
Jaro65 said:
I don't believe that from the legal standpoint you can sell a refurbished item as new.
Click to expand...

Is there a legal standpoint that you can't do that? I mean if you found out you could sue but I really doubt you'll get anywhere.

And it's a fairly common practice among memory companies, including crucial, infinion, wintec, etc. Almost every taiwan based memory companies use this practice. It's not fair but its true.
 
Replacement drive on the way

It appears that Kingston is shipping 'a replacement' according to the info I have received. I hope this drive works better than the previous one. I can say this for certain - the SSDNow drive is far faster than the stock 160GB drive Apple uses. Night and day faster.
 
mikewest said:
It appears that Kingston is shipping 'a replacement' according to the info I have received. I hope this drive works better than the previous one. I can say this for certain - the SSDNow drive is far faster than the stock 160GB drive Apple uses. Night and day faster.
Click to expand...


I'm in the same boat as you guys as my Kingston 128Gb SSDNow v series failed twice in a three month period. Same situation as Mikewest.
I'm about to RMA the drive to Kingston in California and I live in Canada.

Mikewest did you receive your "replacement" from Kingston? If so, did you receive a refurb/rebuilt or a new drive? How long did it take for delivery?
 
Very bad things happening with those Now SSD - that is why Kingston stopped making them already. If I were any of you with a bad one I'd demand money back and go with a different manufacturer such as OCZ or Intel. They both have great rep's on their SSD for PC and Mac.
 
If memory serves me correctly, Kingston also rebadges the Intel 80/160GB gen 2 drives.

Perhaps the OP (and the other fellow that lost a couple) should push for one of the 160GB units to replace it given the troubles you've had.

Just a thought.
 
itommyboy said:
Very bad things happening with those Now SSD - that is why Kingston stopped making them already. If I were any of you with a bad one I'd demand money back and go with a different manufacturer such as OCZ or Intel. They both have great rep's on their SSD for PC and Mac.
Click to expand...

According to the rep for Kingston that I chatted with they test and fix and replace parts in the unit.
Ugh...What to do?
 
My SSD KINGSTON FAIL FAULT in Macbook PRO

Hi guys,

i bought an ssd kingston 128 V series and fault or is dead, work for 10 days in my macbook pro 15" 2.53Mhz and no start more, i lost everything, impossible to recover.

I think the SSD is not the future in notebooks or computers, in HDD you can recover fisical data, and i recovered many times in my life. That is the first time is impossible recover something
 
ogschile said:
Hi guys,

i bought an ssd kingston 128 V series and fault or is dead, work for 10 days in my macbook pro 15" 2.53Mhz and no start more, i lost everything, impossible to recover.

I think the SSD is not the future in notebooks or computers, in HDD you can recover fisical data, and i recovered many times in my life. That is the first time is impossible recover something
Click to expand...

Well, everything has its pros and cons. Would you feel the same have you made a backup?

YsOuucK said:
i dont think theres much of a legal aspect in this...more of a business.
Click to expand...

You may be right - I am no legal expert. But one would hope that there would exist some type of consumer protection to guarantee our rights. When I buy new, I expect new. When I buy refurbished or used...that's exactly what I expect.
 
Just get mad and demand that the place you bought it from ship you a replacement, it shouldn't be hard to get a FAULTY item replaced. It's not like it's been a year or anything.

I hate dealing with manufacturers, it's simple to just make the retailer do that.
 
Here is another reason I'm thinking of personally going with apple ssd' once released. It might be little more $, but going straight to apple vs removing, contacting 3rd. party etc. I'm planing to hold on to mbp' with apple care for 3 years. I guess will see what comes out when new model released...
 
knightwrangler said:
According to the rep for Kingston that I chatted with they test and fix and replace parts in the unit.
Ugh...What to do?
Click to expand...

Just to follow up, Kingston shipped a brand new SSD drive
model is SNV425-S2/128GB. Turnover time was about a week.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should keep it or sell !
 
mike8717189 said:
Here is another reason I'm thinking of personally going with apple ssd' once released. It might be little more $, but going straight to apple vs removing, contacting 3rd. party etc. I'm planing to hold on to mbp' with apple care for 3 years. I guess will see what comes out when new model released...
Click to expand...

Kingston also provides 3 years warranty with its SSDs by default, without purchasing any additional care plan. And with Apple, you don't know what to expect. They don't put the nice Intel SSDs into their portables.

If you listen to me, you get the most basic Apple drive and clone it onto a 7200rpm one or an SSD. You can sell the stock HDD or put it into a caddy and keep it as an external drive. Personally, I tend to keep some of them with certain tasks on them and boot from them if I want to. It's much easier to take a 2.5" HDD with you to the office than a whole MBP.
 
mikewest said:
Failed 2x in less than 2 months. Kingston says they will only refurbish it, because it is discontinued. That's right, the SSDNow v2 is discontinued. How/why do you refurbish a bunch of flash chips?

In each case, the machine started acting 'funny' apps wouldn't open for example. So I restarted, but the machine would not reboot. The bootloader did not seem to recognize the disk. In each case I used my install disks to reformat and recovery from Time Machine. I'm up and running with the OEM 5400rpm disk, but it seems very slow compared to the ssd.
Click to expand...

I had 2 drives fail in the last 2 months and my OEM drive is failing right now. So that's 3 drives in last 2 months. Can't be a coincidence, I think it's the macbook killing them.
 
ogschile said:
Hi guys,

i bought an ssd kingston 128 V series and fault or is dead, work for 10 days in my macbook pro 15" 2.53Mhz and no start more, i lost everything, impossible to recover.

I think the SSD is not the future in notebooks or computers, in HDD you can recover fisical data, and i recovered many times in my life. That is the first time is impossible recover something
Click to expand...

well you think all the drive failure's you had, and ended up recover you would have at least started backing stuff up.....
 
segers909 said:
You should ask for a replacement. This is clearly a manufacturing error, don't loose you're faith in SSD ;)
This has in no way to do with you're EFI or macbook, it's just the ssd drive that was doomed even before you bought it.
Click to expand...

Exactly, except I'd say not to lose faith. Loose faith doesn't do much good.

SSDs like regular HDDs can fail but it looks like your drive was a bit premature. Always backup and always plan for the worst with any drive no matter the cost.
 
ogschile said:
I think the SSD is not the future in notebooks or computers, in HDD you can recover fisical data, and i recovered many times in my life. That is the first time is impossible recover something
Click to expand...
Oh it is possible to get the data, just not with the tools you have...
 
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