Lexar rolls out 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB ExpressCard SSDs

We already knew that Lexar had an 8GB ExpressCard SSD up its sleeve, but it seems that the company just can't get enough of that high-speed solid state storage, today announcing 4GB and 16GB cards in addition to officially announcing the 8GB model. From the looks of it, both the 4GB and 8GB models will give a peak data transfer speed of 250 MB/s (we assume the 16GB will be the same as well), with all three coming bundled with Lexar's auto-backup software, and each ready for use with Vista's ReadyBoost feature. While the whole lot of them are supposedly shipping now, there only appears to be pricing details available for the 4GB and 8GB models, with them setting you back $130 and $200, respectively.

[scott @ May 2nd 2007 4:23PM]

You mean only macbook pros right? i would love an expresscard slot now in hindsight after buying my macbook.

[RyanTV @ May 2nd 2007 1:24PM]

I've never used an expansion slot disk before... but could you theoretically install your OS on one of these?

[Alex @ May 2nd 2007 1:27PM]

I don't think you can boot from slots, although maybe on newer chipsets.

[suntiger @ May 2nd 2007 1:49PM]

"We already knew that Lexar had an 8GB ExpressCard SSD up its sleeve, but it seems that the company just can't get enough of that high-speed solid state storage, _having just announced_ 4GB and 16GB cards in addition to officially announcing the 8GB model. From the looks of it, both the 4GB and 8GB models will give a peak data transfer speed of 250 MB/s (we assume the 16GB will be the same as _well). All three come_ bundled with Lexar's auto-backup software, and _each is_ ready for use with Vista's ReadyBoost feature. While the whole lot of them are supposedly shipping now, there only _appear_ to be pricing details available for the 4GB and 8GB models, _which will set_ you back $130 and $200, respectively."

There. Fixed your English. Please, guys, stop hurting my brain!

[nikster @ May 2nd 2007 1:51PM]

ExpressCards can either go over USB or SATA - if this is really 250MB/s it would be SATA. So I think you should be able to boot from it. Would be neat.
Also, beware of ExpressCard SSDs that work over USB such as the ones from Transcend - those are going to be way slower.

[DarthDVD @ May 2nd 2007 2:03PM]

I would love to see some readyboost benchmarks with this drive

[Ceralor @ May 2nd 2007 2:14PM]

My question is with the ExpressCard slots. Are all the slots only that thin? My HP's slot is wider than that at the entrance, large enough to hold the remote, but I've also seen other cards for it that -are- that wide at the outer half. Is there some sort of filler to keep dust from getting in?

[DarthDVD @ May 2nd 2007 2:45PM]

Not all Expresscards are that thin, there is a form factor larger than the lexar card.
Formfactor and other information for expresscards is availible on the following web site.
http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/
Now... this will interest Desktop users.
there is an ExpressCard to PCIE Adapter availible.
;) i know what i want for my B-Day

[Lack @ May 2nd 2007 2:38PM]

Express Card can be either /34 or /54 flavor. Your slot is probably /54 (wider) and this card is /34.

[Lack @ May 2nd 2007 2:36PM]

250MB/s? No way, more like 25MB/s.

Orvtech: MacBooks don't come with and Express Card slot.

[brad @ May 2nd 2007 4:00PM]

what would happen if i put one of these in my laptop? would the 4 gig act essentially as ram?

Im interested in possibly getting one as i never use the slot on my laptop and if this will give me a pretty big boost in speed, i may pick one up

[walter @ May 2nd 2007 4:45PM]

I doubt this thing handles 250MB/sec

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/first-review-lexar-expresscard-ssd-254364.php
"It read a fair 15MB per second on several machines. . . But only wrote at 3MB per second"

[noahyv @ May 2nd 2007 6:00PM]

I'm guessing the 250MBps comes from the theoretical maximum bandwidth of a single PCI-e lane. Kinda like how people sometimes say SATA HDDs do 300MBps. Not practical bandwidth. I'm guessing it'll be the same numbers we are used to seeing with affordable consumer NAND flash memory (15MBps sounds about right).

[wellingj @ May 2nd 2007 9:43PM]

If this isn't bootable I hardly see the why I'd pay for it over this:
http://www.memorydepot.com/details.asp?id=FD8GIDESATATURBO

[Jeff Y. @ May 3rd 2007 12:01AM]

@wellingj: Maybe because it costs over twice as much? I could careless about it being bootable. If it was faster storage than a USB flash drive, it's worth it...otherwise, nothx.

[Xavier @ May 3rd 2007 3:58PM]

I played with one of these for about a week and reviewed it here:
http://www.notebooks.com/2007/05/02/review-lexar-expresscard-ssd/

These things are pretty slow, but the form factor is much better than having a USB thumbdrive hanging off the side of your computer while you're on the move.

I saw less than 2MB/sec writes!

[Cobra @ Nov 12th 2007 10:49AM]

So you cannot instill Vista 12GB+4GB ReadyBoost on this and set all the temp files to the HDD and have all the apps drives and all software go to the hard drive.

anyone know a SSD on expresscard that can do this.