Century's SATA adapter supports 3 CF cards: cheap SSDs for all

While we patiently wait 18 to 24 months for the CFast CompactFlash cards to arrive, there's always this: the DIY Century Compact Flash to SATA adapter. We've seen these adapters before of course, but this is the first we recall supporting 3x cards. That's a quickie 96GB SSD for about $450 (plus $192.57 for the adapter plus shipping) given current on-line prices. Not bad when you consider the $1,000+ price tag for a smaller 64GB SSD. Better yet, performance should be rock solid based on earlier reviews. In stock with RAID 0 / 5 support starting May 1st.

[Via Akihabara News]

[Tommo @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:35AM]

Not bad, but CF cards are expensive in worthwhile sizes. SD is cheaper and you could fit loads in a HD case, try that.

[JohnM @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:48AM]

One could always buy SD to CF converters.

[YoYoYo @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:29AM]

SD is slower and considerably more complicated.

My question is why they price a 96GB layout in the article and not something more reasonable - This makes a 48GB SSD possible for well under $200. That's actually a little bit tempting.

[JohnSearle @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:01AM]

@YoYoYo

That is assuming that you already have the Adapter, which is around $200 plus shipping. So really you're looking at spending something like $400 for a 48GB SSD.

http://www.geekstuff4u.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=836

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:32AM]

One should probably avoid both. This is gimmicky - the previous CF-as-SSD article that Engadget links states that this setup is SLOWER than a 2.5 inch 7200 RPM drive.

Slower than a 2.5 inch hard drive = slowwwww.

[kal326 @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:29AM]

@Ty
The article stated that it was bested by a 7200rpm 2.5 HD, most laptops are equipped with 5400rpm or even 4200rpm on the really large drives until just recently. Performance is only one aspect of choosing an SSD, it doesn't matter how well a 7200rpm drive performs if the first time you take it out in the field it gets jolted and crashes the heads.

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:19PM]

For some reason I have the inclination to scoff at the argument that booting off a CF card is more reliable than booting off a hard drive (or real SSD)...

[Rob @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:28PM]

For some reason I have the inclination to scoff at the argument that booting off a CF card is more reliable than booting off a hard drive (or real SSD)...

But you have no basis for saying that, do you?

You can't do this with a hard drive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3939333.stm

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:42PM]

Only the two dead CF cards I own, and one CF card I have to re-seat every day in order to write to it correctly.

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:43PM]

Also, I'm pretty sure you'd have other problems if you smashed up a CF card that was actually INSIDE your laptop as described in that article.

Ablity to recover data != Stability. You can pull data off a hard drive that was submerged in water for weeks, but that doesn't mean you're going to be able to boot off it.

[teej @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:15PM]

I also have a two CF cards that i use in a Boss digital recorder for guitar tracks and stuff, and they've both become corrupted at least once; had to reformat both. Luckily, I had already backed them up on my comp.

[Biggerx @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:36AM]

Nice!

[smk @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:40AM]

Would it show up as one single drive?

[Daza @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:48AM]

Yes, if configured properly with RAID.

[Lucky @ Apr 24th 2008 12:36AM]

Doubt it needs to be configured like that. It's all being piped into 1 single sata cable, so it will act as 1 sata drive. Just like if you use iRAM, 4 sticks are treated as 1 sata drive since the interface with the mobo takes the place of 1 drive.

[Special_K @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:42AM]

Hm, cool. I'll still hold out for the price drop on SSDDs (it'll happen soon), but I like keeping my options open.

Meanwhile: CF. Wow, I can't believe that little format keeps on chugging. What are they up to now, capacity-wise? I know my camera uses CF, and I love how rugged the cards are. Never gonna' lose one of those (if I did, it'd mean losing about 400 pictures, so I'd better not). The only thing I hate about the format is the three-dozen tiny little pins in the male connector. Every single reader I've ever owned has had at least a few bent pins. This doesn't seem to actually affect performance, but it still speaks to how old the format is. Look at your computer now; the only connector with tonnes of bendable pins is VGA or DVA, and it's not like you're touching that that often.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:47AM]

Entirely too expensive for the capacity but I'll be looking for pricing to come down. CF might be a bit long in the tooth, but it's a good medium. I still like it and for me it's still the best medium for a DSLR. Of course as a D70 user I'm admittedly a bit biased, but I think compact flash has a lot of life left.

[smk @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:05AM]

I don't get it.

[Ty @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:34AM]

That's because it's a gimmick: "The drives were bested by a 7200rpm 2.5-inch drive"

Slow slow slow.

[Rob @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:34PM]

A 7200rpm 2.5" hard drive is not slow. A 1.8" drive is slow. A 4200rpm 2.5" hard drive is slow. The performance of a 5400rpm 2.5" drive at a reasonable price would be perfectly fine given the advantages of solid state memory... noiseless, less power consumption, harder to break.

[conor @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:57PM]

You want this...
Lexar Professional UDMA - Flash memory card - 8 GB - 300x
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEF254/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_1

[conor @ Apr 23rd 2008 3:00PM]

You want this...
Lexar Professional UDMA - Flash memory card - 8 GB - 300x
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEF254/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_1

[Homeboy @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:09AM]

The speed will probably be pretty sluggish.

[E @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:15AM]

...the $1000 SSD upgrade for macbook air.

[Charm Merchant @ May 18th 2008 12:41PM]

you mean they will finally not overheat? NICE!

[rob @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:19AM]

The problem is that the cards you actually want are only available up to 8GB in capacity. You need cards that are preferable rated at 266X speed wise. And even then there is a LOT of difference between the cards as those speed indications are typically for READ only and WRITE will be incredibly slow.

The larger cards (12, 16 or 32GB) are MUCH slower and unusable for practical SSD use for most users.

I made an SSD for a ThinkPad X40 using the 8GB SanDisk Extreme IV
http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Compact_Flash_boot_drive

[A.C.E.R. @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:43AM]

Newegg has 32gb 233x CF for $150. in Raid0 that shouldn't be too bad.

[rob @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:36AM]

newegg has 32GB RiDATA, Transcend and A-DATA cards, all of those vendors are notorious for delivering under performing cards, especially in WRITE speeds.

Even the Sandisk Extreme IV is not as fast as I was expecting in WRITE speeds.

[conor @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:53PM]

You wan this...
Lexar Professional UDMA - Flash memory card - 8 GB - 300x
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEF254/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_1

[conor @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:53PM]

You want this...
Lexar Professional UDMA - Flash memory card - 8 GB - 300x
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000PEF254/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_1

[A.C.E.R. @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:37AM]

Hmm...$200 for a SATA CFx3 adapter or $3 for an IDE CFx1 adapter...

[culbeda @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:18AM]

Yeah, I have a few of those $3 adapters and they don't support DMA and they certainly don't handle RAID. Oh yeah, and I CAN'T PUT IT IN A NOTEBOOK!

[Rob @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:44PM]

You can get a CF to 2.5" IDE for a few bucks, which would surely fit inside a laptop. But those other two points are definitely true.

[anabouboula @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:43AM]

Take that Apple!

[xploit @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:45AM]

holy repost batman...

[anabouboula @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:48AM]

Take that Batman!

[xploit @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:52AM]

fail - you @ replying

[anabouboula @ Apr 23rd 2008 5:55AM]

zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[craig#2 @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:10AM]

I laughed

[seanchk @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:02AM]

I'd like a solid state DDR drive like these guys sell http://www.hyperossystems.co.uk/

[ugg.tryptophan @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:03AM]

i cant believe how many nerds are up this early

[chris @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:09AM]

You realize some people from different countries also read this site?

[dvsbstrd @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:12AM]

Other countries?

There are other countries?

Damn American public school system.

[bi0hazard @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:03AM]

"I personally believe that US Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and The Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the US should help the US or should help South Africa and should help The Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for our children."

[BigBloke @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:24AM]

@bi0hazard

Your eloquent post sums it all up actually. If it wasn't so true, I would actually be laughing.

[JC @ Apr 23rd 2008 8:50AM]

OMG! Miss Teen NC posts here on Engadget!

[Diamamet @ Apr 23rd 2008 7:36AM]

@happy_penguin:

Compared to harddisks it is pricy for the capacity but if you compare it to other SDD drives it is far more reasonable. For example, DELL want an additional $550 for a 64GB SDD.

[happy_penguin @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:36PM]

Yeah, I'll agree with that. But this is exactly the reason why SSD will not replace HD anytime soon. We need prices that are much more in line with HD before that will happen.

[Neoprimal @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:10AM]

I remember when my 850mb hard drive was over 120 or so dollars. Then, about 2 years later I remember my 11gb drive being 120 or so dollars. Then another 2 years later I remember my 80gb drive being 120 or so dollars. 2 years after that my 200gb drive was roughly 120 or so dollars. 2 years ago my 400gb drive was 100 dollars. I just purchased a 750gb external with usb/esata for 130. An obvious trend...

I think I'll wait a year or 2 until SSD becomes value for money priced and there's a really good reason to have it running in my system.
There's absolutely no reason for the home user right now to get solid state vs. massive storage capacity, especially for those ridiculous prices. It's like moving backward. I could have gotten a gig or 2 back when I got my 850mb but even that was nowhere close to filled, alas, I was on 14.4 dialup. Likewise, why spend upwards of $500 on 32gb with no foreseeable advantage other than 'speed' for desktop systems, and speed and low power consumption/heat for laptops?

Don't get me wrong, it's a grand technological advancement and a noteworthy evolution to magnetic storage but the price needs to come down for it to be worthwhile for home users, albeit power users as well.

[Howard @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:33AM]

Cheap, but slower than molasses. Running an OS off of a Compact Flash card would be torture. Even real SSDs have trouble keeping up with hard drive transfer speeds.