Super Talent unloads 32GB / 64GB SSDs for ASUS Eee PC S101
By Darren Murph 
posted Jan 29th 2009 12:03PM
posted Jan 29th 2009 12:03PM
[Via HotHardware]
posted Jan 29th 2009 12:03PM
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$169 for 64GB? Not too bad.
Help me I'm trying to understand why people are ok about paying the amounts for SSD. Sure faster read ans write times, but the lack of space is what gets me. Why buy a 64 GB SSD for over 150 bucks when companies like seagate offer 1.5 TB HDD for a bit cheaper.
Because for a netbook you don't need a terabyte of storage. You want speed. You want no moving parts. You want less heat. All things you get from an SSD.
Because the 1.5TB Seagate drive you're talking about (or the recently released WD line) is, what, 50% of the size and volume of the entire computer that relatively microscopic SSD is going into? Not to mention the power requirements.
Note: the photo is not to scale on your 30" 'portable' monitor.
The other attractive features are:
-never need to defrag ever again
-file server's with multiple file read/writes = almost zero seek time
say what? you don't need a lot of space for a notebook? Are you nuts? Sure you do. The rule with notebooks as with everything else in the computer world is the bigger and faster the better. However the largest hdd that you can get for a notebook is currently 500gb and not 1.5tb. As far as 64gb goes ... this is extremely small for it to be useful even if it's fast. And actually at the listed speed a 7200rpm 320gb seagate drive is just as fast and is a lot cheaper.
The reason why these particular ssds are gaining popularity is that in a lot of netbooks you cannot put even a mobile hdd due to design choices made by the manufacturer. And also ssd seems to be really cool these days and a lot of manufacturers are making a killing on them. HDD manufacturing is quite difficult and pretty much impossible to do unless you are one of 4 companies while ssds are a lot easier market to get into. So it's a lot of hype plus some potentially huge performance gains that drives consumers to ssds.
Newegg had a 60GB SSD in 2.5" for around a $100 with 90MB/50MB r/w. Given the limited use of the form factor of this device I would go with the 2.5" in a regular notebook.
Correction 155MB/90MB R/W speed. Its got a $20 promo code and $20 MIR for a final price of $97.79.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227373&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL012709&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL012709-_-SolidStateDisks-_-LF2A-_-20227373
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=40000636&Description=64GB%20ssd&name=Solid%20State%20Disks
yesterday I saw a special 64GB SSD for $119 there.
You mean the Patriot? (currently for 139)
Hmm, that one seems to be less than half the rated speed of the drive in the article. (55MB read / 15MB write)
Seems like you wouldn't be doing yourself any favors going the cheap route, though of course waiting is always the safe choice here.
hmm yeah, 169 for a 64gb ssd is not too bad at all, as of now. what are the cheapest prices though? i've been looking into replacing my 5200rpm 250gb 2.5incher
will they work with other Netbooks (HP Mini)
I'm sure they would...
Actually the EeePC Mini Pci-e SSD's are longer than the standard card length so these will not fit in a HP Mini.
I believe the HP Mini 1000 is a 1.8" SSD
That is one super talent!
Would this fit a Dell Mini 9?
no ... the dell mini 9 uses a shorter stubby pci mini card than this one :(
Yes of course....but will it blend?
If you have a blendtec blender than OF COURSE it will blend
So how does one go about disassembling the S101 without ruining it totally?
These are $30 cheaper than the Runcore 64GB version, with an faster advertised read speed and same write speed. If the advertised speeds are accurate they will be a bargain, but the Runcore 64GB version runs exactly as advertised according to JKK's tests.
Now we just need a 50mm version to stick in the primary slot of the 901!
Actually, you are not comparing apples to apples Runcore's version of this part is nearly 2x as fast at 115/95 for only $30 more.
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/SPD/runcore-64gb-pro-sata-70mm-mini-pci-e-pcie-ssd-for-asus-eee-pc-900-and-s101---in-stock-runcore-64gb-pro-70mm-sata-mini-pcie-solid-state-drive-ssd-for-asus-eee-pc-900-s101--8000092B-1231822344.jsp
Would it work in a 900 thought? I have a measly 4gb, and its slower than heck.
Would love to get a 64 GB one.
Good news for you. MDD has instructions on install of the 115/95 SSD for the Asus 900.
Forgot to add the link
http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/CategoryProductList.jsp?cat=Browse+By+Brand:RunCore:RunCore+PCI+Express+Mini+PCI-e+SSDs:Asus+EEE+PC+Mini+PCI-e+SSDs:RunCore+Mini+PCI-e+SSD+for+Asus+EEE+PC+900+and+S101
Netbooks don't need 100 gigaflams of storage. If you think they do, you are clearly using yours wrong. I have a 32 Gig SDD and a 16 GB SD card. I have plenty of room for what I need to do.
Oh come on, that's the original "no one needs more than 640kB of RAM" line. More storage is always welcome, you'll always find a use for it. On the SSD vs. HDD debate it's less obvious. Flash is over-hyped. What's not often made clear is the I/O speed falls off a cliff once the file size gets small. The HDD soldiers on moving those 10,000 tiny files at a decent clip. So as the boot drive there are situations where SSD really does suck even if it has a 100 MB/s rated write speed. Also HDD are more reliable and robust than people make them out to be. Add to that flash is about 6 times more expensive per GB.
But SSD is cool, goddammit. It's that whole "look Ma, no moving parts" thing. Me likey.
Well, considering I'm used to 100gb I think, maybe 120gb, I've swapped HDDs so many times I've lost count, these SSDs are pretty arright! What was it, like 6 months ago that 128gb SSDs were like $1000? I'm sure thats off by a bit... but my point is that the tech is coming down in price verrryyy fast
I picked up a patriot 64gb SSD for my eee 900a a couple months ago when I purchased it to replace the god aweful slow one in it. The write speed for that is about 30-40mb/s, which is still faster than the stock that was in it. Though, everyone is right about the small block read/writes basically creating slight interruption states where it's going below its bulk read mode, so it seems. I hit that alot while using google gears and gmail.
No one knock the SSD, for it's intended purpose it fills a gap that has been long left untouched much less unfilled. Within 1 year of my experience watching it, they have hit the market uber-expensive, dropped astronomically in price (my guess is due to popularity growth) and now expanding in size to fill that gap in price as each new becomes more popular and drops to it's proportionate price.
It reminds me of the HDD through it's life as I've watched it in my life. Beginning, it was clunky, choppy, expensive as gold it seems, and was used super sparingly. Almost overnight once IDE came to existence, the size went up, became faster, bottlenecks worked around and prices dropping. It's bound to happen the same with SSD, all that is to happen is the decrease in chassis size in desktop units to restrict bay space for HDD units.
They've had their day, and their faults also. Every new step has it's hurdles to overcome, and this may even be a stepping stone instead of "the next best thing".