PhotoFast GMonster SSD gets wrestled open, found to contain compact flash cards
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted Aug 6th 2009 6:49AM
posted Aug 6th 2009 6:49AM
Looks like those crazy kids from PhotoFast are putting out another do-it-y'self SSD kit, as this charming hands-on proves. Inside its unassuming shell, the GMonster Quad holds up to (you guessed it!) four 32GB CF memory cards, and a JMicron controller described by our man in Taipei as "awesome fast." No word on price yet, but we're sure to find out before this bad boy goes on sale in the next few weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the award-winning video after the break.
is it any cheaper then a normal 128gb ssd? 4 x 32gb cf cards are pretty expensive at least £55-60 each or am I missing something?
Which makes the whole thing pointless.
but the article specifically says they're not CF cards....
what this guy said.
But yet they are. The only thing that doesn't make them a CF card is the sata connector, so in other words, they're CF cards with sata connectors...
But I'm mad. I'd rather try to find a way to make it a RAID 1 or RAID 0 64GB drive
They're CFast cards, which are the next-gen version of CompactFlash.
Also, in the video the guy mentions that the drive is capable of running Raid 0,1,5, and 10.
oh... close enough i suppose. I'm glad CF is still managing to stay alive... there's really only one large market for them nowadays, pro DSLRs. The transition from ide to sata CF would be interesting.
I think like 120 dollars
But nexgen will be ASOME FASSTTT LOL
MONSTER
...i smell lawsuit...
Your image looks like a Monster. (Either that or a Chimp)
*Shivers*
lol, definitely
AWESOME FAST?
Yea you know, awesome fast, as opposed to ludicrous speed.
Can't see how this should be awesome fast...??
On the article, it has four small SATA SSDs in them, not CF cards, in a RAID Array from what I presume.
STA-STA-STUUUTER?
If this thing actually DID use CF cards (like Engadget writes, what guessed from the picture, rather than reading?) I'd buy one. I have a bunch of 4 and 8GB cards around here. As it is, it's just a crappy RAID card in essence.
RAID 5 or 10 inside a SSD is an impressive feature.
If a CF fails, you can still use your PC. You would just need to buy 1/4th or less of the SSD value to repair it.
The whole point of RAID was that the bandwidth and/or latency constricts of the local bus are mitigated. This thing RAID (in what ever config) the disks then connects to the host system over one bus.
If one CF (their not CF, their CFast.. it's different) fails.. yeah the drive still works. If one IO channel fails, or if one cable fails is snagged etc, or if the drives controller fails. You're screwed.
If you have money to burn on CFast cards you have money to buy the same capacity in normal SSDs and RAID them yourself.
"WD Hard drive opened, only to discover to have discs inside!"
Stop the presses!!!!!!!!!
CF Cards, gotta catch 'em all
How about just giving me the CF cards (cheap) with the SATA connection?
I have a photofast mSD to MSProDouo, and it doesn't seem to work very well. It converts 2 micro sd to 1 mspd. I don't know if it's because it's not matching or what, but once in a while it would wipe everything out. I would not recommend for important files such as pictures and documents.
Video sounds like one of those vids where they force a hostage to say things, especially the interviewer makes it seem so.
Why do we need motion pictures to convey information about a flash drive?
More moronic use of video.
CF cards, if I recall, should not be used for implementations where there will be a lot of constant writes. Meaning, installing Windows on it would be a dumb move since they don't last even if they average out the usage across the device. This would be nice for embedded platforms that have reduced writes...
Are these new Sata CF cards different in that way? Or if it the same thing, just a different interface?
I'm so glad Sandisk had all those rebates last winter and spring.
wdq