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Crucial issues RealSSD C300 firmware fix, bricks more drives
Crucial's RealSSD C300 had a sizable problem coming out of the gate: price. Initially starting at $800 for 64GB 256GB it cost more than most laptops (it's now down to $700), but crazy people pay crazy amounts for crazy performance and so off to retail it went. Recently, Anand over at AnandTech indicated that his review sample "apparently bricked itself" before eventually coming back to life -- albeit at a ridiculously reduced speed. Yesterday Crucial issued an official firmware "fix" for his particular problem and, as you could probably tell by the use of quotes there, it isn't necessarily a good thing. Numerous people in the Crucial forums are reporting that this update has completely bricked their drives, while others are simply unable to apply it in the first place. This particular piece of firmware is still no longer available on Crucial's site (version 0002), and we would definitely advise steering clear until at least version 0003 -- maybe 0004 for good measure. Update: We heard from Kristin at Micron Technology, who passed along the following update: We wanted to let you know that we're aware of the issues some users are experiencing with the firmware update tool. Initially, it sounds like there needs to be some additional steps in the process for their specific systems. As you know, aside from the issues experienced, there were/are several users that had success with their updates. We'll post an update on the forum as soon as we have more information, and will keep you apprised with what we know. Additionally, we had the pricing wrong on the initial C300. It was $800 for 256GB, not 64GB. Update 2: We got another update from Micron. The troublesome firmware has been pulled, and we have a new statement after the break.
Crucial's 6Gbps RealSSD C300 goes on sale, costs as much as a decent laptop
You've gone for the 64GB of quad-channel DDR7 RAM, you've got your Core i26 processor, and you're running a triple pack of those Radeon Ultra HD 9000 cards in CrossFire. But something's missing from your speed demon machine -- could a $799 SSD be the answer? Crucial would have you believe that, yes, splashing all your rent money on a 256GB storage drive is a totally worthwhile investment, and early reviews of the RealSSD C300 revealed it to be "holy mother of god" fast. So no qualms about its speed, but if your benchmark lust knows some budgetary bounds, you may want to consider the slightly more reasonable 128GB variant, which comes in at $499. Both are available right this minute direct from Crucial, so either go buy one or stop this torture and go distract yourself with something cheaper. [Thanks, Rick]
