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Micron ships RealSSD C400 mSATA SSD into slender Ultrabooks
The only problem with mobile gizmos getting even more mobile? The cost of those bantam components squeezed within 'em. That said, at least we have the option to trim a few more millimeters from the chassis of our next-generation laptops, as Micron has announced a new mSATA solid state drive that's engineered specifically for the increasingly crowded Ultrabook market. The RealSSD C400 emanates realness, boasting a form factor that's around the size of a business card and arriving with capacities ranging from 32GB to 256GB with a SATA 6Gbps interface. Furthermore, Micron has tapped its 25 nanometer process technology to craft these things, with OEMs having access to the first lot; upgraders can look forward to a Crucial-branded version later this year, but who knows how much you'll have to pay.Update: Looks like our pals at Storage Review have a full review up, replete with more benchmarks and charts than you could shake a 3- x 5cm stick at.
Micron RealSSD P320h can read 3GBps, write 2GBps, impress millions of geeks per second
Speed may be a relative thing, but whatever you choose to compare Micron's new RealSSD P320h series to, you'll probably find them pretty competitive. Coming in 350GB and 700GB capacities, these PCI Express solid state drives can process data at a rate of 3GB per second and write it at a no less impressive 2GBps. If you're more interested in input / output operations per second, the P320h clocks in at 750,000 IOPS when running Linux or 650,000 with Windows Server as the OS. You don't need us to tell you that both numbers represent screaming-fast performance. Such mighty feats are achieved with the use of 34nm SLC NAND flash memory and Micron's own controller chip. Samples of the P320h are trickling out now and mass production is coming in the third quarter of 2011, and while no pricing info has been offered yet, it's safe to say you'll be needing your company CFO's blessing before making any P320h purchases. Video and full PR after the break.
Micron debuts RealSSD C400 drives using 25nm NAND technology
What's "bringing excitement back into personal computing" more than anything else? According to Micron, it's SSDs, and it says it's now "accelerating this enthusiasm" with its new RealSSD C400 drives. Those are apparently the industry's first drives to use 25 nanometer NAND technology, which naturally brings with it a number of benefits -- namely, storage capacities from 64GB to 512GB (in 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch sizes), peak read speeds of 415 MB/second, and write speeds varying by drive (the 512GB hits 260MB/s). No word on prices just yet, but Micron expects mass production to begin in February, and the drives will also sold by Micron's Crucial division as the m4 SSD in the first quarter of the year. Update: Hot Hardware managed a hands-on with this bad boy, and there's a video proving it just after the break.
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.
Firmware corruption probe implicates at least one RealSSD C300
We don't know too many folks who shelled out the dosh for Crucial's RealSSD C300, so perhaps it's no surprise that we haven't heard too many complaints about the thing. We do know at least one high roller who got his hands on one, however, and for him things are definitely not going so swimmingly. In fact, our friend Anand is apparently the proud owner of one such device that just "decided to up and stop working one day." That's not good! While the cause has yet to be determined, Crucial has been in contact and seems to think that errors in the firmware tables have resulted in a drive that is now very, very slow at powering up. It's not clear whether or not this is going to be a common problem, but if the same thing happens to you perhaps you can sleep easily that at least there's the possibility of saving your data. Or maybe you're just kicking yourself for spending $800 on an SSD. Either way, Mr. AnandTech shares insight into this -- and more, including poor performance after TRIMing the LBAs on his replacement SSD. Exciting, huh? Hit the source link to see for yourself. [Thanks, Aristo]
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]
RealSSD C300 tested, offers sublime speed at superlative prices
It's been a few months since Micron became the second to introduce the world's first SATA 6Gbps hard drive (Seagate was the other), and regardless about who was earliest we now know which is currently the fastest. TweakTown put a Crucial-branded C300 through its paces and came to a rather simple conclusion: "At this point in time there is no other drive, platter or solid state that is in the same league as the Crucial RealSSD C300." It blitzed through all their tests and at the end, when others would be a smoking ruin of high access times, it still performed as good as new. There was one catch, though: Windows Media Player performance was abnormally low, something that testers believe is a glitch to be addressed in firmware. Other than that, if you want the best this is it. But can you afford it? A 128GB model will set you back $499, and the 256GB one is $799. Yeah, ouch.
Micron RealSSD C300 becomes first SSD to leverage SATA 6Gbps interface
Seagate may have claimed the rights to the planet's first SATA 6Gbps hard drive, but it's Micron claiming the same feat in the SSD realm. The outfit's new RealSSD C300 is the first of its kind to natively comply with the wicked fast new specification, which will (at least in theory) provide read speeds of up to 355MB/sec and write speeds of up to 215MB/sec. It's also the first solid state drive to use ONFI 2.1 high-speed synchronous NAND, and while we're obviously eager to see what real-world benchmarks show, the demonstration vids after the break already have our mouths watering. As for availability? Tthe drive is currently sampling in 1.8- and 2.5-inch sizes, though consumers shouldn't expect to pick one up (in 128GB or 256GB sizes) until Q1 of next year. Best start saving, bud. %Gallery-79352%
Micron announces insanely quick RealSSD C200 SSDs
Intel's partner in solid state crime, Micron, just announced an update to its RealSSD lineup of SSDs. Based on the typically slower (and cheaper) MLC NAND process technology, the new 2.5-inch (up to 256GB) laptop and 1.8-inch (32GB to 128GB) ultra-portable storage slabs offer a 3Gbps SATA interface and ridiculous 250MBps read and 100MBps write speeds -- yes, that's fast, damn fast when you consider the 70MBps write and 90MBps read speeds of Samsung's latest consumer oriented SSDs. They even best the listed read speeds of Samsung's top-ender. Unfortunately, no prices were given though it's said to be "balanced price to performance." Expect 'em to hit the market in Q4 under the Lexar brand, and maybe even Crucial, Seagate, and Intel for all we know.
Micron reveals RealSSD lineup of 32GB / 64GB SSDs
Check it -- we've got a new entrant in the ever-expanding solid state disc market, and it goes by the name Micron. The firm's first SSD lineup (dubbed RealSSD) will feature a native SATA II interface, a rugged, lightweight plastic casing, and suck down less than two-watts of power while active. Furthermore, the units will come in both 1.8- and 2.5-inch iterations, with a 32GB and 64GB flavor to be available in each size. The newly launched family is expected to slip into mass production in Q1 of next year, and on a related note, the 1GB to 8GB RealSSD Embedded USB range -- which is slated to ship en masse next month -- was also introduced. We know, you've hung around this long just to get the low down on pricing, but unfortunately, Micron has yet to dole out that oh-so-crucial information.
