Kingston 40GB SSD Released

Kingston has released their "SSDNow V-Series 40GB Boot Drive", which is a Value family (V) of solid-state drives (SSD). Kingston claims this drive is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to accelerate a desktop PC's boot, shutdown and application load times. It is designed to be more reliable than normal magnetic hard disk drives in use today and is to be used in conjunction with an existing HDD. The PC operating system and key applications would reside on the SSD while all data such as documents, music, files and photos remain on the HDD.

The "SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive" is said to be for novice SSD users looking to upgrade their current desktop's performance. For first-time users and do-it-yourself system builders, the drive is also available with a bundle that includes cloning software, 2.5-inch to 3.5-inch brackets and extender cables for SATA data and power connectors. Scheduled to begin shipping on the 9th of November 2009, it is backed by free tech support and a 3-year warranty. Users can expect to purchase this drive at an approximate pricing of Rs. 7,500.

Kingston says that when they ran PCMark Vantage Advanced HDD Suite, this SSD received a score of 13,883, which is atleast 25 percent higher than scores of mainstream desktop HDDs today. During the normal course of a PC's usage, most of the HDD-related operations are random read/writes, and SSDs finish those operations almost 2-3 faster, leading to perceivably better system speeds. The SSD is based on NAND Flash, has a 2.5-inch form factor, runs silent, and is claimed to have a typical power usage of 0.15 Watts while active, and 0.06 Watts in sleep-mode. Sequential read-write speeds claimed for this drive are 170MB/s and 40MB/s respectively.

Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston said "The SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive offers instant performance enhancement coupled with reliability and lower power consumption at a fraction of the cost of a new system. The 40GB Boot Drive is the latest offering in our V Series SSD line. It provides a low-cost upgrade solution that complements the installed hard-disk drive to extend the life cycle of existing desktop computers and workstations in homes and offices."