solid state hard drives

"System development" wouldnt it be a place to discuss the new stuff introduced into the computer world? if i am posting this in the wrong place, am sure the moderators would shift this post into the more appropriate place. Please...

anyway. was looking into the "alienware" site (am planning to get one in the near future). came across some thing called the "solid state Hard drive" did a little research about it. all i could understand from it all was... it a high capacity flash drive plugged permanently into the computer. but i could be wrong.

its a wonder they managed to build that large capacity solid state Hard disks(320-640GB) and not release pen drives not larger than 4GB.

from the technological point of view these ones will not have a rotating storage disk but will be something along the lines of RAM strips.

320gb one costs $550 and 640 one costs $1100 according to their website. thats a very high price to pay for a Hard disk.

a brand new laptops costs around the same price.

if anybody could throw more light into the subject....it would be nice.

You can get much bigger pen drives than 4Gb:

http://shop.amstore.co.uk/usb-flash-drives.asp

The capacity is basically a function of size, so large capacity devices are physically larger and would be internal or in an external case like a regular USB external drive.

At the moment I wouldn't even consider them until the price comes down and the technology is stabilised.

Alienware? overpriced and overhyped IMO. In the past they were just badged Clevos that had been tarted up a bit.

Now they belong to Dell, and still don't make their own kit.

hi nihil,

so they belong to dell now. in other words i would be buying dell with a lot of cosmetic surgery. this doesnt sound too good. out of ten of my friends seven bought dell laptops. that was a year and a half ago.

now out of these seven, four have already shifted for sony vios and one bought hp.

i had my eye on alienware, because
1) it gives one some bragging rights over others
2) shows the performance
3) looks good.
4) have a glowing icon on the screen cover

sony vios costs almost the same price as them. minus the solid state hhds

i know that these are lame excuses to get one but.....cant help it

do you think that they are subliminally sending messages to people to buy?

Perhaps you should read these customer comments:

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/08...ments/#c_41177

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Originally Posted by bagggi

all i could understand from it all was... it a high capacity flash drive plugged permanently into the computer. but i could be wrong.

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No, you're not wrong, that's what it is actually.

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its a wonder they managed to build that large capacity solid state Hard disks(320-640GB) and not release pen drives not larger than 4GB.

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4GB costs about EUR30,-. So 320/4= 80 ; 80 x 30 = 2400,-.
EUR500,- for 320GB would be relatively cheap compared to a 4GB pendrive.

But yes, it's more expensive then a 'regular' harddisk. The main reason for going solid state is no moving parts. Hence less likely to break in rugged environments (like laptops).

Actually you are missing some of the other major benefits SirDice, particularly in a laptop environment:

1. Data tranfer rates are faster.
2. They are smaller and lighter for their capacity (bulk and weight are important for laptops).
3. They use much less power (battery life!).
4. They don't make any noise.
5. They emit less heat (laptops tend to be prone to heat problems).

Also, if properly manufactured they should have a much longer life, as solid state memory only "wears" in the write cycle, unlike a conventional electro- mechanical drive.

Currently, the market is mostly offering drives of 32Gb~64Gb in solid state, and I wouldn't be inclined to go for anything much larger until the technology is proven and stable.

:)

nihil,

after reading all of the comments one wonders if it would be wise to go for such a system.

but then again, i have had the same problems from my "gateway" which is making me change over to something more stable

1) athlon chip- over heats and the cooling fans not keeping up
2) dvd drive has a mind of its own- works sometimes, other times doesnt
3) have changed two internal hard drives already
4) computer shuts down with no pre warning and does repeated 3-4 shutdowns before a stable startup
5) needs a format and re-instillation of windows almost every six months. this is because these repeated shut downs do something to the hive files and then suddenly the windows wont load one day.

and this one costed me $1800

all this is making me go in for a newer better system with better recovery options. i know that by reputation sonys are a very stable systems.

cheers

Hmmmm,


Those symptoms sound pretty typical of heat problems.

1. Processor. I would clean the fan and heatsink. Remove the heatsink and clean both it and the processor with ethyl alcohol then replace the thermal compound with a silver based one, they are 20x (2000%) more effective than standard compounds.

As they are not very expensive I would probably replace the CPU fan altogether. Look for an AMD approved one for your processor, preferably a bit more powerful.

2. Get a cooling pad (base) or at least a couple of strips of wood to raise the machine from the table. Examples:

http://www.xpad4laptop.com/?gclid=CL...FQ4iQgodAEttug
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=355998
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/Laptop_Cooling.html

WARNING! If your laptop has ventilation grilles on its base then get a passive cooling pad rather than one with a fan/fans.

3. Heat and hot stale air are real HDD killers. Make sure all the ventilation holes are clear.

4. If the computer shuts down unexpectedly then takes several tries to restart, that is usually because it is cooling down. Don't use it in bed unless you have a solid surface to rest it on. Bedclothes are great for impeding airflow. :D

5. Clean it out regularly. It is easy for dust and lint to become a problem in small, confined spaces.

6. Check your BIOS settings, there may be a fan control. Turn it to maximum/always on or whatever.

7. Also check your BIOS to see if there is a temperature control/shutdown setting. If there is, try turning it DOWN to about 45c. Yes, I did say down. I have seen several instances of machines with the control set to around 70c when the actual box became unstable at >60c.

the shut downs are not when running continuously.

they are like....first startup in the morning or after being shut down for couple of hours. i go out, meet a couple of my friends, come home and open the lid and start the comp. it loads everything and goes all the way till we see the start menu and icons are starting to show in the task bar. then all of a sudden the fan starts off like crazy (one of those high speeds whining of the fans) i get about 3 seconds to save anything i might have opened. then it just shuts down. then i press the start button again and the whole thing happens again.
it does this about 3-4 times after that it becomes stable(doesnt switch off till i do it).

all this on a cold start.

i had started a thread about it ,cant seem to find it now. there was no solution found.

therefore i have decided to sell the laptop to some lucky person on the ship, just before getting off and leaving for home.

I would say the fan needs replacing. It is not starting consistently. I have a PSU like that.............every now and then I have to give it a slap when I first power up to get the fan going :D it then runs just fine until I power down.

about the cleaning thing.

i tried opening the laptop up and i got stuck because i removed all the screws and the back cover was not opening up.

and so.... i called gateway.....for the last time..

me: i need to clean the laptop. please send me instructions on how to open laptops and clean them.
Customer care: what? Please repeat that?
me: i need to clean the laptop. please send me instructions on how to open laptops and clean them.
C C: you dont open laptops, we do... send it to us and we will do the cleaning.
me: am in romania
C C: send it to america
me: like hell... i want to open it myself.
C C: you lose the warenty
me: i lost it last year. send me instructions or i might have to use the crowbar on it.
C C: hold on...let me ask my manager......

and then the line got disconnected.

once after a number of restarts i banged the laptop on the table when it was starting up, i had to change the Hhd. it just refused to load up.

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... every now and then I have to give it a slap when I first power up to get the fan going it then runs just fine until I power down.

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Funny, that’s what my wife says about me.

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320gb one costs $550 and 640 one costs $1100 according to their website. thats a very high price to pay for a Hard disk.

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Wow... I must have been looking at the wrong sites... newegg.com has a 32gb SSD for $429.99

here is the link to the product... I might be reading this wrong... but if I am not, $550 for a 320gb model is a steal :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147021

I suspect that those are 32.0 and 64.0 there is no way that Alienware would be cheaper than NewEgg.

Anyways, I couldn't find any manufacturer's announcements of solid state drives that big.......... only declarations of intent.

EDIT:

I rest my case:

http://www.alienware.com/press_relea...ress091007.asp

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nihil

I suspect that those are 32.0 and 64.0 there is no way that Alienware would be cheaper than NewEgg.

Anyways, I couldn't find any manufacturer's announcements of solid state drives that big.......... only declarations of intent.

EDIT:

I rest my case:

http://www.alienware.com/press_relea...ress091007.asp

:D

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Thanks for clearing that up... they are ungodly expensive... but as with everything else in the tech world, they will come down... I think these will actually be great for mobile users. Lenovo has an accelerometer [like the wii] that pauses reading/writing the HDD when it senses motion, but a lot of manufacturers don't... if the head touches the platter for any duration while it is spinning... bye bye HDD... SSDs will put an end to that risk.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bagggi

if anybody could throw more light into the subject....it would be nice.

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Many servers and security appliances use these as a master boot image. If the OS is corrupt the bootloader will then reimage the hard drive with a default image stored on the solidstate HD's.

This is used a lot for Military applications where moving parts and hardware that will be under a lot of vibration or abuse. Quite often used in Tanks, field assesment/communication hardware etc...

Windows Vista now supports them natively for fastbooting/resuming instead of shutting down a system all the way.