Hey folks, Valkor here. This round in TechView I wanna welcome the folks from Intel, who've dropped off something sweet for the Val-Man to toy with. And with the help of Imation's upgrade kit and a plethora of OSes that I've been dying to try, I've given Intel's X25-M Sata 80 GB SSD a run for its money!
Inside the box you have the drive, a metal chassis for use within a desktop, some screws, instructions, and a mini CD loaded with software that we'll get into later. Installation of the drive is quite easy, especially on a laptop. You simply find where your current HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is located, pop out and replace with the new one. Be sure you've backed up any important data before partaking this quest.
Delving a bit deeper, the X25 doesn't use spinning plates like your standard HDD; this one uses flash memory for faster performance, with less chance of a breakdown. The drive also features a read rate of 250 MB/s and a write rate of 70 MB/s, with a read latency of 85 microseconds. On the mini CD you there's software to assist in maintaining the drive, which includes Intel SSD Toolbox and Intel SSD Optimizer. Additional software can be downloaded from Intel's website.
Ok that was all very technical, and since we really don't do technical at TOV (or at least I don't), we'll dive right into the thick of things. Now I've always wanted to try out these free OSes such as Linux and Unbuntu, and having the X25, I was finally given the chance to check em out. In addition, I also used Imation's upgrade kit to use the drive as a backup hard drive. And here's how that went down.
The Bang:
While I'm not all that impressed with the likes of Linux and Unbuntu, I'm definitely not gonna bash em either. I think it all comes down to personal preference and I just happen to have a preference for Windows 7. Regardless, the X25 showed its true colors as I've never experienced speeds such as this before. I'm using a Toshiba Tecra, with 3 GB of RAM under the hood, so that makes a difference. But to be able to breeze through applications and loading up several at a time with no slow down truly makes ALL the difference. Even web browsing gets a speed boost, as there is little to no loading time. I mean it's seriously fast! On top of that you'll get top notch performance and reliability from a trusted name. Finally, because there are less moving parts within the drive, you'll save on battery life – Bonus!!
The Slack:
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First I gotta give thanks to Intel for letting us test drive their latest SSD. I didn't expect it, but happy for the visit. Do you feel the need for speed? Then waste no time in picking Intel's X25-M SATA Solid State Drive for your PC, laptop, netbook, or MAC computer. Speed, reliability, performance… yea, it's all that! So out of TOV 5 stars, I gotta give Intel's X25 a perfect 5! Valkor tested, TOV Approved? Yes indeed!