Hey gang, Valkor here. So a couple weeks after I received the latest product from Kingston to give it a run in the Val-Cave, does my Toshiba laptop of 7 years finally keeled over. I mean sure it works, but the monitor is completely DOA. It was truly a sad day in teh Val-Cave, but it really was time to move on to something with a bit more zip to it. And thankfully I got a good run with Kingston's SSDNOW V200 128GB SSD to let you guys know that yes, it’s definitely worth the price of admission - and the price is right!
At the jump, the V200 looks like a standard SSD and you can get a size comparison from the pic below. However the V200 is a standard 2.5” drive measuring at 7mm thick weighing in at 4.2 ounces. It has a nice gray aluminum finish with a sticker featuring the Kingston logo. The entire package is an upgrade kit so included in the box you get a cloning disc, installation video disc, a 2.5” enclosure, a 2.5” adapter, and a micro USB plug. I received the 128 model, but you can get the V200 in 64 and 256GB.
The V200 touts reads speeds of up to 300MB/s and a write speed of up to 190MB/s. For Val-testing I hooked it to my Toshiba Tecra, which ran on 3GB of DDR3 RAM, loading up the drive with Windows Home Premium edition (32bit). And whenever I get a new drive, I always load it up with some of my favorite software such as ZoneAlarm, Advanced SystemCare, and AVG Free among others.
Though I have an image of the Samsung 830 SSD, I didn’t compare the two because the 830 series is a BEAST of a hard drive. But as a standalone, I think the V200 is ready for primetime... and the TOV Breakdown.
The Bang:
If I wasn’t already spoiled by the powers of Samsung’s 830 SSD, I’d probably go ga-ga for the V200. As it stands, I’m simply “in like” with it, not so much “in love” with it. Is that a negative? Hardly! The V200 is fast and handles well, not only with startup times, which took about 20 seconds (give or take a second or two and depending on your setup, speeds may vary). There wasn’t too much of a hiccup when it came to loading additional software and I found the process to be rather smooth and painless. Finally the price is just right for anyone who’s looking to migrate from a standard HDD to the power of an SDD. The cost alone on the higher end models can really hurt the wallet; but the highest I found the V200 was at 90 bucks and 70 bucks on the low end. That’s a pretty sweet deal if you ask me.
The Slack:
If you’re a power user (a person who uses resource heavy applications), you might want to shell out the extra bucks for a model with a bit more power. Again, this is not really a negative on the V200, because not all things are for everyone. But I think the V200 makes for a great introductory SSD to newcomers. And the added enclosure helps to alleviate the process of switching over from one drive to the next and hey, you can use that old drive as a backup drive. Win – Win!
Kingston has always done well in the Val-Cave and the V200 is no exception. If you don't own an SSD, then now is perfect the time to snag one up because not only is Kingston giving you a strong drive that delivers, but it’s also right there with a price you can afford. SO, out of TOV 5 stars, I’m giving Kingston’s SSDNow 128GB drive a 4 and it’s been Valkor tested, TOV Approved.
