Introduction
02
After having taken a look at
Crucial's
Indilinx-powered CT256M225 SSD
last week, priced at £400, there were calls for HEXUS to put
value to the fore and take a peek at the 64GB model, costing a
relatively modest £115, including delivery. Please bear in
mind
that this is a brief preview look; we'll be comparing the drive against
a plethora of other options in a full-length round-up review.
Crucial currently etails three performance-oriented SSDs, as shown by
the table, below.
| Crucial M225 drive |
64GB |
128GB |
256GB |
| Read speed (up to) |
200MB/s |
250MB/s |
250MB/s |
| Write speed (up to) |
150MB/s
|
190MB/s |
190MB/s |
| Drive buffer |
64MB |
64MB |
64MB |
| Etail price (26/08/09) |
£115
|
£223
|
£405 |
| £ per GB |
1.797
|
1.742
|
1.58 |
The 64GB drive doesn't quite match up to the 128GB and 256GB drives
with respect to pure performance, but the specifications are still
strong for what can be termed an entry-level SSD.
The cost, too, is reasonable for an SSD and within the reach of most
users looking for speed over capacity. Lastly and pragmatically, 64GBs
is large enough to
hold an operating system and a bunch of commonly-used programs.
There's nothing remarkable here. The CT64M225 is around £25
cheaper than other manufacturers who use the same innards - Indilinx
controller and Samsung NAND. Performance differences
will relate to firmware, mostly, and Crucial has yet to implement the
TRIM function, for keeping performance at near-new levels. We expect to
see it rolled in within two weeks.
Encased in an aluminium housing and shockproof for the most part, the
connectors are also common fare - although they're upside-down
when compared to most drives'.
It's equally at home in a
notebook as much as a desktop PC, with the benefit of adding
precious minutes to battery-life in the case of the former; no moving
parts reduces energy consumption.
Backed up by some of the best support in the industry and shipped out
to customers via Royal Mail Special Delivery, the on-paper credentials
look good, just like the 256GB drive's.
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