OCZ launches sub-£250 128GB SSD

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 2nd July 2008
Comments (26) Stumble
The rather snazzy-looking OCZ SSDs have finally hit a price point that doesn't cause bank managers to faint.

The rather snazzy-looking OCZ SSDs have finally hit a price point that doesn't cause bank managers to faint.

Solid state drives became that much more affordable yesterday, with the announcement of a sub-£250 128GB unit from OCZ Technology.

First spotted by MacNN/Electronista, the drive packs 128GB of storage into a 2.5” SATA-equipped brushed aluminium chassis aimed at the notebook market. In addition to the more than usable capacity, the device – branded as part of the Core Series of SSDs – is quick off the mark, too: 120Mb/s read and 80Mb/s write, with a staggering 0.35ms seek time.

OCZ have yet to give any indication of UK pricing, but the US version is offered at a more than reasonable $479 – around £240. If your budget doesn't stretch to that level, the Core Series also includes a cheaper 64GB version at $259 (£130) and a bottom-end 32GB unit for $169 (£85).

With the price exceptionally low compared to similar products from other manufacturers, it's hard not to assume the quality is somehow inferior. With the capacity and speed taken care of, the obvious assumption is that corners have been cut in the reliability stakes. According to OCZ, however, this isn't the case: quoting a mean time between failures of 1.5 million hours, the drives look set to be just as reliable as their more expensive counterparts. OCZ isn't afraid to put its money where its mouth is, either, with a two-year warranty as standard across the range.

Ryan Petersen, OCZ's CEO, stated that the difference in price between mechanical and solid-state storage has “limited adoption of vastly superior SSD technology, until now.” Well, there's also the slightly thorny issue of limited write cycles, but that doesn't make such good press release copy.

The drives are described as “available”, but what that actually means in terms of getting your sweaty hands on one isn't entirely obvious – just keep your eyes peeled.

Anyone tempted now prices are dropping, or are you still waiting for sub-pound-per-gig pricing? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote aon`aTv.gsus666 2nd July 2008, 09:33
/me is waiting for budget...
Quote naokaji 2nd July 2008, 09:36
from ocz website:
Quote:

Read up to 58MB / sec
Write up to 35MB / sec

meh, but I guess if you are replacing a 4,2k rpm laptop drive it will still be a massive upgrade, any chance for a review?
Quote aon`aTv.gsus666 2nd July 2008, 09:51
Where did you get that from? Link?

Stated here for OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5" SSD:

Read 120-143 MB/sec
Write 80-93 MB/sec

And here for OCZ SATA II 2.5" SSD:

Read up to 100MB / sec
Write up to 80MB / sec
Quote naokaji 2nd July 2008, 10:05
Quote:
Originally Posted by aon`aTv.gsus666
Where did you get that from? Link?

from the ocz page linked in the article http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/flash_drives/ocz_sata_i_2_5-ssd
Quote Mister_Tad 2nd July 2008, 10:08
Apparently UK pricing for the 128GB model is more like £320, not as bad as it could be mind you
Quote Gareth Halfacree 2nd July 2008, 10:09
My fault - I included the wrong link in the article. It's updated now.

However, the official page states 120MB/s - but the press release says 120Mb/s, which is quite a difference.
Quote DeX 2nd July 2008, 10:33
Quote:
With the price exceptionally low compared to similar products from other manufacturers

So what exactly was the previous lowest price for a 64gb and 128gb SSD from one of these other manufacturers?
Quote naokaji 2nd July 2008, 10:44
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
My fault - I included the wrong link in the article. It's updated now.

that explains it, thx for the explanation what went wrong there.
Quote DXR_13KE 2nd July 2008, 11:04
almost there....
Quote mclean007 2nd July 2008, 11:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gareth Halfacree
My fault - I included the wrong link in the article. It's updated now.

However, the official page states 120MB/s - but the press release says 120Mb/s, which is quite a difference.

It must be MB/s - HDD speeds nearly always use this metric, and 120Mb/s would be painfully slow!
Quote Paradigm Shifter 2nd July 2008, 12:02
Quote:
Originally Posted by DXR_13KE
almost there....

Yep, when the price drops about another 50%... then I might seriously start considering SSD drives. :)
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 2nd July 2008, 12:09
Still too much, methinks.
Quote TomH 2nd July 2008, 12:34
Quote:
Originally Posted by mclean007
It must be MB/s - HDD speeds nearly always use this metric, and 120Mb/s would be painfully slow!
Well.. That explains the price! ;)
Quote mclean007 2nd July 2008, 13:24
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise
Still too much, methinks.
But as someone who goes by the name "tortoise" should know, with incremental improvements to performance, reliability, capacity and value, SSDs will slowly but surely win the race! :D
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 2nd July 2008, 13:37
Quote:
Originally Posted by mclean007
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise
Still too much, methinks.
But as someone who goes by the name "tortoise" should know, with incremental improvements to performance, reliability, capacity and value, SSDs will slowly but surely win the race! :D

Trufax..

However, at the moment the benefits don't warrant the price premium. And then of course HDDs are still SO much more capacious.
Quote aon`aTv.gsus666 2nd July 2008, 14:29
You're right but judging by the speed SSD developed over the last 2 years I can see myself having 1 - 5 in a RAID in 2 years. :D
Quote spazmochad 2nd July 2008, 15:28
Anyone thinking of SSDs for thier power saving capablities should have a look at this article: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ssd-hdd-battery,review-31019.html
Quote fathazza 2nd July 2008, 16:18
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/5983593/OCZ-OCZSSD2-1C64G-64GB-SATA-II-2-5-SSD-Solid-State-Internal-Hard-Drive/Product.html
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/5983607/OCZ-OCZSSD2-1C32G-32GB-SATA-II-2-5-SSD-Solid-State-Internal-Hard-Drive/Product.html

are these the ones? if so the 32gb drive seems pretty good :) (and transfer rates seem ok too)
Quote The_Beast 2nd July 2008, 18:40
I geuss that isn't too much for a SSD


128Gb is more than I can fill in a long time
Quote Cupboard 2nd July 2008, 19:11
That 64GB one is almost cheap enough for buying as a boot drive now.
32GB is just a bit too small, and not cheap enough compared to the 64GB one
Quote seanap 2nd July 2008, 23:57
So, they offer a 2 year warranty on a 1.5million hour product?

According to my math 2 years is 17,531.6255 hours.

Interesting none the less
Quote Cthippo 3rd July 2008, 04:21
This could be interesting. I really need a 4-8GB SSD for under $60 for my fileserver boot drive, but progress none the less.

I have to wonder if manufacturers aren't shooting themselves in the foot with the 2.5" form factor. Sure, it's great for notebooks, but there are a lot more people who would put a 3.5" in a desktop than who will open their notebook to install a 2.5" drive. Yes, you can get an adaptor, but why not sell it in both sizes?
Quote desertstalker 3rd July 2008, 06:34
Use a CF card, Cthippo, with a IDE adapter shouldn't cost more than that for 8GB
Quote Gareth Halfacree 3rd July 2008, 07:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cthippo
I have to wonder if manufacturers aren't shooting themselves in the foot with the 2.5" form factor. Sure, it's great for notebooks, but there are a lot more people who would put a 3.5" in a desktop than who will open their notebook to install a 2.5" drive. Yes, you can get an adaptor, but why not sell it in both sizes?
I don't know about you, but my laptop doesn't require 'opening' to install a different harddrive. I just undo a single screw and slide out a sled, remove the current drive, and replace with the new drive. Takes about three minutes.

Also, although this drive is a 2.5" form factor, it's SATA - which means it'll connect to a desktop with no adaptors required. That said, you'll still need to figure out a way to mount the thing, so I guess an adaptor /is/ required.
Quote Mister_Tad 3rd July 2008, 07:15
Quote:
Originally Posted by seanap
So, they offer a 2 year warranty on a 1.5million hour product?

According to my math 2 years is 17,531.6255 hours.

Interesting none the less

MTBF != expected life

Its a rather useless metric really, practically speaking. Traditionally (ie with regards to HDDs) it determines where in the market the product is aimed (the high MTBF tend to be enterprise or near-line drives whereas the lower ones for home use). Its pretty easy for manufacturers to fiddle the sample size or environmental conditions in order to get any MTBF they like for a given drive.
Quote Xtrafresh 7th July 2008, 11:54
Joe, could you ask OCZ for a comment on how they managed to cut the price this much?

Is it simply a matter of upscaling production, and spreading R&D over more units? Did they strike a good deal with manufacturers? I'm curious :)
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