Good news for Latitude X1 owners!

Nicole Liu at kingspec.com told me:
Our KSD-CF18.1-032MJ can't support TRIM.

Dan

 

PhotoFast 1.8 V4 SSD
"Built in Garbage Collection Function"
Does it mean TRIM support ???

 

I've read somewhere else, that " Intel SSD toolbox" is not the same as TRIM, but it's a tool that helps the SSD's lifetime and read/write cyckles. But i haven't read about Garbage Collection Function anywhere.

 

No, it's a proprietary technology. I wonder how it works. Does the drive parse and understand all the file systems and erases blocks of deleted files on his own? Do they use a special driver or tool?

Intel SSD Toolbox works only for some Intel SSDs. And - as far as I understood - it uses TRIM or something like that. The firmware must provide TRIM or some kind of function to mark blocks as deletable - and needs someone within the OS who tells.


I installed XP on my KingSpec 32G, but startup and shutdown is not as fast as my older XP installation on my Hama 16GB SSD (shutdown 8sec!). I'm disappointed and wonder why. KingSpec is (still?) faster in benchmarks than my old Hama.

 

Any reasons for being so harsh?

Anyway, in the meantime, my SSD arrived (KingSpec, 64GB) and the X1 works fine with Win 7 (1,2GB RAM - looks like it is enough). It's perfectly usable (Web, Office, iTunes etc.) and definitely much faster than with the original Toshiba drive. Moreover, the KingSpec does not have the "hick-ups" of the PhotoFast GMonster V3 (I tried that SSD and sent it back since it was unusable).

However, I think the X1 CPU is too slow for the SSD. Frequently, the CPU reaches 100% usage. In other terms, the SSD's performance is not fully used. The X1 performance "feels" slower than any other state-of-the-art NB with normal HD.

All in all, I am happy with the Kingspec: the X1 is faster and works fine with Win7. But do not expect miracles...

Edit:
I also bought an Edimax Nano (http://www.edimax.com/en/produce_detail.php?pd_id=347&pl1_id=1&pl2_id=44) since I had huge problems with the built-in WLAN (dropped connection all the time). The Nano costs less than 20EUR, is really small and works perfectly. Only disadvantage: you need one USB-Port for it.

 

Is Win7 faster, slower or equal to the speed of Win XP?

Really good information! Thankyou for being the guinea-pig

My CPU didn't frequently reach 100% usage with my Mobi Mtron SSD. But anyhow - the speed of the SSD is not used at fully with the X1. The transfer-rates is limited by the PATA-interface (i think).

Does a lot of people have problems with the WLAN? I have had some problems from time to time - but i thought it was a bad connection, a bad switch/router or something like that. I haven't thought of it could be the built-in WLAN.
Is this the subject, people have been discussing in here for some time?

 

Gut feeling: Win7 with SSD is slightly faster than WinXP with Toshiba HD

You're welcome

I added the CPU/RAM App to my desktop and the CPU usage is quite high (frequently 100%, almost never 0%). Anyhow, it's true that PATA-speed is limited as well.

I almost changed the Notebook because of it. I used it in different environments (location, routers etc.). Ironically it worked fine in hotels and other Hotspots but dropped connection in the two flats I lived very frequently. It looked like the authetification did not work (limited connection, no (valid) IP, Router log said so).
What I tried
* Update drivers, firmware etc. (no effect)
* re-installed XP (no effect)
* changed Router settings (no effect)
* Installed/ changed DHCP (no effect)
* Bought/ installed a WLAN Repeater (no effect)
* bought the WLAN-USB (problem solved!)

By the way: all this I tried with XP; I briefly tried the built-in WLAN with Win7 and I had the impression that it worked (better).

Really strange: the fact that there seem to be no similar cases in the web. That made me think that my WLAN module is broken...

 

I came across this thread about six weeks ago, and it's renewed my interest in X1's.

I picked up my first X1 in 2007 when the first 1.8" Samsung SSD's came out. I installed a 32GB, and then picked up another X1 and installed a 16GB. Both worked fine and were big improvements over the Toshibas. And I loved the all solid state--no vibration and no noise. But over time, the slowness of the SSD and Windows 7 taking forever to boot on it began to get to me.

When I read about the adapters in this thread I installed a 1.8" Sandisk uata 5000 which I'd been using in a PC. It's a very big improvement over the Samsungs and scores about 60 on HD Tach. In Crystal Disk Mark the read column is 65, 65, 21, 27, and the write column is 24, 24, 3, 3. Windows 7 boots in about 50' and feels very snappy.

I haven't had any problems with excess CPU utilization. It may be that the X1 runs hotter with 7 than XP, but it's not obviously so to me. Notebook Hardware Control is very good at reducing the voltage on the X1. I have mine set to run at .70v for 6x up to .91v for 11x. I haven't tried to push it down further at the top end, but that might be possible too.

As much as I like the X1+SSD combo for light use around the house, my primary laptop is now a Lenovo X200s with an Intel X25-M. Although it has a CPU fan, it's inaudible about 99% of the time. It also has a much better keyboard, a higher resolution screen, longer battery life, and, of course, a much faster SSD than the X1 can accommodate.

But now I really enjoy my X1 again, being able to run Windows 7 well. Thanks for all the great info.

 

Mach Xtreme Technology PATA 50 pin SSD with 30, 60, 120 and 240Go flavors:
1.8" PATA MX-NANO 50 SSD series :: SSD :: Products :: Mach Xtreme Technology

@MrSpocki: Is QuickSet working well on your Win7 machine ??

 

This thread has inspired me to try to get Windows 7 running on an X1. I've tried to follow the advice I've read here and its working well, except I just can't get the 2200BG Wireless LAN to work. I've tried loading the Vista drivers and the XP drivers and, when connected in wired mode, Windows Update has even downloaded an updated driver.

But, it doesn't work. The Wifi connection finds my router with no problems, asks for the security key, then eventually comes back unable to complete the connection. My router is an N router with WPA2..not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Does anyone have a definitive method to get the 2200BG running ?