Anyone interested in radically improving their ThinkPad?s performance? (SDD group buy)

Update: Mtron now has another USA distributor, NeoStore, Inc., view Mtron's official distributor list here.
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It's not with Intel TurboMemory that's for sure. The best solution on the market is with a SSD (solid state disk), and the world’s fastest SSD is from Mtron. They claim that when you go from a HDD to SSD your Windows boot becomes instantaneous, check out this video:
http://mtron.net/files/mtron.swf

Other big incentives for portable users:
Totally silent (no moving parts).
Fastest access time ever: 0.1m sec (instant seeks, 150MB burst, sustained 100MB writes & 80MB reads)
Vastly superior reliability (no failing mechanical parts)
1000 - 1500g operating shock (no finicky platter head)
1/2 the power consumption of a mechanical HDD (less heat and longer battery life)

In comparison, Mtrons's SSD blows away the 10k rpm Raptor (the world's fastest 3.5" SATA HDD):
http://www.dvnation.com/images/MTRONvRAPTOR.JPG

Yet the Raptor is not available in 2.5" laptop size and I don't want to wait years before SSDs become more mainstream. I've only been able to find one US based reseller for the Mtron SSD and they want a ridiculous $1,999 for the 32GB version and don't even stock the 16GB SSD ($999 w/ 4-6 week delay). Fortunately, upon further research I've discovered that the 16GB SSD sells for $620 and the 32GB SSD sells for $828 from Japanese sources:
http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?p=3988630

Is there interest? Let me know in this preliminary group buy thread.
However, with a large enough group buy I would be willing to negotiate a purchase directly from the manufacturer and we should be able to get the price down by 20% or more, bringing the 16GB SSD down to $500 and the 32GB down to $662 (estimated, could be higher, could be lower). That's around the cost of a top end mobile Intel CPU, but the performance gains would be astounding. I'll need at least 9 other interested early adopters to commit before going ahead.

I have a U.S. Verified business PayPal account with a seller rating of 1299.
EBay rating of 688 with no negatives, neutrals, or retracted feedback for the past 5+ years (only positives). I also have a merchant account and the ability to accept all major credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex, DiscoverCard). A possible scenario for your piece of mind, I can simply add the item to my website's shopping cart system and provide a URL for the preorder link (it will provide you with shipping options, invoice #, and allow you to preorder with credit card or PayPal).

Now if there are several of you seriously interested then I'll post an official group buy thread in a more prominent section of the notebookreview.com forums. Just let me know in this thread or by PM. If 10 or more of us commit then I will present an offer to the manufacturer for a direct purchase. I'm not looking to profit, but I don't want to incur a loss so I would expect you to cover the shipping/handling and paypal/merchant fees (this would be adjusted into the price of the SSD).

I know I'm not a veteran member of these forums but if there is enough interest then I will disclose ample personal information such as my business address, phone numbers, et cetera. Besides, I would be the only one at risk here because I'm willing to accept PayPal payment and credit card payment. However, I will do everything by the book to protect myself by only shipping to a confirmed PayPal address or the address on file with the credit/debit card issuing bank.

To show that you are seriously interested in purchasing the world’s fastest SSD please post which model(s) you would be interested in and in what quantity:
Mtron 16GB Solid State Disk @ approximatley $500
Mtron 32GB Solid State Disk @ approximatley $620

If possible, I would be providing the US/English retail boxed version, not OEM. Price could be higher or lower, depending on negotiations (quantity purchased). Of course you can decide if you would like to follow through with a purchase once the final price is known. Before I negotiate I must approximate the purchase quantity. I will not accept any prepayment until Mtron provides a proforma invoice and a deal is made.

Specs found below ( source):

Performance
Burst Read/Write: 150 MB/sec
Sustained Read: 100 MB/sec
Sustained Write: 80 MB/sec
IOPS:
(Sequential/Random) 76,000/16,000
Access Time: less than 0.1 msec

Reliability & Endurance
MTBF: 1,000,000 hours
Special Features: Wear-leveling algorithm
7-bit ECC (Error Correction Code)
Bad block management algorithm
Write Endurance: >140 years @ 50GB write/erase per day
Read Endurance: Unlimited
Data Retention: 10 years at 25¡É
Operating Temperature: Commercial : 0¡É~ 70¡É
Industrial : -40¡É ~ 85¡É

Warranty
5 years

 

I'd love to have one. However, I probably won't get one until they have one that is about 100GB for <$400. So I'm guessing it'll be about 3 years for me.

 

I'm with stallen on that. Very nice technology, if it was bigger I would consider getting it for my next computer.

 

I'll wait until SSD's drop to $200 before I get one. Vista already takes up 10GB of storage, that leaves 6GB for storage. All that for $500 isn't worth it IMO.

 

Yeah, the technology is still too early for a good capacity/dollar ratio. However, I'd jump in if say 64GB for $500 is available where I find it an acceptable size for Vista. But I would love to have the low power consumption and low heat output features from SSD.

Plus with Superfetch and 2GB memory in Vista, other than during startup I don't actually feel that the hard drive is a bottleneck at all (this is with the Hitachi 5k160).

 

I can't wait until the pricing on SSDs comes down. Once 32GB is available for $200 I'll buy.

My interest in SSDs comes more from the power/heat/noise/failure advantages rather than strictly performance.

 

This will not radically improve anything, except the hole in your wallet. Numerous reviews of SSD products show non-competitive performance overall.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2982

 

Don't get me wrong, but I believe the one from OP is the world fastest SSD.
Not the out of date Super Talent SSD.
20mb/s compare with 100mb/s
Even my 7k200 can only run 68mb/s

 

poky is correct. AnandTech's review is of one of the world's slowest SSD's available. The AnandTech review states that, "This drive has lower performance capabilities than the recently released consumer drives from SanDisk and Samsung".

I've read an article that found real world performance of the Mtron SSD to be up to 3x faster than that of the Samsung SSD, and yet the Samsung SSD more than doubles the performance of the Super Talent SSD!

Super Talent SSD has a maximum sustained read/write rate is of a mere 28MB/s.
Samsung Electronics SSD reads at 56Mbps and writes at 32Mbps.
Mtron SSD reads at 100MBps and writes at 80MBps
Mtron SSD vs. Samsung SSD chart
See article here.

I'm interested in acquiring the world's fastest SSD (of all disk drives actually, including HDDs), not the world's slowest.


With the Mtron SSD we are not talking improvement in measure of seconds but rather booting Windows, shutting down, entering & exiting sleep/hibernation, all instantaneously. Imagine being able to format in a second, and never needing to defrag, but if you did it would be a matter of seconds.

 

I'll be placing an order directly with Mtron soon. Since I’m not an official distributor this order must be limited in quantity and so there is no need to create a new thread for additional publicity. You cannot purchase for resell purposes. This isn't some fire sale, it's for hardcore enthusiasts & early adopters like myself that want a "SSD that is 2 years ahead of the competition" (Mtron's claim).

Will be SATA with aluminum casing. The following Mtron SSD drivers are available:
2.5" 16 GB
2.5" 32 GB
3.5" 16 GB
3.5" 32 GB
3.5" 64 GB

I can't post pricing publicly. The discount is not as great as I expected but it's still < the lowest Asian retail price and < 1/2 that of the only USA source. Contact me by PM for details if you are interested. The turnaround should be relatively fast. Will be doing direct wire transfer and then FedEx IP shipping to Memphis.

You must have a confirmed PayPal mailing address. Direct credit card payments will only be accepted from North American card holders and will only be shipped to the billing address or a verifiable address that is actually on file with the credit/debit card issuing bank.

P.S.: Overseas orders are no problem, but will only accept Western Union payment (or PayPal if you have a confirmed shipping address).

 

Send you a PM. Please provide details and price for ordening.

Brgds

Little major

 

OK, I sent you detailed email just now. I'm giving everyone until Monday which is the deadline for not only a decision but for payment.

 

What's the status of the order???

 

oh man, I wish I had known about this. Probably better I didn't actually. haha.

 

Who is placing the order? Can we still get in? What's the price? Please PM.

 

Still to early for this technology, Give it 6 months you will wish you would have waited to purchase.

 

While not instantaneous, there is quite a jump in speed as shown here:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SBhj56gIUuA

The dell M1330 (I think it is this one) offers a 32GB SSD after a $500 uppgrade...interesting to say the least. I'll wait till it hits >100GB but its a great idea and definately a cool tech for those needing speed.

I'm guessing it also helps with battery.

 

Is there any larger SSD above 64 GB? I think the sweet spot is 100 GB.

 

Anandtech now has a review of the MTron drive up, it is competitive with the Raptor (Faster in some tests), overall much better than previous SSD drives.

Way too small for me though, I need my optical drive, and no way 2 operating systems fit in 32GB with enough space for files. Maybe they will be at a reasonable capacity and price in a few years next time I buy a laptop.

 

I think that the best application of SSD is for speeding up the operating system and program files. For this purpose a 16GB drive would suit most installations very well. I think the 'sweet spot' is a hybrid 16GB SSD / XXX GB HDD. This should be very cost effective and suit most users needs very well! Personally this is what I think we'll see on the market very soon.

 

Did everything go OK with your group buy? Are there any plans of repeating it?

 

The price on the 32GB version has already come down quite a bit since this thread first got started. Maybe we should do another group buy when the 64gb version retails for around $500. Shouldn't be that long now, perhaps in about a year.

 

If anyone has a negotiated buy price of the Mtron SSD at below 1000, Ide love to here from them.

This is why:

I am in direct talks with Mtron and have been nightly for the past few weeks. You may not be aware but they will not sell directly from the factory and are presently in negotiations with several distributors, none of which have been set in stone yet. As it stands, its still DVNation which overprices them.

Next, the line of SSD being discussed is about to become a discontinued line. This is the Mtron 32Gb FPGA SSD. There is a new release in the first week of November which is the ASIC version which will cost more as it is a dedicated circuit to control the drive rather than a generic circuit with software modifications.

I am aware of this because MTron has committed that I will be the first reviewer to receive and review this product...here on NBR.

The new line of SSD is still max 32Gb with the 64Gb footprint not going into circulation until this time next year.

The claim on the ASIC SSD is 120mb/s read...80-90mb/s write...with .1ms access and over 150mb/sec burst.

If there is interest, I'de sincerely like to know because I get everything direct from the source. Likewise to the author, pls pm me if you have had discussions. I'de like to know if it is with mtron or the distributor.

Oh...there is no footprint for the 16Gb ASIC model.

EDIT: And yes Mtron is presently the absolute fastest you can get in a storage medium. Other SSDs cannot compete with their speeds on the FPGA much less what will become with the ASIC release.

 

Do you have an estimate of how much the new 32GB SSD would be available for directly from the source?

 

I won't know probably for a few weeks. If everything falls into place, I will ask if it a comfortable subject. They only have one NA distributor and are looking to get more attention globally.

 

Mtron now has another USA distributor, NeoStore, Inc., view Mtron's official distributor list here.

The group buy had strong interest but the discount was not as attractive as originally anticipated. After much communication, a quantity purchase was made directly from Mtron to achieve more attractive pricing. Now the savings can be passed on to those interested in owning the fastest disk drive on the planet at the lowest advertised price on the planet.

There is a new consumer line called the MOBI 3000 series that is essentially the MSP 6000 series for half the price! Performance:
Sustained Read: 100 MB/sec
Sustained Write: 80 MB/sec

Mtron's new PRO 7000 series will be 20% faster with 5 year warranty, behold:
Sustained Read: 120 MB/sec
Sustained Write: 90 MB/sec

Just 10 days until launch. The secured quantity that the NeoStore has already purchased will be shipping from Mtron on November 22nd. The NeoStore is now accepting preorders and quantity discounts are automatically applied through the online system. For instance for the consumer grade 2.5" 16GB Mtron SSD pricing structure is as follows:
$399 x 1
$389 x 2
$379 x 3
$369 x 4
$359 x 5
$349 x 6

All models have similar discounting structure. Most common question received so far is: "are these reseller prices or end-user prices?". These are actually end-user prices! Reseller pricing begins @ > 6 piece orders.

I'm subscribed to this thread and will be responding promptly.

 

These prices are definitely getting to the realm of feasible. Personally I will wait for the price of the smallest capacity drive to come down to less than $300 before I will jump. 16GB is perfect for a work machine that doesn't need large media files on it.

I wonder just how cheaply these drives can be purchased as a reseller? For example, I wonder how much they would cost at a group-buy of 10 units...

 

Jackboot, I’m glad to hear that the Mtron drives are just a hair away from your desired pricing. Then again, those who want the world’s fastest performance now will justify that marginally higher cost. Keep in mind that there are slower brands on the market that will be more economical per GB, but the cutting edge tends to command a premium.

Please email for reseller pricing.

 

Wow...I just read this review:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=183474

Looks like the new Mtron drives have really stepped up the performance and at the same time dropped the prices!

That above review uses a 7200rpm notebook drive for comparison. I have a 5400rpm notebook drive. The difference would be pretty obvious I think...

 

Thanks for the bump on my review Jackboot. The prices are actually cheaper yet as I have located a place that has the drive for under 800 at this address:

http://www.neostore.com/

They are preorder only and not far above Mtrons recommended 650US.

 

Hey flamenko - that was a great review!

neostore is selling the 32GB version for $646 @ a quantity of 6!

I wonder what the next 6 months will bring in terms of pricing...I'll bet my next Lenovo X-series will have a factory SSD...

 

Thats a great price considering they are going for 1499 at another site.

 

when they can beat the price of a seagate 320Gb ($80) for the same size ill think about it.

 

That will never occur but, then again, the Seagate can't compare in any known testing to date against the SSD...so...

 

Don't you know never say never in the computer industry?

I'm sure someone once said we could never fly to the moon or have computers the size of the palm of our hands.

 

What do ya mean it cant compare, Seagates are vey fast very quiet and Incredibly reliable, except for my thinkpad i wont buy anything else.

 

Happy with your Seagate and thats all that matters right.

 

I need to wait for at least 64GB

 

64GB for around $300 would be my sweet spot. Maybe in a few years!

 

A year I would say. 32 GB is just to small. Speeds will prob get faster aswell.

 

Just curious - what is the Vista Experience Index score for the hard disk once the SSD is installed? I have a 4.6 with my 5400rpm drive.

 

Mine jumped to 5.9 with the Mtron but you will find the scores for all others in my first article below (SSDs Tested). They will be in the score chart as 'Win Experience Scores'

 

Transcend TS32GSSD25-M 2.5" 32GB IDE Internal Solid state disk (SSD) - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208317

$300

 

That thing is SLOOOOOOW. It's got like a 10meg write rate and the read rate is somewhere in the 30s

 

Transcend's write rate is slower than normal HDs. The idea is mainly that it's a rewritable fast drive. Think boot drive (not Virtual Memory drive).

Just wanted to note that while NCIX sells Transcend in Canada, it seems that Tiger Direct has it in stock and at better prices. TD's prices do not reflect the strong CAD, with that 32gb drive at 403$ at the moment. Expresscard drives are cheaper but I'm not sure if one can boot from expresscard.

 

Read 26kb write 13kb. Its the slowest by far. You pay for what
you get.

 

That Transcend drive would still be good for certain applications. For example, it would have worked awesome in my last CarPC where no substantial writes occurred...what mattered most in that application was boot speed, temperature extremes (-40c to +50c in the trunk) and shock resistance.

For daily computing (Internet, documents, no gaming) - do you think it would it be faster than a mechanical HDD?

 

Those speeds are way way back in the day. My old 6.4 gig WD drive has those kinds of speeds. Why would you want that?