To give you an idea how far we have come in solid-state storage, the very first notebook sold with an SSD was the Dell XPS M1330.  It shipped with the Sandisk u5000  (my first and very embarrassing review) SATA2 32GB SSD, an SSD that would gain infamy as the first ‘stuttering SSD’ and, back then, storage capacity wasn’t an option. …

If asked, there really is no way to put a total on the number of systems we have built throughout the years.  It has to be above 100.  In all instances, we gain a great deal of support through manufacturers and, as I look back, there is one manufacturer that seems to get overlooked more often than not; Icy Dock.  …

I thought I had seen all at CES.  It was a long week making meetings and events in rain rarely seen, followed by a flight cancellation as our local airport was closed because of extreme snow conditions.  It was late night when we finally arrived home and, as soon as I walked in, I was met by this: It’s a …

Mushkin took advantage of CES 2018 to announce a major expansion of their product offerings in several categories: HELIX-L M.2 2280 PCIe SSD The Helix-L M.2 2280 PCIe SSD is a dram-less build that helps keep the cost in line.  It is offered in capacities ranging from 120GB to 1TB, and features a Silicon Motion SM2263XT controller to deliver sequential …

It is great to see a company mature in the tech space and Phison is a prime example of this as they proudly displayed their newest E12 NVMe SSD controller at CES this week.  This just may give Samsung a run for their money. The PS5012-E12 is an eight-channel NVMe controller, built on the TSMC 28nm process and will see …

EDGE Memory is debuting a new series of SSDs at CES 2018.  The CLX600 line is being offered in M.2 2280, mSATA and 1.8″ SATA 6Gb/s versions.  The combination of performance, low power consumption and reliability make it an excellent choice for system integrators. The CLX600 utilizes high quality NAND Flash paired with a Silicon Motion controller to achieve transfer …

Phison has come to CES 2018 ready to take full advantage of the continued growth in the need for flash storage in the ever-evolving computing and mobile device markets. They are announcing a number of new products and features at this year’s show. Phison is announcing the addition of Thunderbolt connectivity to its line of E7 and E8 controllers.  The …

It hasn’t been a month since we posted our report on the Crucial MX500 consumer SATA SSD and we were discussing it, and the newest M.2 version of the MX500, at CES 2018 this week.  Looking back for a bit, we can safely say that Crucial/Micron is very comfortable with their newest 64-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory, and all …

So I originally started this upgrade on the advise of a peer who sold me on the fact that new Z370 PC builds were a natural for the Intel Optane SSD, displaying significantly faster startups, shutdowns and typical PC tasks.  He never lied. The difference is not just visible; it is significant. As with most things, however, I have always …

So the Intel Optane SSD 900P NVMe SSD has been out for about a week now and it is expensive, hard to find and being termed as a disruptive technology by the SSD Gods.  By SSD Gods of course, I refer to 4-5 flash reviewers that have been in the industry since SSDs were introduced and I can draw a direct …