Kingston SSDNow V Series 64GB Review

Solid-state drives (or SSDs) have been in the market for some time, and users who have converted to using such devices for their storage solutions have claimed substantial performance improvements over hard disks. Today, we compare the performance difference in a laptop that had its hard disk switched out for an entry-level SSD to see if the improvements are really as great as claimed.

Ever since solid state drives (SSDs) found their way into the consumer market, many users have praised these devices for the impressive performance gains that one could expect as opposed to using a traditional hard disk (HDD) as a storage solution. After all, factors such as faster read/write speeds, greater reliability and noiseless operation sound like what every computer user craves for on his or her machine.

However, the biggest barrier in getting an SSD to replace a traditional hard disk lies in cost: the price of a 64GB SSD is approximately that of three 500GB HDDs. And for some, that ‘not-so-affordable’ premium is enough to turn them off completely from SSDs in spite of their advantages.

In light of this, SSD makers have started introducing ‘entry-level’ SSDs to consumers which, in theory, will allow people to enjoy the blazing fast performance of an SSD with a not-so-astronomical price premium. Today, we have in our labs Kingston’s SSDNow V Series SSD, one such entry-level device, which we will put through the test.

Kingston SSDNow V specifications

• Capacity – 64GB
• Storage temperature - -40°C to 85°C
• Operating temperature - 0°C to 70°C
• Vibration operating – 2.17G (7-800Hz)
• Vibration Non-operation – 20G (20-2000Hz)
• Sequential speed – 200MB/sec read, 160MB/sec write
• Power specs – 5.2W TYP (active), 0.7W TYP (sleep)
• Life expectancy – 1 million hours mean time before failure
• Cache – 64MB onboard