any reason not to buy an SSD at the moment?

[Brodel]

I'm tempted by the intel x25-m, it's right at the limit of my budget, but if bigger and better things are just around the corner in the next few weeks then i could possibly stretch a little higher or save money on the intel if there are any rumoured price drops.

just wanted to check before i click buy.

 

[Voo]

The next interesting thing will be the 25nm SSDs at the end this year (somewhere Q4 iirc), so if around the corner doesn't happen to mean several months for you, you should be fine - don't think there will be any significant price cuts before that

 

[Brodel]

cool, that's what i figured from reading around online but wanted to double check before i buy. thanks for your reply

 

[Shilohen]

Well, depending on what capacity/price (x25-m can mean ~200 to ~500 ish) you're looking for, then http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820227508 can also be a pretty sexy deal imho.

 

[Brodel]

sorry, i probably should have mentioned that. I'm only after the 80GB version for my OS and a few apps.

 

[Blastman]

Well … how long do you want to wait for the next gen product…lol?

Unity Semiconductor has developed a new flash memory called CMOx that is 5-10x as fast as the current NAND flash with 4x the memory density. This has the potential to revolutionize SSD's with faster and bigger drives. I thought I read that CMOx products should start shipping by the end of 2010 and that this new memory technology could replace or push NAND flash memory out of most of the market in 3-4 years.

Unity Semiconductor …

A proprietary next-generation nonvolatile memory technology, CMOx™ will yield products with 4x the density and 5-10x the write speed of today’s NAND flash.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yes, but what about longevity for CMOx? Any word on that?

 

[Brodel]

Well … how long do you want to wait for the next gen product…lol?

not long, I just ordered an 80GB X25-M

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

The biggest barrier is probably the "$2/GB" thing, compared to the $0.1/GB most HDD's easily reach. If you can get past that, not really. 25nm flash is around the corner, but to be honest, what people said about the price drops as pertaining to 25nm flash is the same as what people said about 34nm flash...and that was nearly a year ago, and there still haven't been very many significant price changes. Performance has improved, but that's more due to the controller. Long story short, if you're waiting for 25nm flash purely because of the price drop, I think you're wasting your time.

 

[GoSharks]

25nm flash is around the corner, but to be honest, what people said about the price drops as pertaining to 25nm flash is the same as what people said about 34nm flash...and that was nearly a year ago, and there still haven't been very many significant price changes. Performance has improved, but that's more due to the controller. Long story short, if you're waiting for 25nm flash purely because of the price drop, I think you're wasting your time.

This is what Anand wrote in Jan 2010:

At 25nm you basically get twice the capacity at the same die size, which should translate into twice the SSD capacity at the same price as a 34nm drive today.

Obviously supply and demand economics play their roles here. We may not see the sort of aggressive pricing we want to on 25nm X25-M drives if demand remains as high as it has been for the 34nm G2s.

 

[RU482]

The next interesting thing will be the 25nm SSDs at the end this year (somewhere Q4 iirc), so if around the corner doesn't happen to mean several months for you, you should be fine - don't think there will be any significant price cuts before that

ROFL...if you think 25nm means an overnight tank in price, think again

maybe a year to year and a half from now, but by no means 6-9 months from now

IIRC, 25nm comes with a hitch...data retention is reduced

Also...the cost of admission likely won't get less expensive, you'll just get more capacity for the dollars you spend.

Take the 2 above statements into account...what's the point of a same cost, higher capacity drive? Why not get a fast, 30-80GB boot drive NOW, and have a spinning drive for all your data?

 

[Voo]

ROFL...if you think 25nm means an overnight tank in price, think again

You shouldn't believe the voices in your head too much, where did I say that 40gb drives will become instantly cheaper because of 25nm? But - remeber those transition to 34nm? Yeah you know where you got more capacity for the same price. Not that great if you're fine with a 40gb drive, because the new smallest capacity will probably be 80gb, but as you see most people including the TE want at least 60/80GB.
Oh and you didn't get that my post told him to get a drive now, because all in all it's not worth the wait?

Also I still haven't seen any reliable source about data retention and all the other bad stuff that should happen when scaling down and I'm not too fond on believing any rumour on the net.. but if you happen to have some links I'd be really gracious.

 

[jaydee]

ROFL...if you think 25nm means an overnight tank in price, think again

maybe a year to year and a half from now, but by no means 6-9 months from now

IIRC, 25nm comes with a hitch...data retention is reduced

Also...the cost of admission likely won't get less expensive, you'll just get more capacity for the dollars you spend.

Take the 2 above statements into account...what's the point of a same cost, higher capacity drive? Why not get a fast, 30-80GB boot drive NOW, and have a spinning drive for all your data?

Ummm... no one ever said that prices will tank overnight, I'm not sure why you're laughing.

I do expect prices to gradually decrease, not just 4Q, but between now and then as well. Why? More products on the maket, more competition. How much were the 60GB OCZ Agility's and 80GB Intel X25M-G2's a few months ago? About $180 and $280 respectively. Now the Agility's seeing sales at $125/135 and the X-25M consistently ~$200. The process is starting to mature and production and sales are picking up, and new products are being announced and released.

I'm REALLY curious to see the opening street prices of the new OCZ Vertex/Agility 2's just announced. To stay competetive with Intel, I expect the 100GB version to be just a tad higher than the X25-M 80GB, ~$220. That would be huge.