I had this happen to me with a new Intel 320 120GB SSD (boot drive). Luckily I wasn't really using the system yet, just installing software and testing. But it's complete data loss and can only be "fixed" (i.e. reformatted) with a serious secure erase (using HDDErase in my case).
In my case, there was no lightning strike or anything like that. It was caused when my faulty Gigabyte H67 motherboard got stuck in boot cycles (another known problem) where the system resets over and over before even posting. This was enough of a "power loss" to kill the 320 drive. Others have said it happened to them just upon booting up with no apparent power loss - though it's usually associated with some sort of power loss. I don't think a UPS would help in any of these instances.
The issue is being discussed in an Intel forums thread
here and was finally SORT OF acknowledged by Intel
here. Though one poster says he called Intel and they are not officially recognizing the bug, just recognizing that people are CLAIMING to have this problem. So it's not clear that they are working on any kind of solution and it's certainly not clear whether this problem is fixable with firmware or if it's just a hardware defect.
Anyway, my SSD is now apparently functional but I haven't yet reinstalled Win7 on it or anything. I'm going to wait a few weeks to see if they announce anything, but I am strongly leaning toward just getting a refund from the retailer (I think I could).
Of course, some people will never encounter the issue. But my prediction is that these 320s will be remembered in much the same way the IBM Deathstars are remembered. Unfortunately it will be difficult to come up with a nickname for "320".
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