Intel 160 GB X25M Mainstream SATA II Solid State Drive Retail Package SSDSA2MH160G2R5
February 22, 2010- With no moving parts, Intel SSDs offer a quiet storage solution that responds quickly and uses less power
Product Description
Intel X25M 160GB Mainstream Solid State Drive – Gen2, MLC flash technology, 2.5-Inch form factor, SATA (3.0Gb/s), 9.5mm Retail Box. Postville….
This item was “in stock” on 12/1/09, but the order was canceled on 12/4 due to an unspecified technical glitch. Reordered on 12/4 for shipment 12/8. As of 12/7/09 This product is listed as “in stock” but Amazon is unable to confirm shipment before 12/24/09.
Rating: 1 / 5
I bought (2) Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2R5, 160gb SSD’s from Newegg and two weeks later started having disk paging errors and system lockups; Amazon suppliers didn’t have inventory. I downloaded Intel’s new SSD Tools; firmware update & new “trim” performance tools. Firmware wouldn’t update and reported that both disk had “pre-release” firmware version (0953) and couldn’t be updated. I contacted Intel support and they verified that firmware release “0953″ was a pre-release version and not to be sold as retail. They said to inform Newegg, gave me a case number and said return the drives for replacement. Newegg was responsive and exchanged the first drive quickly. When I received the replacement it also was a pre-release “non retail” drive and that now made three bad SSD’s! At that point I decided not to continue replacing drives, since it appears Newegg has a bad batch; they said they had 100+ in inventory. I asked for a refund of the (2) drives and again Newegg customer support was very responsive.
Now the rub. I used the first SSD two weeks ago in a new system I was building. When it was determined I had these bad drives I informed Newegg I didn’t have the retail packaging for this first drive. I normally hang onto the component packaging for a few days to make sure the component isn’t DOA and functions normally. As I have stated, this drive didn’t act up and the problem didn’t come to light for two weeks. Newegg has refused to take the drive back. This is in spite of the situation and even with my trying to help them identify an internal problem and Intel supporting me in having Newegg replace the drives! They would send me a replacement drive (probably another bad unit), but not take the drive back. I said this wasn’t acceptable and ask the case be reviewed and have a supervisor contact me to discuss. No one has followed up! Beware, I wouldn’t buy a drive until this situation is resolved and if you have one of these units use Intel’s SSD tools to check your drive.
I suggested that Newegg have someone look into the situation (and volunteered to have them contact me and I would share the details); no one has followed up. I’m currently waiting on Intel tech support to see what they can do in this situation. If Intel does the right thing and helps out I’ll stay with Intel, if not, I’ll try a couple of OCZ SSD’s……not from Newegg
UPDATE: Pleased to report that both Newegg and Intel agreed to help me with these problem drives. Newegg agreed to issue refunds for the (2) Intel SSD’s given the apparent bad lot they had received from one of their suppliers. This was in lieu of Newegg’s standard policy of replacing this type of product (we tried that on one unit and found it was also bad). Thanks to DoM_DoM at[...]who helped with customer service.
Intel also recognized a unique situation in me somehow receiving drives with “Pre-Production Firmware”. Since I wanted to stay with the Intel SSD, but with Newegg apparently with a problem batch and lack of availability from other suppliers Intel agreed to exchange the drives directly. I elected this option instead of the refund from Newegg. Thanks to Oscar at Intel customer service.
A final note, I received the drives from Intel and ran the SSD Toolbox and they also reported firmware version ” 0953″, the same exact bad firmware of the drives to be replaced! Intel assured me these came from their depot and should be the current released firmware. At this point we threw the towel in and Intel agreed to refund my purchase on the (2) drives I originally purchased from Newegg. I purchased (2) OCZ SSD’s from Newegg and they appear to be running fine.
Rating: 1 / 5
For a price of $450+ for this drive, one can buy a desktop from dell, such as a Studio Desktop. To the majority of people who does Internet, facebook and some office work at home, I do not think the performance is worth the price.
I own this, installed on my Macbook Pro. The Intel X25M is fast, reliable. In general we get what we paid for. I would recommend this drive to those who really need the speed, responsiveness and feeling on their systems. Not really for the mainsteams yet.
Rating: 3 / 5
Intel hasn’t bothered to release even a simple command-line utility to deal with the internal fragmentation problem SSDs have, which degrades their performance as they are used. The company could at least put a warning label on the box.
The TRIM command, which Intel supports in Windows 7 (via updated firmware) and in earlier Windows operating systems with a manual Toolbox, takes care of this problem — but not if you have a Mac and are running OS X. Intel also hasn’t bothered to support the people who bought the first version of this product, G1, even in Windows. There is no TRIM support via a firmware update and no manual utility that I know of.
While this is a nice SSD overall, given that all the computers I own and many people I know own are Macs, it’s only a 3-star product at best because there is no good way to manage the performance degradation issue. And, since G1 owners are being left behind, that’s also a knock on this product.
I’m waiting for the SandForce SSDs.
Rating: 3 / 5
First of all I would like to mention that Amazon’s shipping has gotten ridiculous. It took Amazon 3 days to get the product out the door (it was in stock when I ordered it) and then they chose to use the US Mail! It took 12 days before the package arrived in my mailbox and it shipped from Arizona to Colorado (neighboring states). That is unacceptable.
I have read reviews claiming that this drive (or an SSD in general) is “life changing”. That has not been my experience at all. I was previously using a 150GB WD Raptor as a boot drive. I replaced the Raptor with this SSD and installed a fresh copy of Windows 7. There was no noticeable performance improvement. I didn’t measure boot times or application launch times but if there was a difference it wasn’t obvious. The only difference that I noticed was the absence of sound caused by drive head seeking. The SSD, of course, is silent. I suspect that those who had “life changing” experiences had a very slow drive to begin with or they just needed a fresh install of Windows on a freshly formatted drive. For me, it wasn’t worth the price.
Rating: 3 / 5