Introduction
After having taken a look at Crucial's Indilinx-powered CT256M225 SSD last week, priced at £400, there were calls for HEXUS to put value to the fore and take a peek at the 64GB model, costing a relatively modest £115, including delivery. Please bear in mind that this is a brief preview look; we'll be comparing the drive against a plethora of other options in a full-length round-up review.Crucial currently etails three performance-oriented SSDs, as shown by the table, below.
| Crucial M225 drive | 64GB | 128GB | 256GB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read speed (up to) | 200MB/s | 250MB/s | 250MB/s |
| Write speed (up to) | 150MB/s |
190MB/s | 190MB/s |
| Drive buffer | 64MB | 64MB | 64MB |
| Etail price (26/08/09) | £115 |
£223 |
£405 |
| £ per GB | 1.797 |
1.742 |
1.58 |
The 64GB drive doesn't quite match up to the 128GB and 256GB drives with respect to pure performance, but the specifications are still strong for what can be termed an entry-level SSD.
The cost, too, is reasonable for an SSD and within the reach of most users looking for speed over capacity. Lastly and pragmatically, 64GBs is large enough to hold an operating system and a bunch of commonly-used programs.
There's nothing remarkable here. The CT64M225 is around £25 cheaper than other manufacturers who use the same innards - Indilinx controller and Samsung NAND. Performance differences will relate to firmware, mostly, and Crucial has yet to implement the TRIM function, for keeping performance at near-new levels. We expect to see it rolled in within two weeks.
Encased in an aluminium housing and shockproof for the most part, the connectors are also common fare - although they're upside-down when compared to most drives'.
It's equally at home in a notebook as much as a desktop PC, with the benefit of adding precious minutes to battery-life in the case of the former; no moving parts reduces energy consumption.
Backed up by some of the best support in the industry and shipped out to customers via Royal Mail Special Delivery, the on-paper credentials look good, just like the 256GB drive's.
