Last Updated: 02/04/2010
NAND flash memory drives really come into their own in 2009. With current SSD's clearly outpacing ANY single spinning platter drive, they're the single best performance enhancing upgrade you can buy. 64GB and 128GB are the sweet spot cost-wise and deliver unprecedented performance at affordable prices. Large 256GB and now 512GB drives still beyond wallet's reach for most.

February Solid State Drive Deals - Rebates

Of note: Amazon's SSD Drive Selection keeps growing and prices is getting ALOT more competitive - especially their 3rd-party sellers - often undercutting NewEgg's prices.

NewEgg.com has a large range of SSD Drives -- Once the Go-Place for SSD hunting Geeks, they're not always as cut-throat competitive as they used to be as demand for flash memory has pushed SSD PRICES UP recently. You really have to watch thier newsletters, rebates and promos close to snag deep discount deals. The SSDs on rebate in January are a broad range of OCZ Agility and Vertex series drives.

SSD Bargains

TigerDirect.com has recently expanded their inventory of SSDs - and like NewEgg.com are rather fond of SSD rebate promos if you're willing to play the game by the rebates rules. See what SSD deals they've currently got by searching here:
Search at TigerDirect.com:


$3/GB PRICE DROP DRIVE DEALS

80GB X-25M Intel Drives
Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 MLC Internal Solid state disk (SSD)
Now $259 @ NewEgg
The ongoing SSD deal is on the X-25 MLC Intel Drive - a new low perhaps as they clear out in preparation for the next generation Intel G2 drives. Once head and shoulders above all other's - it's still one of your best SSD performance choices.

BEST SSD PRICES & REBATES

A few pricing quirks recently: Amazon OCZ Price Check Snafu? For around $220 you could have either an OCZ 60GB Vertex, Apex, Agility, or Core Series. But you wouldn't anything other than the Vertex with its superior read-write performance and Indilinx controller chip for the money. Amazon is generally very price competitive - but pricing can change from day to day depending on competition from it's own 3rd party sellers. Any way you slice it: Great deal on the Vertex SATA II drive - the just-released Agility ain't a bad option either..

Top-Performing SSD Disk Deals

Single-Layer SLC drives continue to provide the best write speeds and longevity - at a price. In the Multi-Layer MLC arena, Intel's custom chipset, Indilix 'Barefoot' chip and Samsung's latest controllers lead the pack over any current or past JMicron based drives.
           
80GB Intel MLC
Mainstream Series
25% Price Cut		60GB OCZ
Vertex Indilinx Controller		MTron 64GB
Fast SLC Drive
Intel X25-M SATA
 		OCZ's Best SSD Value
 		SLC Single-Layer

Best Tech Analysis Articles of 2009:

For those seeking ultimate disk performance, check out this nerdy yet informative in-depth analysis of SSD drive controllers and chipset design by Anand at www.anandtech.com. His extensive take on the Solid-State storage market in his "Final Thoughts" section is a must-read for Top-Performance Geek-Freaks. PC Perspective has a good take on OCZ's Apex Series vs Intel X25-M vs Velociraptor etc in this Apex SSD Benchmarks/Comparison with concluding thoughts. Keep in mind, Anandtech - and other deep-geek sites fret over nanaosecond differences that the average consumer wouldn't perceive - or care about.

Low-Cost Bargain SSD Deals

Several previous-generation drives were recently removed from this section. Most were JMicron controller chip SSDs which were just not optimal for smooth WRITE performance in particular. Revised next-generation JMicron controllers with far more onboard cache will be released by year's end - and will likely be widely used in 'VALUE' series drives. Stay tuned. In the meantime: Unless you can find these discontinued models at an absolute bargain-bin closeout price -- focus on finding an Indilinx or Samsung or Intel chipset for better overall performance.

DRIVES OF NOTE FROM INTEL PATRIOT PQI MTRON OCZ TRANSCEND

Small Capacity, but fast, Fast, FAST: In some high-end setups, a Single-Layer SLC drive may be used optimally as a Boot and Application disk for high I/O and Transaction processing, with secondary high-capacity spinning platter drives for the bulk of the data.
Intel SSDSA2SH032G1 2.5
Intel's Top Performer: SLC Single-Layer 32GB SATA-300 SSD with the highest overall Read AND overall leading-edge Write performance to date: <$350
For home users and enthusiasts: Configure a lean SLC Boot drive, combine with a big honkin' Velociraptor or Samsung F1 for your photos, music, movies and whatnot -- The best of both worlds!

128GB Solid State Drive Less Than $300: Patriot PE128GS25SSDR Warp Series Extreme Performance SATA-II 2.5" SSD
Middle of the road SSD performance - but ample capacity at this price point.

Looking for a CHEAP SSD to try out? Check out this ~$90 solid-state drive which can be an affordable bootable drive for diagnostics, installers and updates:
PQI 32GB MLC Drive: Up to 150mpbs Read - 90mbps Write Speeds + mini USB 2.0 Port
PQI DK9320GD3R000A03 2.5
I use one of these in an Apple MacBook, and have another as a bootable service drive for FAST software installs and computer and hard drive diagnostics. The external USB port makes this portable SSD self-powered. A Techie's bargain!

For easy mounting a small Serial-ATA solid-state laptop drive in desktop computers:
Convert your 2.5" SATA disk to standard 3.5" mounts w/an ICY DOCK SATA II ADAPTER CASE
ICY DOCK MB882SP-1S-1 2.5
Smart design: just plop a 2.5"drive in - tension springs hold it in place - and slide the cover shut. 4 standard drive-rail mount screws are all thats needed to complete the SSD installation in your computer.

Want MAXIMUM performance? Buy two matching flash drives and put them in a RAID case:
SATA II Dual-Drive RAID Enclosure with a standard 3.5" form-factor with both SATA and mini-USB 2.0 interface

For Geeky-Types This SATA enclosure has DIP-Switches to configure different RAID Levels, or set to JBOD modes.

SLUG IT OUT ON EBAY FOR LOW-COST SSD DISKS

eBay's starting to list an interesting selection of solid-state drives - tho beware of discontinued, previous generation, used drives:


SSD COST PREDICTIONS - TRENDS FOR 2010

Like hard drives, SSD's are rapidly becoming high-volume COMMODITY ITEMS. But unique to the solid-state market is the insane demand for flash-memory chips - not just for SSD's - but in digital cameras, iPods, MP3 players and ever more intelligent consumer electronic devices. Apple's demand for flash chips for the iPod and iPhone alone is staggering, and has directly influenced rather STEADY flash prices thru all of 2009. SSD drives - in spite of increasing competition, much higher production and efficiencies of scale have oddly kept SSD prices FIRM throughout the year. But at least performance has made significant strides as cost has held steady. Early next year CES - The Consumer Electronics Show will give a good indication of SSD disk products in the pipeline that will shape where storage is headed.