by Kevin O’Brien

With solid state drive (SSDs) reaching ever increasing capacities, they are starting to finally match many standard hard drives. The Memoright 128GB 2.5" SSD, is not only extremely fast, but also finally has the capacity to make me not worry about loading many games and videos onto my notebook. This hasn’t always been the case with 32GB or 64GB drives, where the operating system and main applications took a massive chunk out of your free space. With the help of the guys over at DVNation, the exclusive US distributor for Memoright, we are able to review this model today.

Specifications

Manufacturer’s part number: MR25.1-128S

Capacity: 128GB

Form Factor: Standard 2.5", adapter available to fit 3.5" desktop

Dimensions: Standard 2.5", 100(L), 69.85(W), 9.5(H) mm

Interface: SATA

Weight: 100 g

Rated R/W Performance: 100MB/s read, >100MB/s write, .1ms access

Rated IOPS performance: Read IOPS: >10000, Write IOPS: >800

Enclosure: metal case

Warranty: 5 years

Price: $3,399



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Setup

To get this SSD going in your notebook, it is only a matter of swapping drives and installing your software again. This drive is compatible with a wide range of notebooks depending on chipset, and is "plug and play" with standard size 2.5" SATA hard drives.

I chose to install Windows Vista, and I only needed about 25 minutes before I had a system that was up and running, ready to install other applications.

Performance

I was very impressed by the speed of the 128GB Memoright drive. Reaching speeds 20-30MB/s greater than my 7200rpm Seagate 7200.2 drive, it was a night and day comparison opening up applications. Games loaded much faster, load times between levels were 1-2 seconds. Windows startup was incredibly fast having very little disk trashing (if there was any you couldn’t hear it!). To give you a better understanding of how fast this thing is, look below for benchmarks between the Memoright 128GB SSD and my Seagate 7200.2 120GB HD.

HDTune

120GB Seagate 7200 rpm hard drive:



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128GB Memoright SSD:



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HDTach

120GB Seagate 7200 rpm hard drive:



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128GB Memoright SSD:



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Atto

120GB Seagate 7200 rpm hard drive:



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128GB Memoright SSD:



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In short, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a faster high-capacity SSD at the time of this writing. In practical terms, as soon as you search for a file this SSD locates it. As soon as you launch an application it’s open and ready to use. Think of modern SATA SSD technology as you would a Ferrari: It’s super fast, but expect to pay a premium.

Compatibility

Not every SATA controller I tested with the Memoright SSD recognized the drive. Every onboard SATA controller on the desktops and laptops I tried out worked, but my Expresscard-to-SATA controller would not acknowledge the drive. Since I don’t have every imaginable SATA controller on hand to test, I would suggest contacting DVNation or Memoright to find out if your system is compatible before purchasing the drive.

Conclusion

Considering the MemoRight 128GB SSD costs nearly double what my Thinkpad T60 set me back, this purchase is not for the light hearted (or light walleted). The performance of this drive was what I had expected, blowing away my standard drive in almost all areas.

The only reason I don’t think I will be picking one of these drives up anytime soon is because of its high price. On the other hand, I’m certain that some consumers who can afford this level of performance will purchase this SSD without a second thought. For all of those eager buyers wanting to snatch one up right now, head over to DVNation to pick one up.

Pros

Very fast: "Conservatively" almost 50% faster than 7200rpm notebook drive

Quiet and shock proof … no moving parts

"Plug and Play" for most notebooks

Cons