First Look: Kingston SSDNow V+

Manufacturers dress-up their products to help them sell, but don't get too caught-up on the flashy stickers because they'll be out of sight soon enough. When it comes to notebook computer drives you've got to remember that once installed, that SSD gets hidden away from view and forgotten. Keeping in mind that this product is also of solid state design and therefore has no moving parts, it takes extra attention towards product presentation in order to help keep consumers feeling comfortable with their premium-priced purchase. Kingston might have borrowed the controller design for their 2nd-generation SSDNow V+ series, but the outside bares the always-unique Kingston artwork. A textured gunmetal enclosure disassociates itself with so many of the plain black designs we've seen lately, and adds a touch of class to the product line.

Kingston recognizes that desktop computer enthusiasts may also want to use 2.5" notebook drives on their system. All Kingston SNVP325-S2B models include an upgrade kit with the SSD, and offer 3.5-to-2.5" adapter rails and a data transfer guide, Unlike desktop computers which utilize SATA cables to connect a drive into the motherboard, nearly all notebooks are designed to allow the 2.5" drive to slide directly into a connection bay within the system.

In addition to notebooks and desktop computer application, this Kingston SSDNow V+ series MLC Solid State Drive can be utilized for mission-critical backups or high-abuse data systems; but its real focus is on high-performance data transfer speeds. Unfortunately, the Kingston SSDNow V+ SNVP325 series does not offer any integrated USB Mini-B port for making this into a portable backup storage device.

Unlike most Hard Disk Drive (HDD) storage products, SSD's are nearly impervious to impact damage and do not require (or benefit from) any kind of special vibration dampening or shock-proof enclosures. Kingston utilizes a textured rough-looking metal enclosure for their SSDNow V+ Solid State Drive series, which reveals the internal components after removing just four small counter-sunk Allen-head screws on the underside. Standard 2.5" drive bay mounting points are pre-drilled and threaded into the SSDNow V+ SSD, which allows for quick upgrade or addition into any existing notebook or desktop system. The mounting positions matched up to the drive bracket on my notebook computer, and after only a few minutes of drive cloning I was quickly loading the Windows O/S.

Thanks to a new controller architecture (detailed in the next section), the second-generation Kingston SSDNow V+ series receives a thermal filler pad to transfer heat to the metal enclosure. Now that you're acquainted with the basic exterior features of the Kingston SSDNow V+ SSD, it's time to peek inside the SNVP325 enclosure and inspect the internal components...

<< Previous Page - Next Page >>