MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof 128GB mSATA Review

Azrielsc, thank you for the kind words about our product it is highly appreciated. I see robotti80 already helped you out with your question. He became an expert on installing our FW after he had some issues. It is funny that they only time you seem to ever really learn anything is when there is a problem. For example I would have no clue how the internal workings of a computer all worked together if I had not forgotten to take the tap off the CPU of my 1st PC I ever put together in 1998. I think I went through every manual and error code for every part and issue under the sun with that problem. But now I really know what each part does instead of just knowing where to plug it in.

Something cool I noticed today. The 128GB MyDigitalSSD is the #1 selling mSATA SSD on Google Shopping and Amazon right now. We have officially eclipsed Intel at this point.

Thank you all for your help in spreading the word about this product.

Also an update on returns in total we have 3pcs that is right only 3 defective units out of around 4K at this point. For those of you who don't know how significant that is I have been dealing with SSD since 2007 and 3% is generally an acceptable defect rate for SSD.

 

Any plans for SATA III mSATA drives?

 

Yes we are looking at the very end of February or early March for the release of our SATA III mSATA Drives. No more info at this time but you guys will have the 1st look once I have some samples.

We do have an exciting new product in the works for January 1. I am calling it the MyDigitalSSD 32GB DDR2 Super Cache mSATA SSD. It will be a fast 32GB SSD made with special Toshiba DDR2 flash memory. I am mainly targeting people with the Intel Z68 chip-set and people running SSD caching software. So people looking at the Kingston 32GB for that purpose might want to hold off for a minute. Pricing will be around $60.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Ooohh! Just when I have the SATA 2 mSATA SSD... Hope to see it out in Feb/Mar soonest so that I can give myself another excuse to get this!

 

I have placed an order on MyDigitalSSD 64GB to power up my X220. Hope it will come soon!

 

Going to be tight for Christmas looks like they will land at resellers on the 19th or 20th.

MyDigitalSSD

 

is it possible if my order can reach by 23 Dec? I am in California, but will be back to Singapore soon.

 

MyDigital, are the last 3 units of "MyDigitalSSD 64GB 50mm Bullet Proof mSATA (Mini SATA PCI-e) SSD - MDMS-5064" on memoryc 34nm?

 

Scott91011, Yes those are 34nm and they are the last 2 available. We expect the new 24nm 64GB mSATA Drives will be at our resellers on the 19th or 20th.

Seaiaw, you had better call the reseller and upgrade your shipping to overnight and let them know your situation.

MyDigitalSSD

 

I will be doing a review of this drive in the coming weeks, and I'd like to know if people have any ideas as to what they'd like to see tested. So far, I'm thinking:

The usual synthetic benchmarks
Windows installation time
Windows boot time (SSD by itself and SSD as a cache drive)
Program loading time (SSD by itself and SSD as a cache drive)
7-zip

 

Just wanted to add on my post. I just realised that in the Lenovo Thinkvantage Toolbox, we can check the revision of the mSATA SSD from:

Toolbox > System Information > SSD Information.

D'UH!

 

I would like to suggests a short setup guide on the various platforms to insure people have a handle on the instal and initial setup.

 

Darn missed out on the last 64gbs on memoryc. MYdigital does anyone else have stock remaining in 34nm?

 

That I can do.

 

Sorry to say that they are all gone.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Any 34nm 128GB left??

 

Yes, all 128GB available now are 34nm and will be until further notice.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Excellent! My new W520 should be coming in a few weeks and I'll most likely order a 128GB one then. I hope it's still $185 (or less) then! From what I've read, the performance is fairly good but the price to performance ratio is definitely why I'm seriously interested in it. Any news on the next generation mSATA SSDs?

 

Congratulations on your new W520!

Just a heads up if you want one for its arrival you had better get it right now demand has been so high that we exceeded the estimates for this month and it pains me to say this but inventory is about to dry up on that part until around the 2nd week of January.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Don't think I'll get my laptop for 3 more weeks, so mid Jan is ok. Prices always go down and I'm in no rush, but thanks for the heads up.

 

I'm getting ready to get the MydigitalSSD 64GB mSATA and I just have one quick question. Will the ssd come with the new firmware? If not, how can I check which firmware I'm on? Thanks

Lenovo Y470
CPU: i7-2630QM
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 550 GT 1GB
RAM: 8GB PC3-8500 DDR3
SSD: MyDigitalSSD 64GB 50mm Bullet Proof mSATA
HDD: 750GB 5400rpm

 

The easiest way is to download the firmware updater and run it.

If you have the latest firmware - it will tell you - otherwise, simply install it.

Good luck.

 

As I wrote before:

 

I'm using the 128gb version as my c: drive under Win7 and would like to update the firmware.

What's the best way to backup and then restore the drive? I've read that restoring from backup/cloning software will result in bad alignment, hurting performance. Will I have to reinstall windows and all my programs?

Is there a major difference between FW 11 (in my drive) and the newer FW 12?

 

Hi, Is the MyDigitalSSD 64GB mSATA 24nm or 34nm now?
Thanks

 

What are the exact steps you used to flash it? I typed s5am012 /scanport first and got the no vaild (yes there was a typo there) SATA device exist(s), then I got a black screen after I tried typing s5fam012 0xc080 -slave. The screen was blank except the blinking _ that lets you know where you're typing but it was not responsive, so I just powered it off after a several minutes. I retried with s5am012 -slave /scanport, but still got the same error.

edit: ok I had to disable my RAID and changed it to compatibility mode and it finally worked. Updated from 11 to 12!

 

I am about to buy an M4 128gb and would love to send some business to a forum sponsor, but, don't see any price comparable SSD to the M4 at your site including the SSD in the title of this thread.

What am I missing that I need to know before I buy some 128gb by the end of the week?

 

Hi all I have been away at CES and now I am in Portland trying to go boarding but not having much luck.

Now to answer a few questions.

The 64GB mSATA now has 24nm flash

The new 128GB inventory is in route to resellers around the world so those will be shipping again very soon.

I see you guys had some discussion about the FW and it appears that was resolved but let me know if there are any other questions.

I would also like to announce that the 32GB Super Cache Drives are now shipping as well.

Regarding the M4 with the question - We exclusively use Phison controllers and Toshiba flash. Give the guys over at MyDigitalDiscount a call they may have an option with the Marvel controller in it.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Question for MyDigitalSSD (or anyone):

I want to replace the mechanical HDD in my laptop with the MyDigitalSSD 128GB, but my company requires full-disk encryption (currently McAfee Endpoint Encryption). From what I have read, this impacts performance quite a bit.

Have you done any performance testing with full-disk encryption?

 

I personally have not done any testing with this software on-board an SSD.

Anyone else?

Also I would like to add the the shipment of 128GB mSATA that landed this week is sold out. Next large shipment is due to go out mid next week with only a hand full of back-orders at this time so they should (SHOULD) actually be in stock again soon.

 

For full-disk encryption, it seems that the performance hit depends on which program you use. OP in this thread reported an ~80% performance drop with FDE, but only half with BitLocker (but CPU usage doubled from 7% to 14%). Supposedly, McAfee Endpoint Security performs on par with Bitlocker.

True, benchmarks will suffer with full-disk encryption. However, 108MB/s seq. read and ~8MB/s 4K speeds are still orders of magnitude faster than an unencrypted HDD.

 

Thanks for pointing me to that thread; it is very enlightening. I'm looking for any speedup I can get for my HP 2530p, so I appreciate the pragmatic view.

And just in time for me to miss out on the current batch! I hope I can get in on the next one.

 

do you still have 34nm flash 128gb ssd?

 

MyDigitalSSD,

Do you happen to know when you'll have 256gb mSata SSDs?

I'm debating whether to wait for 256gb models to come out or go with the 128gb version. If there aren't going to be any 256gb mSatas released in this calendar year (2012), then I'd go for the 128gb now.

 

Hi everybody,
Since the mSATA should be the same as the half-sice I need, I have a question concerning the 64GB size available now.

MyDigitalSSD says there are not 34nm anymore, but what does it mean? The "new" 64GB are slower?

Thank you.

 

According to Corsair and HotHardware, there isn't a change in performance from 34nm --> 25nm. The only noticeable differences would be that 1) More NAND chips, hence more non-formatted storage, 2) prices will be less in the long-run, and 3) the number of write cycles is reduced (but 3,000 cycles is still a very respectable amount).

 

I think they posted benchmarks, which were slightly lower with the 25nm NAND. But in real life usage, I can't see it being significant.

 

Thank you for the reply. What is the number of cycles in a 34nm ssd?

Thank you for the confirm

I will use it in a SATA II controller, so I guess the difference will be difficult to show with a benchmark then.

 

Removed....

 

As i've written here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...talssd-msata-ssd-64gb-x220-5.html#post8271521 i have your same problem... To me, was better my hhd...

 

Was better my hhd? Are you saying that you are just dealing with it because it is better than the platter drive or you get a better one?

 

I mean my hdd drive was better than my new ssd. However i found a fix for this problem so i ll share it here. Download Alex Intelligent Software - Downloads check if you have written msahci. If it is the case then you have to download and install this http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...duct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology&lang=eng becasuse ms drivers sucks with this ssd and just doesn't work. Restart the pc and after that you will see iaStor, as you can see here MyDigitalSSD 50mm Bullet Proof mSATA PCIe 64GB SSD Review - Benchmarks - AS SSD :: TweakTown USA Edition and all your problems will be fixed! I fixed mine!

 

I am interested in buying the MyDigitalSSD 128gb mSATA for my T520 and using it as the boot and storage drive. I will remove the other platter drive in the interest of reducing weight.

My concern is will the mSATA drive be reliable enough to use for storage? Are mSATA less or more reliable than regular hard drives?

 

If you want to remove the hard drive, why don't u buy a normal 2,5" SSD?

 

From what I know, regular hard drives are around 100-120 grams. SSD's are around 80 grams, and mSATA are only around 10 grams? so in the interest of weight, thats why i was interested in mSATA

 

They're just as reliable as any other SSD, which is more than any mechanical hard drive.

 

Man you guys rock I was away for 2 weeks and you took care of my tech support for me.

128GB mSATA are shipping and at a new price (not allowed to post prices here but I can tell you it is lower). Also still using 32nm flash.

MyDigitalSSD

 

@MyDigitalSSD

When do you think the sata 3 will be out? will it be compatible will the y470p?

 

@MDSSD

Does the 128gb come with the new firmware?

 

Is it fair to say that the drop in performance (from the 32nm benchmarks) has forced the 20% drop in price of the 64GB mSATA?