MyDigitalSSD BP3 256GB mSATA SSD Review Discussion

The MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof 3 (BP3) 50mm mSATA III solid state drive (SSD) is a brand new storage solution for notebooks, Ultrabooks, tablets, and desktop computers. The BP3 drives are an ideal solution for notebooks and Ultrabooks with mSATA slots; you can install this SSD as a Windows boot drive, as a second storage drive or you can use it as a cache drive to speed up your primary hard drive give your laptop a speed boost that not only helps with productivity but lowers energy consumption and prolongs your laptop's precious battery life.

Read the full content of this Article: MyDigitalSSD BP3 256GB mSATA SSD Review

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I don't think this was covered in the review so I'll ask it here. In a notebook like a Thinkpad x230 that has a normal HDD and a mSata slot, can you just use the mSata and completely remove the HDD?

 

As far as I know, all Lenovo notebooks with mSATA slots allow you to use just the mSATA slot alone. In fact, the Lenovo systems I've used defaults to the mSATA slot as the boot drive once you put a SSD in that slot.

 

I was actually looking at this specific mSSD while I'm deciding on what new notebook I want. Usually, one HDD bay is a dealbreaker for me, since I like to run SSD+HDD configuration. I suppose I could take out the ODD and put in a caddy, but I like having my ODD.

However, with mSATA, I can have my cake and eat it too.

 

I'm with you, Forge. I'm not crazy about Ultrabooks that only have a single mSATA slot and no SATA slot, but I absolutely LOVE notebooks that have room inside for both a mSATA SSD and a standard hard drive. I like being able to either configure the mSATA SSD as cache to speed up the HDD or use the SSD as my boot drive and use the larger HDD for storage.

My only concern is I suspect most notebook manufacturers are going to push for just mSATA as they try to make notebooks thinner and lighter. The mSATA SSDs aren't bad ... I just like being able to use BOTH a HDD and SSD.

 

Thanks for this review. It might not be the fastest mSATA but it looks to be better than the Sandisk U100. I was surprised to discover some in the UK so I've ordered one to go into my Samsung NP900X3B. Double the capacity and a speed improvement both should justify the UK pricing (almost £1 = $1).

John

 

True, the higher capacity mSATA SSD is not very common right now, not sure why Intel opt for the lower capacity ones in their newer models for caching. For me it was down to either MyDigitalSSD BP or Mushkin Atlas (a good alternative IMO).

 

MyDigitalSSD 256GB mSATA III SSD- MDMS-BP3-256 $259.99 AC - Slickdeals.net

$20 Coupon!!!

 

I feel you. My current (MSI GX660R) and previous two laptops (Asus G50vt and G51vx) all had dual HDD slots, so I'm spoiled with SSD+HDD. I can't leave the SSD's speed, but I also can't leave HDD capacity. So I almost passed up the laptop I'm considering, the MSI GE60, since it only has one HDD slot. But alas, mSATA to the rescue! And wut1997 too, with that coupon code.

It also helps I'm not really a benchmark fiend either. If it's a functioning SSD (which means it's faster than an HDD) I'm happy with it. I don't need the fastest fastest SSD on the market.

 

Does anyone know what Ultrabooks come with a mSATA SSD? I thought all of them come with a soldered SSD, but at least if I can replace the SSD then an ultrabook looks very tempting to me.

 

You'll have to check the support pages on each manufacturer's website for a full list but in general, all of the recent 14-inch and 15-inch Ultrabooks that come to mind have mSATA slots (like the 14" Lenovo IdeaPad U400, the 15" Acer Aspire Timeline Ultra M3, and the new HP 14" and 15" Sleekbooks and Ultrabooks).

Many of the 11"-to-13" Ultrabooks do use soldered SSDs although the HP Folio 13 and Dell XPS 13 both have mSATA slots if I recall correctly.

 

Thanks Jerry. I was looking on the 13" category. A 512 SSD is expensive now but should be an easy upgrade next year so upgrade ability is a crucial factor. The Dell XPS 13 does look great but unfortunately it is 2nd gen Core and so is the Folio 13. Hopefully they will be upgraded soon.

 

It's worth it... just received it few weeks and set it as boot drive, 238GB after format should be enough I guess .. while another 2 bay for storage completely

 

If anyone's curious, it took 15 minutes for a fresh Win7 install. The trusty G-Shock told me installation started at 10:00PM and ended at just before 10:15. Technically it's probably more like 12 minutes, since I was doing the password and options set up.

(MSI GE60, Win7 x64 Home Premium, using a USB install)

 

I discovered a few days ago that a firmware upgrade had been released some months ago which claims to give better write performance. It took me several attempts to get this to work (the WinPE route succeeded while the slave drive in another computer failed) and, as promised, the upgrade totally wiped the drive. Fortunately, I had made a complete image before doing the firmware upgrade.

This process highlighted to me how user-friendly the firmware upgrade for the Crucial m4 is in comparison. While backing up the drive is recommended by Crucial, I have done two firmware upgrades which were simply a matter of running a program in Windows, letting the computer reboot and run the update, then restarting to get back to Windows again.

John

 

I was reading this hoping I wont have to install any update and thankfully mine is already on 3.2. From your experience do you see any performance improvement?

 

Benchmarks confirm the claimed improvements in write speeds but I haven't run anything which would confirm better performance in real-life usage but I felt that performance had dropped off during the past few months. In fact the reason I went looking for any firmware updates is that Windows was starting to report disk errors which it attributed to the Win32/Small.CA virus (research revealed that this was often a false alarm).

John