Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SATA 3 GB/s 2.5- Inch Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle SNV425-S2BN/128GB

by Kingston

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.5 x 1 x 5 inches ; 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00378KHVO
• Item model number: SNV425-S2BN/128GB
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 3, 2010

Product Description

Capacity: 128GB

From the Manufacturer

Increase your productivity while extending the life of your computer with the second-generation Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle. The innovative V Series Drive is built without moving parts, making it far less susceptible to damage from shock and vibration than traditional hard drives. In addition, it uses NAND flash memory components for data storage, increasing the reliability and speed of your computer. If you're looking to improve the performance of your notebook or desktop computer without incurring the cost of buying a new one, look no further than the Kingston SSDNow V Series Drive.

SSDNow V Series 128 GB Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle

At a Glance:

• 128 GB of memory for increased performance
  
  
• No moving parts for quieter, cooler operation
  
  
• Flash-based components for durable, shock-resistant storage
  
  
• Generates less heat and reduces power consumption
  
  
• Included software simplifies notebook upgrade
  
  
• Backed by a three-year warranty

Includes software, USB enclosure, and USB cable for a smooth notebook system upgrade. View larger.

Innovative Design, Faster Speed

Kingston demonstrates its 20-year leadership in design and innovation with the introduction of the SSDNow V Series Drive. Featuring a 2.5-inch form factor with flash memory components, the solid-state drive (SSD) uses NAND flash technology for storage, increasing your system's speed. And the convenient 2.5-inch size fits everywhere a regular hard drive does, including external enclosures.

With 128 GB of storage, the SSDNow V Series has plenty of capacity for today's demanding applications. Its Serial ATA interface, with data throughput up to 3.0 Gbps, launches programs and copies files rapidly, decreasing your wait time and increasing your productivity. Also, the drive's Trim Command feature enables read speeds of up to 200 MB/sec, and write speeds of up to 160 MB/sec. And for added peace of mind, support for Self-Monitoring Analysis Reporting Technology (SMART) alerts you to problems before they occur, so you get increased performance and reliability in one fast drive.

Included Software for Easy Notebook Upgrade

By upgrading your notebook with the SSDNow V Series Drive, you'll extend its life and get plenty of capacity to run today's powerful applications. The Kingston SSDNow V Series comes with a convenient Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle that contains all the accessories needed for a smooth upgrade including system cloning software, USB enclosure, and cable. You'll get the memory you need, decrease boot-up time, and increase your productivity. And with the drive's solid-state design, your notebook will run silently and operate cooler, using less power.

The SSDNow V Series Drive provides faster performance than traditional hard disk drives.

Upgrade Your Desktop

Adding the Kingston SSDNow V Series Drive to your desktop computer enables it to boot faster, utilizing the speed of its flash-based technology. And it works alongside your existing hard drive, optimizing its performance.

To make it easier for desktop PC users to upgrade their computers, the SSDNow V Series Drive with Desktop Upgrade Kit Bundle is also available.

Greater Reliability than Traditional Drives

Most hard drives spin on a platter, making them susceptible to vibrations and sensitive to bumps, especially when you're on the go. The Kingston SSDNow V Series Drive is built with flash-based technology that uses no moving parts. The result is a rugged, durable, and more reliable notebook that runs faster and quieter.

Reduced Power Consumption

The Kingston SSDNow V Series not only increases performance--it also operates on less power while generating less heat, lessening its environmental impact. At a fraction of the cost of a new system, you'll save money and lower your energy consumption.

The SSDNow V Series Drive is backed by a three-year warranty.

What's in the Box

Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SATA 3 GB/s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle (includes system cloning software, USB enclosure and cable).

Product Description

Kingston introduces its second generation SSDNow V solid-state drive to help consumers and organizations of all sizes enhance the performance of computers that have a Serial ATA (SATA) interface and thus extend the lifecycle. SSDNow V drives increase performance with impressive input and output operations per second (IOPS). With higher IOPS than a standar mechanical hard disk drive (HDD), SSDNow V allows for faster boot times and faster application loads than HDDs, ultimately making any user more productive. The SSDNow V consumes less power and generates less heat than a traditional HDD, at a fraction of the cost of a new system. With no moving parts, it can handle demanding conditions and this is perfect for road warriors and those who push the limits of their notebooks. Features include uses MLC NAND flash memory, shock resistant, handles S.M.A.R.T functions. Specs include 200MB/sec sequential read throughput, 160MB/sec write throughput, SATA 1.5GB/sec and 3.0 GB/sec interfaces. Comes with notebook bundle which includes system cloning software, USB enclosure, and cable.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

66 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good device, but three caveats, June 18, 2010

By 

B. C. Chan "Electrical Engineer" (Australia and Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SATA 3 GB/s 2.5- Inch Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle SNV425-S2BN/128GB (Personal Computers)

A few days ago, I bought the Kingston SSDNow 128 GB SSD (second generation series 425) from the biggest computer retail chain in North America. The device is working okay on my notebook computer, but there are three caveats to be aware of.

Firstly, the included Acronis True Image software refused to clone the Windows Vista SP2 system installed on my notebook computer, reporting that there are errors in my (factory-installed) partition structure. I had to use the free edition of Macrium Reflect to get the job done, by creating a Macrium Reflect image of my hard disk, and then restoring the image onto the Kingston SSD inserted into an external USB case.

Secondly, according to the "Error Scan" test of the well-known utility, HD Tune Pro 4.50, my Kingston SSD has four bad sectors. The error report generated four lines, one of which is "Error at 61681 MB (LBA 105843611)"; the other three lines are the same but with different numbers. I do not understand what this really means, specifically whether these bad sectors have been mapped out. My gut feeling is that these have not been mapped out (in which case, this would be bad news!) because the CHKDSK utility does not report any bad sectors. Furthermore, the "Speed Map" feature of HD Tune Pro reports that the same bad sectors have abnormally slow access time. So far I have not noticed any system instability.

Thirdly and most surprisingly, my Kingston SSD actually consumes more peak electrical power than the notebook hard disk that it replaced. (As an electrical engineer, I have an interest in power requirements.) Yes, it is true that SSD technology is more power-friendly than hard disk technology, but that is so only at the level of the storage medium. When we are talking about the whole device INCLUDING the drive controller, that is not necessarily true. Moreover, we need to ask what kind of hard disk (desktop or notebook) we are stacking up against the SSD, because some 2.5 inch hard disks consume very little power.

Three observations indicate that the Kingston SSD may be consuming more peak electrical power (but less idle power) than did the notebook hard disk it replaced:

Firstly, according to the same utility, HD Tune Pro 4.50, my SSD is running consistently at 40 to 46 degrees Celsius after starting cold from 28 degrees. On the other hand, my hard disk (the one replaced by the SSD) was previously running between 34 to 38 degrees. This is the Hitachi HTS543232L9A900, a very typical 2.5 inch 5400 rpm 320 gb SATA device.

Secondly, the Kingston SSD's power specification, as printed on the device's label, is 900 mA at 5VDC, which is actually higher than the specification printed on the label of the Hitachi hard disk (700 mA at 5VDC). It is possible that the SSD has higher peak current but lower idle current than the hard disk, in which case the SSD will still have the overall advantage.

Thirdly, when I put the SSD inside an external USB mini-case, and then plug the whole unit into a USB port, sometimes the USB port cannot power the SSD device. Between my two notebook computers, I have seven USB ports, and only four of them can power the SSD externally. (You can overcome this problem by double-cabling, but this will occupy two USB ports.) By contrast, all seven USB ports can power the Hitachi hard disk.

After switching to SSD, I do notice an increase in speed:

It now takes 58 seconds to cold-boot Windows Vista SP2, compared to 80 seconds previously. It now takes 6 seconds to fire up Photoshop CS4 in a first-run cold start, compared to 13 seconds previously. It now takes 10 seconds to get the folder properties of a folder with 140,000 files and subfolders, compared to about 105 seconds previously.

HD Tune Pro 4.50 reports the following benchmarks for the SSD (with the corresponding Hitachi hard disk values shown in parentheses for comparison):

- Minimum read transfer rate = 172.9 Mbytes/sec (versus 12.8)
- Maximum read transfer rate = 182.4 Mbytes/sec (versus 65.8)
- Average read transfer rate = 178.6 Mbytes/sec (versus 49.1)
- Access time = 0.3 msec (versus 18.4)
- Burst rate = 94.2 Mbytes/sec (versus 92.1)
- CPU usage during the benchmark = 9.3% (versus 13.8)
- Temperature = 45 degrees Celsius (versus 34)

Sorry, I do not have the write benchmarks because HD Tune Pro refuses to run them unless I "remove all partitions" (whatever that means). Also, the above benchmarks may give you the false impression that the computer is now running several times faster than before. Most of the time, the computer feels only slightly faster. But there are situations in which the speed increase is very obvious, like when I fire up a program, or when Windows wakes up from sleep, or when copying files within the SSD, or when there is a lot of random disk access (e.g. when comparing two folders).

This Kingston SSD has a "primary hard disk" index of 5.9 in the Windows Vista Experience Index. Note that 5.9 is the highest possible score for Windows Vista (unlike Windows 7, where the highest possible score is 7.9).

I give 4.5 stars to the Kingston SSD.

UPDATE (October 15, 2010):
I wrote my review of this Kingston SSD four months ago. This week I bought another one for my new Acer Aspire One notebook computer. This time, I bought the Kingston desktop upgrade kit, whereas last time I bought the notebook upgrade kit. I can confirm that the SSD itself as well as the included Acronis True Image CD are identical between the two kits; the only difference is in the mounting hardware (hard disk enclosure versus mounting bars + power cable). This time around, even though I didn't need any mounting hardware, I bought the complete SDD desktop upgrade kit only because it happened to be cheaper than a standalone SSD, for a couple of days at least.

This time, the Acronis True Image cloning software worked flawlessly. For my Acer Aspire One notebook, my Windows Experience Index for the primary hard disk increased from 5.7 to 6.7 after switching to SSD. The bootup time for the same notebook (using 64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium) went down from 104 seconds to 49 seconds, as measured to the time when the sidebar widgets appear.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Value and Performance, April 22, 2010

By 

Jon651 "Jon" (Saint Cloud, FL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SATA 3 GB/s 2.5- Inch Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle SNV425-S2BN/128GB (Personal Computers)

I recently purchased the Kingston SSDNow 128gb solid state drive with the laptop upgrade kit and to say the least the difference in my older Sony laptop running Vista is jaw-dropping. I recently had to decide whether to upgrade my current laptop (with a 5200 rpm HDD) or spend even more money and purchase an entirely new computer - and I'm very happy that I decided to upgrade with a new SSD. Not only was it much cheaper than purchasing an entirely new computer (which would also leave me with trying to get rid of my current one), but there are several other positives as well:

- Boot up time from a cold start is now around 25 seconds to a usable desktop and 45 seconds to surfing the internet (the additional delay is waiting to connect to my home network);
- All other programs now load in seconds or faster;
- Surfing the internet seems faster, and download times are noticeably less than half;
- My laptop runs cooler (the cooling fan runs less) and is so quiet I have to double-check to see if things are still happening. This translates into less power consumption and slightly more battery life;
- Virus and Spyware scans now run in less than three minutes as compared to 30 minutes with the old drive;
- Kingston provided a case for the old HDD hard drive that I removed from the computer, which now gives me a free back-up drive;
- System stability seems just fine and with a SSD there is little or no time wasted in defragging the drive.

The Acronis disc imaging software that is included with the kit is very simple to use, although I would highly recommend printing out and reading the instructions on the disc first before doing anything. It cloned my original drive (two partitions, about 90gb total) in about 30 minutes.

The only drawback would be that the HDD enclosure that Kingston provides is inexpensive plastic - but it still works well for what it is and I'm not complaining because it would have been an unnecessary delay and expense if I had to go out and buy one myself. Other than losing just over 32gb by having to go from my original 160gb HDD to the SSD's 128gb then I would have nothing to complain about.

Overall, this is a very complete kit that doesn't require much computer savvy to achieve excellent results. This is an excellent value for your money and I can highly recommend it to others who want to breathe new life into an older laptop without breaking the bank in the process. Even though it is inevitable that the prices of SSD's will drop over time, you will be amazed by the results for the money.

Jon651

ADDENDUM - It's been almost two months with my new Kingston 128gB SSD installed in my older Sony laptop running Vista and the performance has remained wonderful. There has been no degradation of boot-up speed and other improvements I originally mentioned, and this laptop has now become my preferred computer for doing almost everything that doesn't require a full-size screen and keyboard. In fact, I recently added an extended battery and I can get right at 5 hours of use from it (providing I'm not using the DVD drive or burning a disc).

I'm still convinced that this Solid State Drive was the best thing I could have done to bring my older laptop back to life. If you are using Vista, I believe that you will be totally impressed by the improvement in your system's performance. With all of the bad press Vista has gotten over the years, this SSD has shown me just how it was supposed to perform - Jon651

ADDENDUM - It has now been over a year since I first installed the Kingston SSD into my laptop and I can report nothing but positive things. I use this laptop frequently (but not daily), and system stability has been excellent with only one crash in this time that I can recall (and I can't even directly attribute that to the SSD). Boot times and program access times continue to remain fast and nothing has slowed down where it would be noticably different than after I first installed it. It has develped an annoying but not fatal 10-15 second "freeze" right after the desktop comes up, but my desktop also running Vista with a standard HDD has the same habit so I don't attribute this issue to the disc.

During this past year I have seen faster, larger, and cheaper SSD's (which was inevitable due to the nature of technology) but since I made my purchase this drive has actually saved me quite a lot of money by extending the useful life of my laptop much longer than it would have been if I kept everything the same. If I hadn't made this purchase, this machine would be long gone by now - Jon651

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review, June 23, 2010

By 

C. Mucklow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB SATA 3 GB/s 2.5- Inch Solid State Drive with Notebook Upgrade Kit Bundle SNV425-S2BN/128GB (Personal Computers)

The Kingston ssdNow has more than met my expectations. As a graphic designer I routinely need to open, manipulate, and save files that are in the gigabyte realm. The fast 200MB/sec read and 160MB/sec write speeds of this drive have allowed me to maximize the throughput of my MacBook Pro's SATA's interface. Thus I'm able to spend more time editing and less time waiting; saving me both time and money.

Installation was non-trivial using the included 2.5" External Drive enclosure and a downloaded copy of SuperDuper to clone the Mac OS 10.5 file system. The complete process took under two hours, with the majority of that time involved in the actual cloning.

After cloning was complete, my laptop enjoyed a 23 second boot-time versus a previous 48 seconds (over 200% FASTER!) I was also able to open up Photoshop CS5 with a 500MB image is 18 seconds in comparison to over a minute before. I'm also enjoying a 7 second Windows XP bootup time within a virtual machine on my computer.

Some other benefits that I've noticed as time goes on are as follows:

* Longer Battery Life
* Less Heat
* Silent Drive
* Nearly Instantaneous wake up time from sleep mode

I'm completely sold on this drive and fully recommend it.

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