First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD - Gizmodo Comments

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

fillrobs — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 06:12:51 EDT

SSD will change the world in IT terms - imagine the heat and power saving in computer rooms, the use of them in cars due to the shock resistance. The final slow part of a PC has now evolved and is coming soon. Readyboost drives are the start. Check out the video click on my site for the benefits of speed of a SSD installed laptop over standard IDE at [www.futurestorage.co.uk]

fillrobs

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

mdabir — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 14:34:30 EDT

Quality is questionable; does give read error .

But most imnportant never trust the Lexar mail in Rebate. I had a bad experience on the 1GB purchase; its been 8 months and the $20 rebate is still on its way(supposedly). I guess thats how they make their money-on interest! Total rip off.

mdabir

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

irock — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 12:58:54 EDT

The card is obviously borrowing the USB interface hardwired to the ExpressCard slot. All the manufacturers are doing this because it makes economical sense to adopt the cheaper, common USB flash controller, market it as a ExpressCard product and then give it a premium price tag. The speed really has nothing to do with the interface whether it be Firewire, USB or ExpressCard as NAND memory is still slow compared to any of these interfaces.

irock

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

jguidera — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 19:48:24 EDT

Of course, the expresscard spec calls for the card to protrude from the lappie by about a half inch or so (to promote easy insertion and removal) so it about hangs out as much as a small USB drive...

Sorta defeats the purpose of leaving it in all the time, dontcha think? Ahh the joys of good old carbus and pcmcia (at least that sat flush with the side of the laptop).

jguidera

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

brundlefly76 — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 16:08:49 EDT

This would be a waste for ReadyBoost as ReadyBoost can only use up to 4 GB.

Also, installing more onboard memory would work much better and likely be cheaper.

I have a 2GB Notebook and Desktop running Vista Ultimate and seriously I do not notice any difference with or without my 4GB ReadyBoost drive.

Its for folks with low memory.

brundlefly76

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

Bishma — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 10:15:44 EDT

Le sigh. I've been waiting for an affordable express card for ready boost... I guess I'll keep waiting.

Bishma

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

protozoider — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:30:47 EDT

Know what the catch is? Money. Bet anything this card will hardly be worth its price tag. If you haven't noticed, most expresscards worth buying are expensive. But if you want there are those WD iPod sized pocket drives that hold 80GB.

protozoider

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

bignaz2k — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 09:22:39 EDT

@robotstephe:
Sadly, the lightning bunny is just the logo for ExpressCard, and not indicative of the speed of the Lexar implementation.

I declare the logo on the card misleading! Shenanigans!

bignaz2k

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

weatherman — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:59:31 EDT

I suppose it would make sense in some corporate environments (checking out a laptop for travel, for instance, but having all work on an SSD) but otherwise it seems of limited value. I have a brand-new business laptop and I don't have an ExpressCard slot and I imagine not a lot of others do either. There are likely even fewer desktops that have them. So what's the point of mobile storage if you can't connect it with anyone else's computer? The value of the thumb-drive is the ubiquitousness of the USB port.

weatherman

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

robotstephe — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:34:26 EDT

But... there's a lighthing bunny on the card. That means it's FAST. Are you sure you ran the tests properly? Lightning-bunnies don't lie.

robotstephe

First Review: Lexar ExpressCard SSD

strider_mt2k — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:23:14 EDT

Yowch!
That's dismal write performance, and the read speeds are only slightly better than my 4GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro!

I would be willing to wager that for these first editions they used off-the-shelf flash memory and that's what the limiting factor is.
It's certainly not the ExpressCard slot. ExpressCard is supposed to be capable of quite a bit from what I've read.

The only trouble there is that speedy speedy flash memory is at a premium right now so a version that performs better will fetch much more on the market.

That being said I'd still take one if it was priced accordingly, or if someone was say, giving away an old demo they weren't using anymore.
(Can't blame a boy for tryin', Giz.)
Having an ExpressCard drive might lend itself to some interesting applications.

strider_mt2k