Kingston Solid State Drives

Kingston has a solid line-up of solid state drive products. In fact, they can be considered to have one of the most extensive SSD line-ups in the industry, by providing consumers not only with solid state drives but also USB upgrade kits.

Kingston currently has four product lines :

• the SSDNow E Series - repackaged Intel X25-E solid state drives for servers,
• the SSDNow M Series - repackaged Intel X25-M solid state drives for power users,
• the SSDNow V+ Series - performance-grade solid state drives at affordable prices, and
• the SSDNow V Series - affordable solid state drives for general use.

Kingston launched their second-generation SSDNow V+ series on January 28, 2010. The new SSDNow V+ solid state drives feature Windows 7 TRIM support, better performance and come in four capacities - 512 GB, 256 GB, 128 GB and 64 GB. Kingston lists these as the SSDNow V+'s key features :

• Innovative - Uses MLC NAND flash memory components.

• Silent - Runs silent and cool with no moving mechanical parts.

• Shock Proof - No moving mechanical parts so the SSD handles rougher conditions.

• Supports S.M.A.R.T. - Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology to help maintain a healthy drive

• Guaranteed - 3 year legendary Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support.

In this review, we will be looking at Kingston's "starter kit" for the new second-generation SSDNow V+ series - the 64 GB Kingston SSDNow V+ upgrade kit. Let's find out how well this drive performs!

Packaging

Kingston sent us the full SSDNow V+ 64 GB retail upgrade kit. This differs from the drive-only option in that it comes with a USB enclosure and assorted accessories. The solid state drive itself remains the same in both versions, right down to the excellent 3-year warranty.

Inside the cardboard box is a plastic tray that provides ample protection for the drive and its accessories. The Kingston SSDNow V+ upgrade kit comes with the following items :

• Kingston SSDNow V+ solid state drive
• Kingston 2.5" USB enclosure
• 2.5" to 3.5" brackets and mounting screws
• SATA power and data cables
• CD containing hard drive cloning software (Acronis True Image HD) and installation guides (for both notebooks and desktops)

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