I'll be your guinea pig...where do I buy the Intel X25-M SSD

[Crunch]

Folks, I've decided, after much research, to get the 2.5" Intel X25-M Solid State Drive for my Thinkpad T60p. There was a lot of negative feedback about them, but there were several benchmark tests, independent reviews, and end user comments to convince me, so the decision is made.

Since it's so new (Intel started shipping the MLC version only this month, with the SLC to follow suit later this year), so I need help FINDING a source where I can find one.

I've emailed Intel about it, but I don't think Intel ships them to end consumers. I haven't been able to find it anywhere, so maybe any of you guys can help me?? I'll run it for a month and write a detailed report about it, which may help some of you who are on the fence about getting an SSD for yourselves.

Thanks everyone! I'm looking forward to dropping my $600 for the 80GB one A-S-A-P!

[Marin85]

I don´t know about U.S. but if you´re about to come around you can find some here

Cheers

Marin

[Crunch]

I don´t know about U.S. but if you´re about to come around you can find some here

Cheers

Marin

Marin, NICE find! Yea, that's exactly what I'm looking for. If you look at the date, then you'll see it was just added today! I'm still in Germany until mid next week, so I can conceivably still do it here.

I'd much prefer to buy it stateside, though, as the price is in Euros obviously, and 507 Euros is $735 USD.

Looking at it again, it says "Nicht lieferbar" (currently unavailable), and another seller says "Erst in 1-3 Wochen". 1-3 weeks is too long for my current visit.

One thing I do all the time, which is getting the VAT refund on whatever I buy in Europe. Is the VAT in those stores usually included or not? If it's included, then the "price is right".

I certainly don't mind pre-ordering it. But still, nice find!

Thank you!

Edit: This shop says the VAT is INCLUDED, which would take it down to $588 USD! That I'd do in a New York minute.

[Marin85]

As to the VAT included in the price, it depends on the store. If you are onto any particular, you´ll have to check that carefully

Cheers

Marin

[Eckoman]

As to the VAT included in the price, it depends on the store. If you are onto any particular, you´ll have to check that carefully

Cheers

Marin

In Europe, prices displayed to private customers always have to have VAT included.

BTW, the X25-M is listed as "in stock" on buy.com, $639. Shame that they don't ship to the "old world"

[Marin85]

[quote=Eckoman] In Europe, prices displayed to private customers always have to have VAT included. [/quote]
If you take a look at search engines like yatego, idealo,preisroboter, geizhals or google shopping, it´s possible to find products advertised to their netto prices. That´s just a sort of cheap marketing trick from the store side to make their product rank better in such search engines and hence be more attractive to customers. Of cource, one can always find the price incl. VAT somewhere next to the advertised price, or even worse, one has to follow the provided link to discover the real price. My point is only that it is not the price incl. VAT that shows up in first place when using similar search and price comparing engines. At least this was the case as I was onto having my ThinkPad heavily upgraded a few months ago.

Cheers

Marin

[Eckoman]

Marin, as you might know it is required by law to only advertise the price incl. VAT (to private individuals) in Europe. That, naturally, includes Germany

Some dealers might try to sneak around this regulation by offering only a "business" shop. In b2b it is allowed to display prices excl. VAT. But to be honest I have never seen such a mixup in any popular price search engine, like guenstiger.de, geizhals.at/de etc. pp.

But lets get back to the much more interesting topic of the Intel X25-M! It's just been appraised by the latest issue of the professional magazine "c't". I need this SSD, badly But it seems to be only available in 2 shops in the US. Lets hope it will be available SOON in Europe

[Crunch]

I do agree with Marin mostly, because when I grew up in Germany, sometimes it was used as a tactic by some companies to try to sell me their "cheap" products, only to find out that they added the VAT at the end. However, it is also true, as Eckoman says, that the end consumer is not supposed to have the VAT added to their invoice.

It is different in the United States in that the sales tax (we do not have the VAT) is added *in addition to* whatever we buy, depending on what we buy. Usually, groceries are not taxed for the most part, and in most states, neither are things like medication. It varies by state. New York State is the "worst" state, as the sales tax applies to virtually everything, with a comparatively high tax of 8.75%. That's about what it was when I lived in Manhattan. There are a handful of states that have NO sales tax, so $4.99 actually always is $4.99.

If it's any consolation, you guys get a lot of high-end cellphones/PDA's before we do in the U.S. lol...A current example is the HTC Touch HD, which I would LOVE to get, but the 3G frequencies are only good for Europe and Asia. What we call the "North American version" is coming up later this year/early next year. So we don't get everything first.

To both of you. Besides buy.com, I found a guy who approached me, and I'll buy the SSD from him, along with the Intel 5300 WiFi Link, as well as the brand new WRT610N wireless router from Linksys. I run my own business, so I'll be purchasing more of all of the above anyway, so if you want, I'll ship them to you at U.S. prices. Geizhals can't compete with us...lol

I'll still get mine first, and test it out for everyone who cares, and when (I'm fairly certain it's "when", and not "if") it receives the Crunch Seal of Approval, I'll ship them to you. They're so small, so they're unlikely to be picked up by customs. And if they are, then...PM me for instructions... ...when the time comes.

Thanks for the buy.com tip! I found an 8% OFF coupon for buy.com lol...I don't want to flake on that dude, however, so I'm going to buy it from him.

Later everyone!

[Eckoman]

To both of you. Besides buy.com, I found a guy who approached me, and I'll buy the SSD from him, along with the Intel 5300 WiFi Link, as well as the brand new WRT610N wireless router from Linksys. I run my own business, so I'll be purchasing more of all of the above anyway, so if you want, I'll ship them to you at U.S. prices. Geizhals can't compete with us...lol

Very nice selection of hardware! Do you know if I can just swap my Intel 4695AGN in my X61s for the 5300 wifi? The router has been reviewed in the last issue of c't, an impressive piece of hardware. Be sure to install dd-wrt

Sent you am pm

[Marin85]

Well I guess we spent too much time on discussing prices including and excluding VAT in Germany
I think I could wait another year to get a SSD. At this point of time the solid state technology, particularly the MLC patform, don´t seem to me to be that kind of mature so I could base my setup on it I believe time will show their real usability but for now I really don´t know what to expect from it in terms of real-life performance and reliability (probably partly due to the mixed and sometimes inexact reviews).

Just my 2 cents

Marin

[Eckoman]

To me, the story looks different. The MLC based SSDs so far were not mature, especially those based on the JMicron controller where the most shining example was the OCZ core series. But Intel has changed the game on MLC SSDs with their new X25-M SSDs.

SLC SSDs are a different story. The Samsung SLCs are very mature, reliable and blazing fast. If the Intel didn't come around the corner I would have gone for the Samsung. BTW, do you read the c't magazine?

[Crunch]

Schoenen guten Morgen Ihr Zwei! haha...

What's c't magazine? And that's a good question about the compatibility of the mobo with the Intel WiFi 5300 Link, although,...I do believe that I saw in another thread that someone else, co-incidentally also from Deutschland lol...had one installed, and I want to say it was in a T60/p. But he said he had help from Zender (I think), and Zender's the authority on the whole BIOS stuff. lol...

So many variables. Well, I just sent the guy an email, and I'm ready to order all 3 items.

P.S. on the whole SLC vs. MLC thing: The Intel SSD, although it's an MLC, blows away ANY SLC SSD that they put up against it. And not by a little. And the price per GB isn't too bad, if you figure only amongst SSD's. I'm alright with it.

[Eckoman]

Schoenen guten Morgen Ihr Zwei! haha...

What's c't magazine? And that's a good question about the compatibility of the mobo with the Intel WiFi 5300 Link, although,...I do believe that I saw in another thread that someone else, co-incidentally also from Deutschland lol...had one installed, and I want to say it was in a T60/p. But he said he had help from Zender (I think), and Zender's the authority on the whole BIOS stuff. lol...

So many variables. Well, I just sent the guy an email, and I'm ready to order all 3 items.

P.S. on the whole SLC vs. MLC thing: The Intel SSD, although it's an MLC, blows away ANY SLC SSD that they put up against it. And not by a little. And the price per GB isn't too bad, if you figure only amongst SSD's. I'm alright with it.

Moin!

Well, c't magazine is Germanys most professional prosumer printed magazine: www.heise.de/ct

True that the Intel blows away all other SSDs in read benchmarks, in writing it has to bow to Samsungs SLC SSDs, although by a small margin. That applies to the power consumption as well where the Intel SSD is using considerably more power when reading/writing but draws about the same amount in idle.

[Marin85]

Servus ,
there are a few points why I think the SSD technology in general is not that mature:
- The NAND flash technology as such exists for about 20 years now and became really popular in the past 10 years. Still the SSD technology (based on NAND flash) is still quite expensive (for instance, the price of a SSD related to the price of the notebook where one would put it in).
- If I remember correctly, there were various reports about the bad performance of SSDs when operating with large monolith amounts of date. However, I don´t know if that still stands. AFAIK the new Intel SSDs don´t suffer from this.
Anyway, maybe I should start reading c´t as the reviews found in internet sometimes give the impression of being quite controversial and inaccurate.

As to the prices including VAT, I have just found this in google shopping for the newly released Seagate Momentus drives. If one just click through the first few ones, one will see that the advertised price in google shopping doesn´t include VAT (yet true that the price incl. VAT is explicitly shown on the store site). That wouldn´t be really a problem if the prices listed by google shopping were consistently with VAT excluded. However, if one browse to the more expensive drives in the ranking, one will find out that they are listed with VAT included. I don´t know if this is against law or if it´s just "fault" of google, but it is definitely against fair competition and symmetrical information as one could be really better off with buying from the "more expensive" ones. So much about law!

Just some more of my 2 cents

Marin

[Eckoman]

I think that Google is just parsing the wrong prices, aparrently those which are closest to the top. Google uses their index to determine prices which basically means they are just parsing the .html files. Other price comparing sites are pulling their prices via an interface to make sure that the correct (consumer) prices are reported. But I really think we are drifting too much off-topic

So, back to the Intel SSD: when will mine arrive?

[Marin85]

I think that Google is just parsing the wrong prices, aparrently those which are closest to the top. Google uses their index to determine prices which basically means they are just parsing the .html files. Other price comparing sites are pulling their prices via an interface to make sure that the correct (consumer) prices are reported

Yeah, that could be too

But I really think we are drifting too much off-topic

Mine was just a slight lyric discourse

Cheers

Marin

[Crunch]

I read all about the fact that it's been TWO decades since the technology has existed. As to why it's now (that is if it really will be) just getting popular, I have no clue. It does make you think as to why they haven't taken off sooner (not that SSD's have really taken off at all yet), and why HDD's have become ubiquitous instead...Anyone have an opinion or an educated guess??

Maybe I'm about to find out. Ugh...Let's see how it does with multi-tasking, constantly having to write to and read from the drive, and the like.

I ordered it today, and I hope it'll get there when I'll get back to L.A. on Wednesday.

I posted a thread in the T6x forum about compatiblity of the SSD and the Intel 5300 WiFi Link wireless N card with the T60p. Will I need drivers, etc. It's all in there. Maybe you guys can check it out?

I've installed Vista so many times, under so many circumstances, it will be interesting to see just how fast it installs on the SSD.

Just in case you know. For my 2nd drive in the Ultrabay caddy, what's the biggest one I can get in that form factor, 2.5" (9.5mm)?? Is it still 500GB?

Oh, and please let me know if anyone is interested in one brand new (never even opened) 200GB 7,200rpm w/ FDE, and the rest are used by me only. Another one of the above mentioned, two 160GB's, two 100GB's, ALL 7,200rpm, except for one of the 160GB ones.

[Marin85]

You are here for Oktoberfest, ain´t you?

[Crunch]

You are here for Oktoberfest, ain´t you?

Nope. Plane leaves in 48 hours lol...I never got the attraction of that Drunkfest...are you going?

Back on topic: Did my questions make any sense re the SSD and the WiFi card?? I just paid for the SSD 2 mins. ago.

[Marin85]

Nope. Plane leaves in 48 hours lol...I never got the attraction of that Drunkfest...are you going?

In my whole lifetime I was only once there and couldn´t find a place, so I couldn´t even drink´ne Maß So much about it...

[Eckoman]

Note from Admin: Removed excessive, nested quoting

I really hope you paid for 2!

Sent you 2 PMs.

[Crunch]

Ok, will have a looksie shortly. One has been shipped I'm told. This guy is awesome!!! There had better not be any weather delays, as I need to fly 8,000 miles to get my SSD in West L.A....I have officially gone insane! <--- is delivering early this year!

[Eckoman]

Ok, will have a looksie shortly. One has been shipped I'm told. This guy is awesome!!!

Takes a while, eh?

Would you please disclose who "this guy" is, I have yet to find a store in the US that sells the SSD at a reasonable shipping price to Germany.

Any hints?

[Crunch]

Note from Admin: Removed excessive, nested quoting

Sorry, I haven't had time to do anything because of my trip, but I did speak with him concerning the overseas shipping, and he said no int'l shipping except Canada. A lot of U.S. sellers operate that way. So he suggested that I order it and ship it to you, which I have no problem with.

I got mine today! I haven't picked it up yet, but tomorrow morning, the re-installing Vista, and all my apps onto the SSD will commence.

Do you want it NOW, or do you want to wait until I've had it for a week to see if everything's working alright?

I am dead tired tonight anyway, as I spent 16 hours in a plane!

So lemme know... He ships FAAAASTTT!!

[Eckoman]

NOW

I'll send you another pm

BTW, does anybody know if Intel has an international warranty on the SSD?

[Crunch]

I don't know about the int'l warranty but I would guess that it DOES have it, as the device is about to become available in Europe, for an exaggerated price, needless to say. It has to be warrantied for the places where it is sold, no? Otherwise, email Intel, for a definitive answer. If it DOES end up breaking, you can always send it back to me, and I'll make the claim for you.

[khtse]

Finally the intel drive is available... it's been a long wait!

I just ordered one on ebay. Try searching "X25M80GB" on ebay and you will find a few sellers selling them for $6xx. If you searched "intel ssd" or "x25-m" instead, you would end up finding only sellers selling them for $800+

Remember to take advantage of the microsoft live cashback to get 30% cashback off the purchase. If you don't know what this live cashback is, you can find a detailed (600+ pages, but no worry, instruction is summarized on the first page) thread at the Hot Deal forum on fatwallet.com

I bought mine, after cashback, for around $485. Not too bad give the MSRP of $595, I have to wait 2 months for cashback though... and I am sure the price will drop a lot in a few months time...

Anyway, I will try to write a report once I received the drive and have it running in my X61

[perplex]

I'll be interested in this report also.

I've just got myself an X300 and the SSD is georgous. No more whining away of the HDD.

I don't think I'll ever buy a laptop with a conventional HDD again.

[erik]

here are two users who have already purchased and installed the new intel M-series SSDs:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=68383

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... ge.id=4470

[Crunch]

here are two users who have already purchased and installed the new intel M-series SSDs:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=68383

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/mess ... ge.id=4470

erik, do you have the Samsung SLC one?