Over here a 16gig CF card is ~300$. That means it would cost me 600$ for a 32gig drive or a 16gig RAID, that's excluding the cost of the device. Uh... this is ridiculously expensive. The idea is neat, but until the cost of CF is down, it won't take off.
You can do a similar thing on desktops by just pairing up IDE->CF adaptors with onboard RAID on most modern mobos. (Or SW RAID if you want to run Lunix)
Over here (UK) I just very quickly found 16GB CF cards from crucial for <£80, so it ain't that expensive.
Presumably though, the performance of this device will be somewhat lacklustre, probably not even equivalent to first generation SSD's. So it's only advantage is low power?
I think this is excellent... only wish the cards were $5 each and at least 1 TB in size....
Now that would be pretty good.
I am still looking for the day, when a PC has an atomic battery the size of a peanut, runs for a thousand years on one charge and the whole PC is the size of a matchbox, with a holographic 21" screen..
I'd keep my old buckle spring IBM keyboard tho... it's a champion.
WD My Passport Essential 500GB Portable Hard Drive - Black (USB 2.0)
WD Caviar Black 1TB Hard Drive (Serial ATA-300, 7,200 RPM, 32MB)
WD My Book Essential Edition External 1TB Hard Drive (USB 2.0, 16MB)
Intel X25-M Gen2 160GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (SATA)
WD My Passport Essential Portable 320GB Hard Drive - Black (USB 2.0)
DIY SSD packs in CompactFlash card pair RAID rig
Anonymous Coward
Brilliant #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:15 GMT
Brilliant idea!
But then, people buying the cheapest CF cards will moan how slow they are.
I'm sure they will make their own way into Europe, via ebay... from Hong Kong
Sascha Zierfuss
Good idea but... #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:36 GMT
Over here a 16gig CF card is ~300$. That means it would cost me 600$ for a 32gig drive or a 16gig RAID, that's excluding the cost of the device. Uh... this is ridiculously expensive. The idea is neat, but until the cost of CF is down, it won't take off.
Mike
DIY? #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:52 GMT
You can do a similar thing on desktops by just pairing up IDE->CF adaptors with onboard RAID on most modern mobos. (Or SW RAID if you want to run Lunix)
Steve
but... but... but... #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:52 GMT
Over here (UK) I just very quickly found 16GB CF cards from crucial for <£80, so it ain't that expensive.
Presumably though, the performance of this device will be somewhat lacklustre, probably not even equivalent to first generation SSD's. So it's only advantage is low power?
Graham Wood
@Steve #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:18 GMT
The idea of RAID1 in a single 2.5" caddy is quite appealing for anyone that has really really really important data on their laptop.
And/or is just anal - like me.
Joe Kraska
OCZ SSD's would be better #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:18 GMT
Check out the OCZ Core Sata 2 SSD drives. ~$300, 120MB/s read, 80MB/s write, lots of IOPS.
Malcolm Weir
Same deal is available now... #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:33 GMT
For $79 plus the CF cards:
http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad2sahdcf.asp
Plus that gives you USB as well as SATA connectivity.
(No relation with Addonics beyond that of a customer).
Anonymous Coward
Cool #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 14:49 GMT
Now I have a small compartment with my harddrive I can use to smuggle my lil' baggy through customs and they'd never be the wiser :)
Anonymous Coward
wear leveling #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 15:21 GMT
I wonder how the RAID impacts the built-in wear leveling of flash storage. It may well lead to a higher wear on the flash memory.
Anonymous Coward
@steve #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 15:32 GMT
Crucial CF cards are nice, but expensive.
I've seen 16 GB cards other places for 40 quid.
David Gosnell
Re: Crucial CF #
Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 16:42 GMT
Curiously unavailable from the GB£-priced site (SD/microSD only), though still there on the US$-priced one.
Very peculiar.
Anonymous Coward
RAID? #
Posted Thursday 24th July 2008 10:01 GMT
Can someone please explain how RAID is a benefit (or even needed) for SSDs?
"anyone that has really really really important data on their laptop"
important data on a laptop? - that would be NHS or MoD then?
Does this mean I can use the old CF format HD from my Creative MuVo in this?
callmeshane
Hmmmmm nice idea... bit small tho' #
Posted Saturday 26th July 2008 08:41 GMT
I think this is excellent... only wish the cards were $5 each and at least 1 TB in size....
Now that would be pretty good.
I am still looking for the day, when a PC has an atomic battery the size of a peanut, runs for a thousand years on one charge and the whole PC is the size of a matchbox, with a holographic 21" screen..
I'd keep my old buckle spring IBM keyboard tho... it's a champion.