Looking for under 200$ SSD recommendations for my HP TC 4200 laptop. The best I can find is this http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=FHM64GF25H , I suppose going with a compact flash solution would be slower and would not have good write/erase integrity?
CF are very, very, VERYslow. The sort of slow that takes 5 hours to install Windows XP and 8 minutes to boot it, as most CF cards are limited to 2MB/s. The $195 masterdrive you posted there sounds fine, but it will still be pretty slow to use as it is uncached, which means two applications can't access the drive at the same time (for instance, if you are streaming a youtube video you will not also be able to view it at the same time - or open the start menu or do anything - your PC will freeze until it has finished downloading). You would be better off with a hard disk if you can fit one.
I kinda CF would be laughable. How about this one its read/write is almost twice as fast. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208494 Of course its not IDE but I'd like to know more about SSD.
Seriously, all the 1st gen MLC SSDs were terrible performers due to the cache and controller issues. The only standard ones worth buying are the newer Samsung or Indilinx ones, such as the Corsair P/X series and the OCZ Vertex/Agility/Summit. The best SSDs by far though are Intel's, due to the controller they use. These are S-ATA, but available in 2.5" and micro 1.8" sizes.
Then whats the fastest normal hard drive I can put in a IDE based laptop!!!!!!!!!!! *pounce and naws on urrr head* mmmm bbwwaiinnssss!
System Specifications link http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c00304326 5400 rpm appears to be the fastest for ide. try to get a drive with at least 8meg of cache or higher if yours doesn't meet these spes already.
