Conclusion:

Many have known of the quality and performance of the Intel X25-M 80GB solid state drive since it was released in 2008, so nothing new may have been revealed by this review. But, by taking a look at it while going head-to-head with a couple of high performance drives released in 2010, it can be appreciated in a whole new way. Despite being much older than the Crucial RealSSD or OCZ Technology Vertex 2, the Intel X25-M is still able to perform on par with these high speed SSDs.



The most appealing feature of the X25-M 80GB SSD is its 250MB/s read speed, which was easily achieved (and surpassed) during testing. This type of transfer speed will make most daily tasks go quickly, and will provide the kind of numbers in benchmarks that people demand from an SSD. Write speeds are not as impressive, and at just 70MB/s you can find plenty of drives on the market today that offer more. Designing the drive for such a low write speed isn't without benefit though, as it does keep the price down.

Speaking of price, the Bigbruin.com shopping engine finds the drive as reviewed (with the desktop installation kit) for about $182 from Amazon.com. That is a competitive price, but shopping around finds it for a few dollars cheaper over at Newegg.com. If you decide that you don't need the upgrade kit you can find this drive for a bit less, but based on the small difference in price I might suggest taking the version with the upgrade kit.

While $180 is a competitive price for an 80GB solid state drive, you could get more bang for your buck by considering other brands. The 70MB/s write speed really hurts the X25-M, as some other brands offer an 80GB drive for about the same price, but they offer write speeds in excess of 250MB/s to go with read speeds that are also at or above 250MB/s.

The bottom line is that this is still a solid choice in the expanding field of solid state drives, but the write speed performance is an issue. Considering the overall performance, 3-year warranty, and extensive history of strong support and reliability, the Intel X25-M 80GB solid state drive earns the Bigbruin.com "Recommended" award.



Pros:

» Impressive overall performance during testing
» 250MB/s read speed specification
» Price of around $180 (US)
» 3-year warranty on parts and labor

Cons:

» 70MB/s write speed specification
» Comparably priced drives from other brands offer much greater write speeds

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