Crucial CT256M4SSD2 m4 2.5" Solid State Drive - 256GB, SATA 6Gb/s $229.99 Shipped TigerDirect

Burning HOT deal! One of the most reliable fast SSD around!

I wonder why they're dropping in price so fast over the past several weeks? I've got one and like it.

OK, I ordered one now. Thanks, OP!

Thanks!

$219 now at buy dot com.

Will this drive shorten the battery usage compared with regular 2.5" 5400rpm hard drive?

Buy.com and TigerDirect are both "SOLD OUT" now.

I don't agree this isn't a datapoint. Until a month ago, you never saw an SSD from any company sold for below $1/gigabyte, at any performance level and no matter what the outlet they were sold through. They were clearly trying to hold a price line.

But now that price line is broken. We've seen several offers below $1/GB in the last 3 weeks.

vip007 said:   $219 now at buy dot com.

Saw this but had to go somewhere and missed it Argh!

If they really are pumping out 128Gbit NAND chips finally, prices should drop...hope the M5 is cheaper...if it's really getting announced in early May, I can wait a bit...

Out of stock at Tiger direct again this morning at $224.99.

HappyScrappyHeroPup said:   I don't agree this isn't a datapoint. Until a month ago, you never saw an SSD from any company sold for below $1/gigabyte, at any performance level and no matter what the outlet they were sold through. They were clearly trying to hold a price line.

But now that price line is broken. We've seen several offers below $1/GB in the last 3 weeks.

Other than these M4s and the recent SanDisk SSD deals, what other brand name SSDs have you seen approachintg anything close $1/GB in useful capacities (ie > 128GB) in the last 3 weeks? I already mentioned above why the Crucial M4s are being clearanced out and it is well known that Sandisk is discontinuing their 2.5" form factor SSD products in favor of the mSata SSD form factor. (mSATA vs traditional 2.5" SSDs are already overwelming being adopted in the newest gen laptop designs so that looks like a wise move on Sandisk's part.) That form factor transition accounts for Sandisk's recent price reductions on their remaining 2.5" form factor SSDs. Other than those 2 anomalies I have not seen any substainable downward price trend wit hcrrent technology MLC SSDs. As stated earlier, this is not a data point but a temporary price anomaly as a couple of the major SSD manufacturers phase out their old technology products in favor of new. We have seen this numberous times in the past decade and rerely has it resulted in a permanent industry wide price drop. At the current ~$1/GB pricing for these 2 brands, SSD resellers are buying up all the available SSD inventory as fast as they are restocked. That is why they are sold out. If this were indeed a downward price data point you would see across the board price reductions from all SSD manufacturers with ample stock available which clearly is not happening. In fact, the premium SSDs like the Smsung 830 series SSDs have actually increased in price from their January low of $299/256MB or $1.16/GB. Only new technology, produced in mass, a lower cost faster than it can be consumed, creates a true lower price data point and this current SSD clearance pricing anomaly does not meet any of that criteria.

You must be joking. How many of your computers can take mSATA drives natively vs plug in via SATA and SATA power connections ? Why clear out all the inventory that uses the standardized connector before >50% of the market supports the new connector. Will a format with less plastic surround become more popular over time, yes... but the mSATA interposer cards still needed pretty much make an mSATA card the same size as a standard m4 drive for no benefit.

That said, I bought an intel 160GB SSD for $155 around black friday and micron is doing everything they can to generate revenue (see their stock tanking as investors speculate if they'll buy elpida's foundaries while chips are still sold without profit).

cnIsfg said:   HappyScrappyHeroPup said:   I don't agree this isn't a datapoint. Until a month ago, you never saw an SSD from any company sold for below $1/gigabyte, at any performance level and no matter what the outlet they were sold through. They were clearly trying to hold a price line.

But now that price line is broken. We've seen several offers below $1/GB in the last 3 weeks.

Other than these M4s and the recent SanDisk SSD deals, what other brand name SSDs have you seen approachintg anything close $1/GB in useful capacities (ie > 128GB) in the last 3 weeks? I already mentioned above why the Crucial M4s are being clearanced out and it is well known that Sandisk is discontinuing their 2.5" form factor SSD products in favor of the mSata SSD form factor. (mSATA vs traditional 2.5" SSDs are already overwelming being adopted in the newest gen laptop designs so that looks like a wise move on Sandisk's part.) That form factor transition accounts for Sandisk's recent price reductions on their remaining 2.5" form factor SSDs. Other than those 2 anomalies I have not seen any substainable downward price trend wit hcrrent technology MLC SSDs. As stated earlier, this is not a data point but a temporary price anomaly as a couple of the major SSD manufacturers phase out their old technology products in favor of new. We have seen this numberous times in the past decade and rerely has it resulted in a permanent industry wide price drop. At the current ~$1/GB pricing for these 2 brands, SSD resellers are buying up all the available SSD inventory as fast as they are restocked. That is why they are sold out. If this were indeed a downward price data point you would see across the board price reductions from all SSD manufacturers with ample stock available which clearly is not happening. In fact, the premium SSDs like the Smsung 830 series SSDs have actually increased in price from their January low of $299/256MB or $1.16/GB. Only new technology, produced in mass, a lower cost faster than it can be consumed, creates a true lower price data point and this current SSD clearance pricing anomaly does not meet any of that criteria.