Posted 10/26/09 at 01:36:06 PM by Paul Lilly

Solid state drive technology still has a few hurdles to overcome before it supplants traditional hard drives as the mainstream storage medium of choice -- and according to a recent study, HDDs still have at least a decade left -- but as prices come down, more users are finding that it makes sense to boot off of an SSD for a little extra pep. Targeting those consumers, Kingston today released its SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive.

The 'V' as you might have guessed stands for 'Value' and the 'Boot Drive' nomenclature is pretty self-explanatory. The low capacity is a dead giveaway on that latter part, too.

"The SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive offers instant performance enhancement coupled with reliability and lower power consumption at a fraction of the cost of a new system," said Areil Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. "The 40GB Boot Drive is the latest offering in our V Series SSD line. It provides a low-cost upgrade solution that complements the installed hard disk drive to extend the life cycle of existing desktop computers and workstations in homes and offices."

From a performance standpoint, the 40GB Boot Drive comes rated at up 170MB/s sequential read, but only 40MB/s sequential write. Even still, Kingston claims its new drive muscled a 13,883 score in PCMark Vantage Advanced HDD Suite, compared to just 3,708 for an un-named 7200RPM hard drive during internal testing.

Kingston's 40GB Boot Drive will carry an MSRP of $115 and will begin shipping on November 9, 2009. The company adds you'll be able to find one for as low as $85 after mail-in-rebate when it launches.

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Posted 07/21/09 at 05:34:45 PM by Andy Salisbury

For those of you that are looking to carry around every piece of information that you might ever need (and most of your family photos) around with you in your pocket, Kingston has got the thumb drive for you.

With the recent introduction of their 256GB thumb drive, you’ll be able to take a plethora of files around with you everywhere you go. The drive itself packs a transfer speed of up to 20MB/sec and a read speed of 10MB/sec. And, if you’re using Vista, it also supports Windows ReadyBoost.

Though, this beast is only available in Europe and the UK for a whopping £565.67 ($931.60) upon custom order.

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Posted 06/23/09 at 07:30:20 AM by Paul Lilly

More and more memory kits are starting to ship with high-profile heatspreaders, and the latest modules to receive Kingston's T1 makeover is the tri-channel HyperX 1600MHz 6GB kit.

"The 1600MHz frequency is a sweet spot amongst gamers, and combining it with the popular T1 heatspreaders gives enthusiasts a performance advantage through improved heat diffusion while overclocking and gaming," Kingston wrote in a press release.

Kingston says its revised 6GB kit -- part number KHX12800D3T1K3/6GX -- is available now for $155 MSRP. Other HyperX kits sporting "heavy-duty" aluminum T1 heatspreaders include the triple-channel DDR3-2000MHz and DDR3-1866MHz kits, and dual-channel DDR2-1066MHz and DDR2-800MHz kits.

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Posted 06/16/09 at 10:07:46 AM by Paul Lilly

Yesterday, the largest USB flash drives on the planet checked in at 64GB. Today, Kingston claims the capacity crown with the release of its DataTraveler 200 (DT200), the world's first 128GB USB flash drive that's twice the capacity of yesterday's biggest thumb drives.

"The new DT200's robust storage capability lets consumers store complete libraries of music, photos, and videos.," said Andrew Ewing, USB business manager at Kingston. "It is also a great tool for business users who carry around large databases or files."

Also available in 32GB and 64GB capacities, the DT200 series boasts read and write speeds of up to 20MB/s and 10MB/s, respectively. Other features include a capless design and password protection.

No word yet on availability, however pricing has been set at $120 (32GB), $213 (64GB), and $546 (128GB). Ouch!

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Posted 02/04/09 at 01:30:58 PM by Paul Lilly

According to a report by DigiTimes, Kingston Technology is vouching for memory chip maker ProMOS Technologies and has agreed to act as a guarantor for the latter's application for a syndicated loan worth approximately $148 million. Of that $148 million, which is to be paid by nine local banks, Kingston has reportedly agreed to guarantee somewhere between $44 to $60 million.

Memory chip makers have found themselves in dire straights over slumping memory prices and an unforgiving global economy. The situation has gotten so bad that Qimonda, one of the world's top 10 memory chip suppliers, recently filed for bankruptcy. ProMOS has also been struggling, suffering losses adding up to $675 million in the first three quarters of 2008. Earlier this month, ProMOS submitted its application for a government-led bailout package.

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Posted 10/29/08 at 11:01:02 AM by Paul Lilly

With Intel's Core i7 launch now less than a month away, several memory vendors are readying three-packs of RAM in anticipation of the new platform's triple-channel memory support. Companies like Corsair, OCZ, and G.Skill have all jumped on board, but Kingston looks to leapfrog to the front of the pack as the first, and so far only company to release triple-channel memory clocked at 2GHz.

"Kingston is excited to bring the fastest DDR3 triple-channel memory products to market as we are the first to deliver 2000MHz gaming kits of three with Intel's reduced voltage," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager at Kingston. "All of our triple-channel kits can be overclocked manually or by using XMP-ready profiles."

Kingston's triple channel memory kits will run the gamut from the aforementioned 2GHz enthusiast HyperX range all the way down to the company's budget ValueRAM lineup:

• 3GB ValueRAM kit 1066MHz, CL7-7-7, 1.5V (KVR1066D3N7K3/3G) - $132
• 6GB ValueRAM kit 1066MHz, CL7-7-7, 1.5V (KVR1066D3N7K3/6G) - $240
• 3GB ValueRAM kit 1333MHz, CL9-9-9, 1.5V (KVR1333D3N9K3/3G) - $132
• 6GB ValueRAM kit 1333MHz, CL9-9-9, 1.5V (KVR1333D3N9K3/6G) - $240
• 3GB kit 1375MHz, CL7-7-7-20, 1.65V (KHX11000D3LLK3/3GX) - $192
• 3GB kit 1600MHz, CL8-8-8-24, 1.65V (KHX12800D3LLK3/3GX) - $285
• 3GB kit 1800MHz, CL9-9-9-27, 1.65V (KHX14400D3K3/3GX) - $312
• 3GB kit 1866MHz, CL9-9-9-27, 1.65V (KHX14900D3K3/3GX) - $317
• 3GB kit 2000MH, CL9-9-9-27, 1.65V (KHX16000D3K3/3GX) - $334

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Posted 08/13/08 at 10:38:36 AM by Chris Moody

Kingston announced that it is shipping a 32GB Elite Pro SDHC Flash memory card. The new 32GB card is the largest capacity in Kingston’s line of SDHC cards, which currently includes 4-, 8- and 16GB capacities.

“With the growing popularity of digital video and the HD format, consumers continue to look for ways to extend recording times and maintain fast data transfer rates (DTR) to maximize the performance of their recording device,” said Wendy Lecot, Flash business manager, at Kingston. “Our new 32GB Elite Pro SDHC memory card is optimized to meet the demands of high capacity and fast write speeds to help consumers share their lives through the use of video, photography and other creative devices. With the addition of the 32GB capacity card, Kingston is at the forefront of offering a versatile line of SDHC solutions to solve a variety of needs in today’s digital imaging world.”

32GB is a crap load of MP3s, photos or video to go on these little cards, with about 6,000 still images (with a 10MP camera) and over eight hours of video (for 6Mbps HD extended recording)

Kingston puts the MSRP at $308.00, and it is backed by a lifetime warranty.

Features and Specifications:

• Compliant: with the SD Card Association specification version 2.00
• Secure: built-in write-protect switch prevents accidental data loss
• Compatible: with SDHC host devices; not compatible with standard SD-enabled devices/readers
• File Format: FAT 32
• Dimensions: 0.94″ x 1.25″ x 0.08″ (24mm x 32 mm x 2.1mm)
• Speed Class 4: 4MB/sec. guaranteed minimum data transfer rate

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Posted 07/29/08 at 09:57:27 AM by Chris Moody

Kingston has released the DataTraveler 100 at 16Gb with a price tag of around $85 at the high end ($59.99 at the egg, but it’s out of stock). This is their sleek model without the bells and whistles. It offers a small form factor, a retractable USB connector and base black.

If you want to upscale your flash, the DataTraveler 400 should fit the bill.  It goes for around $196 at the high end ($131.99 at the egg). For the extra cash you get faster data transfer speeds, MigoSync for synchronization of file, email and internet browser setting, and SecureTraveler for password protection

It seems the Kingston name commands a premium, given the price of similar drives that these are competing with.

I have yet to fill up (or lose) my 4Gb drive.

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