The VAR Guy

Mere weeks after Intel’s February 2011 release of pro-sumer/professional 510 SATA III SSD drives comes the company’s introduction of the technology into the midmarket with its new SSD 320 series SATA II drives. What’s the scoop on these non-moving drives and how do they fit into the channel? Read on for the quick details …

The 320 SSD line is the latest evolution of Intel’s original X25-M mainstream SATA SSDs, introduced in 2008 and succeeded by the X25-E and X25-V respectively. The 320 SSD series offers a slew of features including more size options — 40GB, 80GB, 120GB, 160GB, 300GB and 600GB SSDs are now available at the 3Gbps SATA II interface that so many have come to know and love. Intel boasts a fierce 270 MB/s in sequential reads at peak.

But Intel isn’t just offering up beefy SSDs; the company is also introducing new firmware to differentiate its SSDs in the marketplace. Intel includes a sublayer of instructions — creatively using the spare space on SSDs to keep data protected in case of power loss — and also has built in 128-bit encryption.

Intel has published prices based on 1,000-unit quantities — 40GB at $89; 80GB at $159; 120GB at $209; 160GB at $289; 300GB at $529 and 600GB at $1,069. Single-unit pricing can be set by Intel’s resellers, retailers and e-tailers. It’s general affordability, however,  will be a plus for VARs and system builders who want to offer start-up and operating system drives that boost overall speed and efficiency without adding too much to the price tag.

Although the trend in offloading the operating system to an SSD hasn’t gained much traction yet, SSD/HDD combos likely will see increased adoption in the next year as more and more consumers become acquainted with the benefits of a speedy and responsive OS. Lenovo is already offering SSD as a standard option, as is Apple, so VARs and system builders may want to offer these options now for ‘future-proofing,’ or suggest them as as value-add in the near future.

Sign up for The VAR Guy’s Weekly Newsletter, Webcasts and Resource Center. Follow The VAR Guy via RSS, Facebook and Twitter. Follow experts at VARtweet. Read The VAR Guy’s editorial disclosures here.

Read More About This Topic

• Will HP’s Attempt to Sell PC Division Impact Windows 8?
• I’m Too Sexy for the Channel?
• Lenovo Continues to Target Consumers with Refreshed AIO Line
• Lenovo IdeaPad U260: Truly Unique or Targeting MacBook Air?
• Purpose Built: Goodbye Netbooks, Hello Tablets?