CONCLUSION

   For a mainstream/budget model the SSDNow V300 performed very well but unfortunately (although expected from a mainstream model) it did fall back in most tests from both the SSDNow KC100 we tested a few days ago and of course the two currently available HyperX models again manufactured by Kingston. The surprise however came from the 19nm NAND flash memory modules by Toshiba since during our tests the SSDNow V300 reached read speeds which even surpassed the 550Mb/s mark (even if it was just a couple of times it's a lot more than the advertised 450MB/s). Unfortunately the drive is somewhat weak when it comes to random I/Os writes (compared to other SF-2281 based SSDs) and so here it even had a really hard time reaching its advertised speed of 55.000 I/Os.

 The full SSD upgrade kit which we reviewed today is basically both the Notebook upgrade kit (2.5" external USB enclosure) and the Desktop upgrade kit (3.5" to 2.5" mounting kit) in one convenient package but after looking around for quite a bit i was unable to locate it on any of the popular online stores inside the USA. I did however find both the Notebook Upgrade Kit and the Desktop Upgrade Kit which currently retail for USD114.99 and USD119.99 (Newegg). However the complete SSD Upgrade Bundle is currently available inside the EU and goes for a price tag set at around 110Euros which is not bad at all (you can also get the SSDNow V300 120GB SSD alone for around USD95/90Euros). Long story short if you don't care/want/need about having the highest possible performance and you just want a very good SSD then the SSDNow V300 combines both very good performance levels and a low price tag and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (SF-2281/ Internal Thermal Pads/ Toshiba 19nm NAND)
- Very Good Performance
- Bundle (2.5" USB Enclosure/ 3.5" bracket/ SATA III Cable/ SATA Power Connector/ Cloning Software)
- 3 Year Warranty With Free Technical Support
- Available Bundles (SSD/SSD+2.5" USB Enclosure/SSD+3.5" to 2.5" adapter)
- Price

CONS

- SandForce SF-2281 Controller Is Getting Old