SSD best choice or is compulab going to offer one?

[ebrinton]

Is there any plan for Compulab to offer the FIT-2PCi pre-configured with an SSD? We plan to use these with Windows-7.
I have not used SSDs before are there any known compatibility issues I should be aware of? Storage capacity needs are 64 or 128 MB.

Any suggestions for the best source for OS OEM versions. New-egg or the like or does compulab package this into there systems somehow (without HDD).

Thanks...EB

[fly]

I don't have tested real SSDs right now. Intel's X25-M G2 drives are said to be quite good. However, drives using the Indilinx Barefoot Controller are said to be on pair with Intel performance wise but cost only half. [1] is a good start to get an overview -- although the review is a bit dated.

are there any known compatibility issues I should be aware of?

I think fitPC2 and fitPC2i do not provide native SATA-Port, but an IDE/PATA-Port with a SATA-Bridgechip. This might cause trouble or at least performance issues. Issues of SSDs in general are - as I said - addressed in the review [1].

Storage capacity needs are 64 or 128 MB.

Did you mean MB or GB? If you really just need some megs, just buy a small USB-Stick or CF-Card and use copy2ram to populate a ramdisk.

[1] http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738

[irads]

The major drawback of SSD is price per byte. CompuLab will offer soon 8GB SanDisk SSD as a storage option with fit-PC2/i.

[ebrinton]

Oops, I did mean 64 or 128 GB (not MB). Sorry, I make this error ocasionally.

Will Windows-7 OS work run withthe 8GB SSD or will this be intended for a different OS? If yes to Windows-7 how much storage space will be left for application/data storage?

[fly]

Will Windows-7 OS work run withthe 8GB SSD or will this be intended for a different OS? If yes to Windows-7 how much storage space will be left for application/data storage?

I doubt it. Microsoft's system requirements for Windows 7 are:

• 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
• 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit).
• 16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit).
• DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver.

I'd try the 80GB Intel Postville G2, but as I said, I haven't tested real SSDs for myself. I rely on compact flash cards.

[morgad]

The major drawback of SSD is price per byte. CompuLab will offer soon 8GB SanDisk SSD as a storage option with fit-PC2/i.

If Compulab were to offer an 64 or 128 Gb SSD with a linux Image pre-installed that I could use to replace the HD in my Fit-PC2 as some sort of 'premium' accessory I would consider buying it

Dave