SSDs are faster, more robust, and use less power than comparable HDDs found in most notebooks and desktops. The main reason that the SSD isn't more widely used today is that the price is still too high for most consumers to bite.

Kingston has unveiled a new version of its SSDNow V series drive that comes in at 30GB capacity. The drive will sell for under $80 after rebates, which makes it one of the cheapest SSDs on the market. At the 30GB size, it will be mostly of use for a boot drive only with bulk storage to a different drive. Kingston will however also be offering the drive as part of a an upgrade bundle and also in a two-pack for those looking to RAID right from the get go.

The SSD has Windows 7 TRIM functionality and promises read speed of 180MB/sec and a write speed of 50MB/sec.