240GB PNY XLR8 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD $125 after $50 Rebate + Free Shipping
 

MacMall

Currently $200 at Newegg [newegg.com]

240GB PNY XLR8 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD (SSD9SC240GMDA-RB)

$180 - $50 rebate
= $130 with free shipping

240GB PNY XLR8 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD $125 after $50 Rebate + Free Shipping
 

eCost.com has 240GB PNY XLR8 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD (SSD9SC240GMDA-RB) for $174.99 - $50 rebate = $124.99 with free shipping. Thanks yuugotserved & jclu52

MacMall.com has 240GB PNY XLR8 2.5" SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD (SSD9SC240GMDA-RB) for $179.99 - $50 rebate = $129.99 with free shipping.

This post can and should be edited by users like you :)
 

Deal expired - new price after rebate: $159.99

Rebate form: http://i2.cc-inc.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_BBEB54CC167A3C1F3BDDCA34CAED78A3889A0000/filename/44836MacMall.pdf
Rebate Program:

• Offer valid for purchase dates: February 22, 2013 through March 12, 2013
• Valid only for purchases made at: PCMall.com, PCM.com, MacMall.com, eCost.com and OnSale.com.
• Must be post marked within 30 days of the purchase date, which includes day of purchase.
• Checks will be mailed 6-8 weeks after closing date of program (March 12)
• Limit 5 rebate offer per product, receipt/invoice or rebate receipt, name/individual, credit card, household, family, group, telephone number, email and address.

This product uses MLC NAND instead of the low-grade TLC (high latency, high power usage, low lifespan) that Samsung's "840 Series" uses.

Limit 5, so I'm thinking blazing fast raid array? :)

Wow, seems legit. Anyone have experience with this brand SSD? I've had their USB drives, and reviews look promising.

That's a big rebate to have to wait for. By the time it arrives, 240GB drives may be selling for $130 without a rebate.

Decent if limited benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...13-10.html

Deal seems excellent? Is there any reason not to buy this drive?

You wish.

Good deal. Don't forget your Cashback sites on this one!

For those who don't want to deal with rebates, some people are having success getting Staples to PM Office Depot's 30% off coupon on this 240 GB Kingston drive [staples.com], making it ~$135+ tax -- but no rebate and I what I assume is a better overall kit/brand/specs/etc.

EDIT: The read/write specs on paper are similar, but the Kingston comes with the transfer kit and mounting bracket, where it doesn't look like the PNY does.

Damn rebates!!
 

I would jump on it but the rebate killed it. I know it depends on which rebate company that handles it but in general rebates take a long time to process and mail the check to you.

it talks about the size of this being too big for slender laptops/chasis. would this fit in my lenovo z580? I couldnt find anything about it on google :(

deleted

I thought z580s had standard 9mm hdd ports... if so this would work. I'm not 100% sure on this as I've only personally worked with the G580 and Z570.

lightfoot3b is right.
Found this @ http://www.notebookcheck.net/Revi...415.0.html
Long story short - it should work - although Crucial only mention 7mm here: http://www.crucial.com/upgrade/Le...rades.html

The problem with rebates are, it says 6-8 weeks, which means 8 weeks. That is a long time to wait. Very tempting though.

ecost also offer the same rebate for $5 less shipped http://www.ecost.com/p/PNY-Remova...dp.hdceiji

I wish there was an option to hide all rebate deals... rebates are like 1995 slickdeals

Rebate is handled by Parago - found @ bottom of PNYrebates.com - http://pnyrebates.com/promocenter/pny/track.html

For those who are commenting about the rebate process: When I bought PNY's gtx 670, rebate came in like 2 weeks. I had rebates from 2 months earlier that came later than my PNY rebates. Also it came in check instead of prepaid visa card. Not sure if all pny's rebate's are like that, but they have the best rebate experience that I've seen so far.

No idea about the performance of the drive

It's Parago...I've only had one problem with them, but it was my stupidity...They wanted the "Drive label" for a hard drive rebate. I was on the phone and i say "it's affixed to the drive itself, I can't peel it off"...someone on this forum recommended to me that the label was on the Anti-static bag, once I sent that in, got the check.

Anyway, yeah Parago....In for 1, thanks OP

Agree, not worth the risk of waiting 6-8 weeks for a $50 rebate check. Especially now that $130-$150 250GB SSD deals are popping up about every other day now.

Review found @ http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...313-5.html

PCMark 7 and power consumption @ http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...313-9.html
Real world testing @ http://www.tomshardware.com/revie...13-10.html

This review is for the PRO version - http://benchmarkreviews.com/index...itstart=10

I tried using the Office Depot 30% coupon at Staples. They declined. But seems like it depends how late the store manager stayed up the previous night. Some were successful.

One of the most power hog
 

People who feel that rebates are risky must not be organized people. Follow the directions and make copies of everything, it never fails.

I wish for what? You don't think $130 for 240GB is gonna happen soon? Two weeks ago I bought a 256GB M4 for $149.99 shipped. There have been deals in the last week for Samsung 840 (non Pro) for $140. It only takes another slight drop in the wholesale price to get them down to $130 without rebate.

Rebates aside, MacMall and Ecost are bottom of the barrel when it comes to retailers. I've had problems with both in the past.

I don't feel they are risky. In fact, over the last 15 years, I don't believe I've ever been screwed out of a rebate. I just hate waiting for the money back. Rebates are supposed to be icing on the cake for a good deal. The good deal should not rely solely on the rebate IMO.

the xlr8 pro reviews look positive for a sandforce based ssd. anyone find any reviews/benchmarks on the non-pro version?

This type of drive will not be. TLC 250GB drives should be $120-$130 with the cost to manufacture them being lower. MLC drives will in my opinion take longer to reach this price level. Intel could do it, but they charge a premium for their name (reliability) and their investment in research.

Yes, I agree TLC drives should be cheaper, but some quality MLC drive are already getting close to this price. Prices will keep dropping, that's the nature of the business.

I am still waiting for my rebate for something I ordered from Newegg in December 6, 2012.

Yes if they say 8 weeks, it is probably more like 12 weeks.

CA tax kill this deal

For how little power SSDs take in general you are talking maybe seconds in battery time between the most hungry and the least.

This may be useful for some -

APRICORN USB 3.0 to SATA Adapter + Software $14 AR, FS @ Newegg - Great for SSD cloning/transfers
Attachment 1811522

After CA tax, price is $147 AR. Warm at best. If I didn't even jump on the 250GB Samsung 840 Series 2.5" SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive SSD (MZ-7TD250BW) + Assassin's Creed 3 PC Game Coupon for $149.99 deal from yesterday (even without the game), no way I'm jumping on this; no tax from B&H and Samsung kicks ass compared to this generic brand.

I just got back from a Staples store in downtown, ATL. Got them to PM the 30% off on the 240 GB Kingston drive, making it about $142 OTD (including 8% tax).

I got a 256GB for ~$90 AR (only a $10 rebate) and some Shop Discover cashback. It was a TigerDirect deal around Black Friday.

And I just walked out of a Staples store with a 240 GB Kingston [staples.com] for $132.99 + tax (after Office Depot coupon PM). It truly is just a matter of time before you can get 'em for $130 w/o a rebate.

dont forget shoprunner guys, free 2 day shipping.

You can get a 256 GB MLC drive for $190 now

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W2JL2A/

:-)
 

FYI, this is an MLC drive :-), which I believe is preferable to TLC...

PNY Spec page:

http://www3.pny.com/XLR8-SSD-120GB-P3161C517.aspx

"3K rated" caught my eye... I suppose that's like the Kingston HyperX 3K... Something to consider if you're going to be beating the hell out of the drive with I/O... Regular backups, or in my case keeping all important data on a RAID-ed NAS, should eliminate/lessen concerns about the 3K...

In for one!!! Thanks I've been looking for a good deal like this on an MLC drive for a while. Whooot

I don't think anyone is confused that this PNY is an MLC drive. AFAIK, Samsung has been the only manufacturer brave enough to try TLC in large SSDs. Our discussion was regarding the likelihood that ~250GB MLC based drives will be dropping in the next couple months to a similar $130 price, but without a rebate.

Several deals recently have broken the $150 price without using rebates.

Overall, if you don't have to pay tax and you don't mind waiting for a rebate, this is a good deal.

I agree. The deal is not great for those in CA.

So what's the final verdict - is Kingston better than the PNY or are they about the same? Was going to try for the Kingston one but if its about the same as the PNY then I will try to save on tax and hassle vs the Kingston...

:-)
 

LoL.
Cool
Agreed :nod: :bounce:

Is the rebate in form of check or debit card?

That's great for you..I'm jealous....:look:

I'm seeing tax of around $11 from both vendors :mad: Not quite the same deal at $136 for me. Any chance there is a third choice? Maybe if I wait it out I'll see one.

This review covers both pro and non-pro.

The quick summary is that the performance is nearly identical between them, but the pro comes with a 5 year warranty and the non-pro 3 years. If you look at the circuit board though, you can clearly see more to the pro; but I have absolutely no idea what that could mean.

thanks and repped


thanks :)

Care to elaborate?

do you need that if you plan on using something like acronis?

My god $50 mail in rebate for a SSD? LOL!

"Checks will be mailed 6-8 weeks after closing date of program (March 12)"

If you have a laptop, yes.
For a desktop, you can have both drives connected to the SATA port on your motherboard - if there is a empty SATA port available.
Or you can ask your friend with a desktop to do it for you.

Well, if you're going to clone your drive to your new SSD, you need a way to at least temporarily install the SSD so Acronis can transfer the image.

If you've got a desktop with an open SATA port & cables, you wouldn't have to have something like this. Just install the SSD and clone your old drive.

A laptop doesn't necessarily have a way to mount a second drive, so something like this is necessary or you have to take your hdd out and take both drives to another computer to do the image transfer.

So, it's at least a convenience and may be a necessity if you don't have extra computers at hand and can't mount the new SSD.

And, that seems like a good price for an external USB 3.0 to SATA bridge. If you've got USB 3.0, the extra speed will be greatly appreciated.

The Apricorn cable will be useful later as well.

tl;dr: No, you don't need it if you've got another way to mount a drive so you can transfer data.

I'm sorry, could you clarify your second paragraph? I have a desktop with open SATA ports that I can plug the SSD into. I can clone my old HDD to it without any extra software?

You can hypothetically temporarily install both the source drive and the target drive in another computer and clone the source drive to the target with the appropriate software.

I think there are free softwares that handle this scenario, but I don't think I'm going to make a recommendation because I feel like I might be getting you in over your head.

• Caution: If you make a mistake, you can lose all data on the desktop machine or wipe out the drive you meant to copy.

You sure the Apricorn dooey doesn't interest you?

Folks,

Thanks for posting this. Of course I did a due diligence and checked the Product. Here's the link to the PNY site: http://www3.pny.com/XLR8-SSD-240G...2C517.aspx
What I found interesting is that this model (SSD9SC240GMDA) is slightly different from their Pro model (SSD9SC240GCMDA). And the difference in not in Specifications but rather in SOLUTION description:

SOLUTIONS:
Quote: “XLR8 SSDs feature a 2.5” SATA III, 6Gbps interface, support 128-bit AES encryption and is powered by the SandForce 2241 controller, offering up to 500MB/s seq. read, 450MB/s seq. write speeds, and 60,000 random read/write IOPS. Manufactured in the USA and designed for long term photo/video storage and home usage such as web browsing, emails, faster operating system and program launching.”

Does anyone know if the Controller 2241 vs 2281 is a deal breaker at all?


Taxes in CAlifornia, since all of these companies are either located in the same place or belong to the same owner in El Segundo, CA

Thanks.

OMGWTFTAXES!

$11 worth.

This kills the deal.

I just put a SanDisk SSD 256gb in a Z580 and it fit fine.

MLC v. TLC drive. What are they and what is the difference?

The only potential deal breaker is that all sandforce 22xx controllers had a BSOD "bug" when released. It's since been fixed with a firmware patch from what I've been able to find. I just don't know if PNY has specifically released it's own patch since I imagine each manufacturer has to post their own, and they're not as popular/well known as the big boys like samsung/intel/sandisk/OCZ/crucial.

Given the relatively sparce information/reviews about this drive it can be a deal breaker for some. Personally, I would roll the dice if it weren't for the rebate :)

http://www.anandtech.com/show/633...b-review/2

google is your friend :)

I just thought I might be able to borrow the acronis from someone and save some $$. Otherwise I'd have to count the cost of the dooey or anything else into the cost of the SSD to me. Thanks for the help =]

FYI:There are free download versions of Acronis that work just fine for cloning/backup/restore if you have a WD or Seagate drives on your system. See their websites or Google for info.

Truthfully, if you are installing an SSD for the first time, you should be doing a clean windows install so that the disk is properly aligned. Yes, old HDD align differently from SSD. Cloning an old HDD partition to an SSD is asking for trouble or at the very least, limited performance.

If anyone is on the fence simply because of the rebate, I would not hesitate one bit to buy this. Bought PNY 670 on BF and got my rebate within a month. Meanwhile I am still waiting on Panda rebates from early Nov.

Too bad I got one on BF and bought 2TB from BB on that $50 off deal.

Personally PNY has never steered me wrong. Solid value with speed, price, and reliability.

I've passed on the Samsung TLC as I my needs would be a little more demanding.

I'm going to looking more into the mention of a 30% PM at Staples, but if not I'll get this.

sigh... how old is old? If I fresh install I think I would lose some programs that I got for free during some of the promos posted on SD.

1. " how old is old? " 'Old' doesn't mean how long it's been there, just that the partition was previously created on your platter hard drive, not on as SSD.
2. I understand not wanting to lose one-time installed programs. Fortunately there are ways to correct SSD alignment w/o doing a fresh install. .:woot:
3. First, check to see IF there is an alignment issue after cloning to the SSD. Sometimes karma is on your side. There's no need to screw up what's not broken.

Here's how to check: Hit the Start menu.
Find & start Msinfo32.exe .
Go to Components > Storage > Disks. Look for your drive and find the "Partition Starting Offset". If this number is evenly divisible by 4096 (that is, if dividing it by 4096 results in a whole number and not a decimal),your partition is correctly aligned.

4. If the SSD is not correctly aligned here are some steps:

a. First back up whatever you don't want to lose. Messing with partitions can result in data loss.

b. Here's a link [ssdhdd.org] to a free app that may do the dirty work for you. There's also instructions & tool there for HDD to SSD migration.

c. There are many other resources [lifehacker.com] available online that you can find via search, but this is probably enough to get the job done.

Does this help? Since your post was @ 03:20 you're likely not up to read this yet!
.EDIT: 1. K6-2 makes good points, as usual. 2. We can discuss via PM, if you like, so's not to clog up an active thread. (I sent you a PM.)

:cool:

Which software allows cloning of a non-boot drive (ie, not the drive you're running from, not the drive the clone software is installed on) to another drive?

In his scenario, both the source and target drives are being temporarily installed in a desktop system.Should have asked before now... what kind of computer is this SSD going in? A laptop? With one hard drive and no second HDD bay?

Vastly preferable. TLC is the worst NAND, bar none. Highest power usage, shortest lifespan, highest latency.
Short answer: TLC is lowest-grade NAND that some people are dazzled by because Samsung is pushing it so hard. Anandtech's review is probably full of cheerleading and selective fact presentation, as is usually the case. HardOCP found that usage killed the 120 GB drive's read speed, not just its write speed. They said the drive would likely fail completely with 3.5 years of light use.

It really has no reason to exist in the consumer SSD market. It should be left for USB flash keychain drives where it belongs. The only exception is for large capacity drives intended to be used in desktop machines. Then it might be somehow relevant. The bottom line, though, is that 19nm asynchronous MLC is not expensive to produce, making TLC a solution in need of a problem.

Fate is not on my side!! :< So What do I do? Make a back up of my HDD partition, create a new partition on the SSD with the correct starting offset and copy the back up there?

Sandforce makes firmware that it sends to the manufacturers for further validation. Most manufacturers likely use the firmware Sandforce sends them. Intel supposedly does further validation for its Sandforce line, but may or may not have shared the results with Sandforce.

The blue screen issues were resolved quite a while ago. The recent issue was TRIM not working well, which was resolved a few months ago. These Sandforce controllers have had a long time in the market for the bugs to be sorted out. There really isn't any reason to worry. And, the MLC NAND these use is a quite a bit more robust than the TLC that Samsung is pushing.

It's always best practice to update the firmware of any SSD as soon as it arrives.

Excellent
 

Ha! Outstanding, well put!! Thanks for elaborating :bounce: :nod:

Acronis or Ghost will do this using their bootable media. Very easy, and the preferable way IMO. Less chance of fudging things when you use the bootable.

@jephtastic This is the missing piece.Thanks, couldn't say. Once I found the terabyte products, haven't used anything else in years.

Great point.
There were a few mentionings of the Sandforce 2241 found all related to the PNY drives including their premium lineup. Perhaps it's a multiplied oversight but it feels their Marketing is desperately trying to distance themselves from the bad carma of Sandforce 2281 (link to the article [tomshardware.com]).

According to the Wiki on SandForce it's all 2281 anyway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SandForce

Why do people have such a problem with rebates? I mean it takes 2 minutes to send it in. If your living paycheck to paycheck I can see that it would be tough to miss the $50 for 2 months, but if not then what difference does it make. You're gonna put it in the bank and forget about it.

time is money my friend. you have to read the requirements, cut the UPC, triple check everything to make sure, mail it in, then it dwells in your head for 6 to 8 weeks sometimes longer. All of this wastes time.

I'd rather be able to just pay a low price at a store when I buy the item, and never think about that (sometimes unnecessary) expense again.

Is this not the same?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6820178455

Much cheaper from Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6820178455

Is that not the same drive from Newegg for almost ~$30 cheaper, still with free shipping?

dude.. that's half the size lol

DOH. lol didnt notice that.

that's what she said :D

I've done the TigerDirect rebate thing and once you've done it the first time, it becomes easier the next time.

HELLO? McFly? You are looking at a 120GB vs the 240GB that is featured in this deal thread.

This is the same drive from Newegg for $199 shipped:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6820178456

No, because this 240GB drive uses the 2281 controller, not the 2241.

• Controller: SandForce 2241 (120GB); 2281 (240GB,480GB)

Some information is available in the Product Brief.
(see attached file "LSI_PB_SF-2200_ClientFSP.pdf").

May prefer kingston because of the rebate

I just installed the Kingston V300 in my wife's computer. Plenty fast (naturally). A nice kit -- comes with mounting brackets, USB "case" and USB cable, SATA cable, power extender/adapter cables, DVD video, Acronis backup software (although this didn't work my wife's computer -- not sure if it was related to some other issues we were having or not).

If you get the Kingston and can't get the stock Acronis to work, I used Paragon Backup and Restore Home 12 (it's a free 30-day trial). Works with Windows 8, GPT partitions, etc.

Yea, kingston comes with a full kit, pretty awesome.

Macrium Reflect works as well

The Kingston v300 240gb deal at staples is better than this.

Besides the obvious that the kingston comes with a kit, care to explain why? i think the rebate vs the 30% (because its a OD cpn) is a wash so wondering if its just the brand that makes one better than the other...

Deal expired - new price after rebate: $159.99
both
MacMall http://www.macmall.com/p/PNY-Portable/Removable-Drives/product~dpno~9115707~pdp.hdceiji &
eCost http://www.ecost.com/p/PNY-Removable-Hard-Drives/product~dpno~9115707~pdp.hdceiji

Looked at the URLs - they are one of the same!!

I just hooked these bad boyz up into a RAID 0 array, with write-back cache enabled, and got 1.2 GB/s (no joke). Using the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H (rev. 1.0) motherboard's native Intel SATA-III RAID controller.

Is this still a good deal at 160$? I somehow didn't click the confirmation button and order one in time. Can anyone tell me how this compares to the crucial M4 that is on sale right now thorugh Newegg? I looked up the specs and this one has twice the write speed. I understand that this one has a rebate and the M4 doesn't. Is the extra write speed noticeable?

Crucial M4 is well known - use v.me code to get another 10% off - total: $143.99

So the Crucial deal is better because it's more well known?

basically - yes - that's my view -
here is all the PNY SSD listed on newegg - http://www.newegg.com/PNY-Technol...D-1471-636

here is all the Crucial SSD listed on newegg - http://www.newegg.com/Crucial-Int...D-1455-636

Look at the egg counts - you can see which one is more popular, matured and better rated. OCZ is a very popular brand, probably due to price. However, their SSD suffer from a lot of bad reviews due to firmware / controller issue. If you looked at newegg's review on OCZ http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...Technology, you see it's great - but when you look at the details / break down, OCZ's 4 & 5 eggs at about 71% for the top 2 OCZ - the Agiligy 3 & Vertex 3. Compare to Crucial, it's 72% 5 eggs and 9% 4 eggs review.

Well, that's my quick & dirty comparison.

The question is: do I want to take the risk? Or spend the money with a better user reviewed product even though it might be slower than the fastest. Or do I want to take risk to get the fastest and deal with crashes / headache as they occur.

Everyone has their own experiences / delima / view. There is really no one simple answer.

Crucial vs PNY - Crucial has a lot of user experiences good vs a few user experiences on PNY SSD. Besides, right now, Crucial is cheaper than PNY plus you do not have to deal with rebate. I would take Crucial over PNY in this particular case.

Good luck. Cheers.