Build a custom soild state drive using microSD cards

[Shawn Knight]

Do you have a collection of old microSD cards sitting around collecting dust? Wouldn’t it be cool if you could actually put them to good use instead of giving them away or even worse, tossing them in the trash?  Well now you can thanks to this neat looking microSD SSD Creator Kit.

The kit arrives with what is essentially a solid state drive board without the memory. There are four slots available to plug in microSD memory cards (also available for CF cards). Simply connect the cards to the mainboard (max of 32GB per card, class 10 recommended and all cards need to be the same capacity) then connect the board to your computer.

Performance here is sure to vary based on the type of cards and capacity that you use. No hard numbers are given although the description does say it can boost your Windows Experience Index Score up to 3.6 (not that that’s much help, really). I’d certainly be interested in giving the kit a thorough review but I don’t have any spare cards on hand to test with.

The kit retails for just south of $80 which is a pretty decent deal if you already have the necessary cards on hand and ready to go. Otherwise, it’d be best to take that $80 and add a little more to purchase a real solid state drive. Having to buy four quality cards plus the kit certainly isn’t practical or fiscally responsible.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54155-build-a-custom-solid-state-drive-using-microsd-cards.html

 

[TomSEA]

Cool idea - I have a bunch of microSD cards lying around. Be interesting to see if this actually works and how well.

 

[p51d007]

78 bucks for this, and unless you have 4 of an equal size cards around, the 32 gig version are around 20 bucks each, for a couple bucks more, less in other places, you could go ahead and purchase a real SSD.

 

[Guest]

This is a rediciolus price. Make it 20-30$ and we can talk.

80$ + cost of the cards (or not) can get u a waaaay better ssd.
With this u get a crappy controler (with no onboard cache) and questionable performance.
Think first gen jmicron drivers, becouse this can't be any better.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Cool idea - I have a bunch of microSD cards lying around. Be interesting to see if this actually works and how well.

Yeah this is exciting.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Cool idea - I have a bunch of microSD cards lying around. Be interesting to see if this actually works and how well.

Yeah this is exciting.

I lost all enthusiasm when I read "just south of $80". For the past two years (if not three), I have wondered why they didn't raid Micro SD cards. And for $80 I will continue to wonder how well this thing performs, even if I had MicroSD cards to put in it.

 

[Guest]

An idea is only "cool" when it's actually useful. I don't see the usefulness of this. How many people really have that many cards lying around and how many are actually fast enough to be of any use? On top of that, $80? For what? So that you can say "Look at me and how I'm using all my old cards", when you're tossing around a clumsy looking thing for $80 with useless, unreliable cards when you can buy at Newegg SSDs from A-brands that are faster, smaller, more reliable and have more storage for less than $100?

 

[Saintnsinner]

I only paid 79.99 for my 120gb SSD.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I lost all enthusiasm when I read "just south of $80". For the past two years (if not three), I have wondered why they didn't raid Micro SD cards. And for $80 I will continue to wonder how well this thing performs, even if I had MicroSD cards to put in it.

Yeah, but it is useful for SD Cards laying around. It may not perform the best, but it is a good use of SD cards, which arent as useful anymore.

 

[captaincranky]

Why would I be willing to pay eighty dollars for some Mickey Mouse incarnation of something which I don't want in the first place?

Yeah, but it is useful for SD Cards laying around. It may not perform the best, but it is a good use of SD cards, which aren't as useful anymore.

Try convincing my Nikon D-SLRs about that.

Although, as someone who never intends to own a smart phone, I didn't think micro SC cards had any use in the first place.

 

[Railman]

An idea is only "cool" when it's actually useful. I don't see the usefulness of this. How many people really have that many cards lying around and how many are actually fast enough to be of any use? On top of that, $80? For what? So that you can say "Look at me and how I'm using all my old cards", when you're tossing around a clumsy looking thing for $80 with useless, unreliable cards when you can buy at Newegg SSDs from A-brands that are faster, smaller, more reliable and have more storage for less than $100?

I am not surprised that this device is expensive. I went into a shop last week to see how much it would cost for a hard drive enclosure that I could put an old Sata drive from a failed PC. I was quoted just over 30 GBP. I decided I might as well just wait till I bought a new PC setup. It does seem that these items are not cost effective.

 

[captaincranky]

I am not surprised that this device is expensive. I went into a shop last week to see how much it would cost for a hard drive enclosure that I could put an old Sata drive from a failed PC. I was quoted just over 30 GBP. I decided I might as well just wait till I bought a new PC setup. It does seem that these items are not cost effective.

Part of that is the fault of your market. In the US, enclosures commonly sell for $30.00 USD, at least on sale. If my recollection is correct, that would be about 66% of your price.

I still wouldn't want to put my faith in a bunch of used micro SD cards, strapped together with bubblegum and tape.

It's a rare instance where I believe in the longevity of a mechanical device over that of purely electronic one, but this is that rare instance.

SSDs have been deliberately been foisted off on the public with a ton of issues, with makers putting out a bunch of hype, and hoping to patch the problems as they go along.

As far as needing SSD for tablets or smartphones goes, I believe the smaller you can make an item, the easier it is to lose. So, I'm going to stick with my clunky old laptop, and continue to watch big screen movies on the "device" designed for just that, my TV.

However, I would actually almost consider this device in question better than a factory built SSD, since it actually has, "user serviceable components".

That being said, I don't even really want to bother reading reviews in precedence of buying an SSD. All most of them amount to is, a bunch of boorish geeks, bragging about their boot times.(n)

 

[Guest]

A class 10 32 GB microSD minimum speed data transfer is 10 MB/s, up to 40 MB/s at $20+ per card
a traditional HDD at relatively good condition is about 80-90 MB/s, depending on the file's location on the platter, the speed can sink down to 50 MB/s
120 GB SSD speed rate is about 500 MB/s at price $100-$150

 

[dennis777]

I will just wait for a CDR king version, ^_^

 

[Guest]

30 GBP for a HDD enclosure?! Then you're living in extortion-land. A 2.5" enclosure sells in India for equivalent of 2 GBP and a 3.5" sells for 5 GBP.