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This to me is the ultimate upgrade as once the supplied disc cloning software has done its job you have your original drive available to be formatted and then with the drive enclosure provided a new external drive available.

So while you now have a – in this case – 128GB SSD drive installed in your PC the original hard drive is still available in the drive enclosure which can then be connected to any PC you may own as a USB drive unit.

So what is in the box, the 128GB SSD drive 10x7x1cm, a 13.5x8.5x1.5cm drive enclose to take your current notebook drive, a USB cable and perhaps – often overlooked – the documentation in PDF format that first of all tells you how to do what and then also the excellent Acronis True Image software that makes it all happen for you.

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While the claimed speed increase of ‘up to 50%’ is probably not obtainable you will get faster booting and certainly faster application loading. The box sums up the major benefits, Faster, Tougher, Cooler, Lasts Longer and Quieter.

Although it will work with Windows 7, Vista and XP you will probably see the biggest benefit in the latter as the SSD drive is likely to be bigger than the drive it is replacing, but improvements will also be seen in Vista and Windows 7.

The stated read speeds are 250MB/s and write speeds only just less than that at 230MB/s. Why not do a few tests before you install to see what read and write speeds your current drive gives and then do them again after the installation.

Kingston make a range of SSD drives for all uses and environments, so when buying check the exact definition on the box. The E Series is for servers. SSDNow 100S for system integrators and non PC use. The rest look very similar so beware the + is an important symbol. SSDNow 180+ is a 1.8inch form factor drive. SSDNow 100E V+ for those – corporate -requiring data protection. Finally the unit I have tested here the SSDNow 100V.

When you insert the CD you get two folders and a PDF file. Anyone who does not install these items everyday really should start with the PDF file. It is in fact a header that allows you to select your language from the 20 on offer.

The 18 pages of the guide cover everything from what is in the box to using the supplied Acronis True Image software read then through BEFORE YOU START and there should be no problems. My only moan is that the manual covers both the notebook and desktop versions and certain things do not apply to the notebook version.

When I looked at the unit lat year I had a 64GB one (the largest was 128GB) now things move on and I have a 128GB one (the largest is currently 256GB) but the prices of the units to buy are more of less one size down, in other words roughly what you would have paid for a 64GB SSD at the start of last year is what av 128GB SSD is now.

Doing my Internet searches found the Kingston SSDNow 100V 128GB unit at £148.13 with free delivery.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004BP93FS?ie=UTF8&tag=gadge0a-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634

http://www.kingston.com/ukroot/ssd/v100.asp