New SSDs offer speed and storage capacity

Corsair has gone official with a new line of SSDs sporting toggle NAND and SandForce SF-2200 controllers. The Force Series GS SSDs promise fast overall performance and will ship in capacities of 180 GB and up.

Corsair claims that the random write speeds are up to 90,000 IOPS. The Force Series GS SSDs use SATA 6Gb/s connectivity and support TRIM to help maintain that performance over time. The SSDs are also optimized for low power consumption to help extend battery life when used in mobile devices.

The GS series uses a 2.5-inch form factor and ships with a 3.5-inch adapter for use in desktop computers.

The SSDs in the new Force Series GS are available right now in capacities of 180 GB, 240 GB, 360 GB, and 480 GB. Pricing for the drives is $189.99, $239.99, $349.99, and $489.99 respectively.



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Any version of Windows XP, Vista, or 7 will be eligible for inexpensive upgrade

Say what you will about its touch reforms, and extreme user interface makeover, but Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is at least moving aggressively to give its customers a favorable price point.

To counter Apple, Inc.'s (AAPL) $19.99 USD Mountain Lion licensing, Microsoft is offering Windows 8 "Pro" for only $39.99 USD via download. A DVD version will be available for $69.99 USD (that's one expensive disc). Clearly Microsoft is trying to funnel customers to its online process, which it hopes will lead to a more pain-free and automated installation.

Comments Microsoft:

We believe that your upgrade experience in Windows 8 will be a breeze by offering a faster experience, a single upgrade path, and compatibility from prior versions of Windows. We’ve continued to listen to our customers and have expanded the ability to download to over 100 countries and 37 languages. We have simplified the Windows upgrade experience with the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant which supports you during your upgrade with everything from selecting your language to pausing your download to built-in compatibility checks - it’s seamless. And if you’re an enthusiast you will have the flexibility to download and control how you upgrade.

Somewhat strangely Microsoft is offering customers who purchase the download the option to purchase a backup DVD for $15. In other words you can order the download and get a DVD via the backup option for $54.99 USD, or pay $15 USD extra to buy it in store.

It seems a bit counterintuitive, to say the least.

Of course if you want to snag a download or disc install be sure to first check that your hardware is capable of running Windows 8. To test that you can grab Microsoft's Release Preview of Windows 8 from here, which comes with a test-phase build of the upgrade assitant.

Windows Team engineer Brandon LeBlanc writes Microsoft is continuing to "drive toward the RTM milestone."

Source: Windows Team Blog



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There will be an early termination fee of $250 that decreases after 3 months

The Microsoft Store officially posted an offer for a $99 Xbox 360/Kinect bundle on its website.

Last week, rumors circulated that Microsoft was planning on selling a 4GB Xbox 360 bundle with a Kinect sensor and two-year Xbox Live Gold service subscription. The only catch was that there'd be a $14.99 monthly service fee for the service, but gamers would receive the regular online gameplay features of an Xbox Live Gold subscription along with extra content from cable providers.

The total cost of the two-year bundle is $459, which is a bit of an increase from the current $418 4GB Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle with two years of Xbox Live Gold.

The Microsoft Store online published a redeemable coupon for the $99 bundle today, where offer code 885370366266 can be brought to a local Microsoft store in exchange for the latest deal.

Last week's report also noted that there may be an early termination fee (ETF), but the amount had not been specified at the time. Microsoft has now confirmed that there will, in fact, be an ETF that is set based on the number of months passed after the start of the two-year subscription. If the service is terminated within the first three months, the ETF will be $250. At the fourth month, the ETF is $240. From there, the ETF decreases by $12 each month until it hits $0 at 24 months.

Source: Microsoft Store


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