- 2.5"
- 240GB
- SATA III
Buyers BEWARE!!!!
06/14/2013
This review is from: Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MKNSSDCR240GB
Pros:
When it works, it's fast.
Cons:
Unreliable!!!!! I ordered 2 of these units 1 month apart for 2 high-end custom-built systems. The first one started failing 6 days after the system was delivered (I should specify that I keep my custom-builds in test for 48 hours before I deliver them). No sign of instability at all during the test. 6 days later the system started freezing up randomly (not restarting itself) and showed pink horizontal stripes on the screens. The system became totally unresponsive forcing the user to manually shut down. The fact that I could never see it happen didn’t help of course, so I had to rely on the user’s description of the issue and try to troubleshoot “in the dark”. The symptoms were quite similar to those of a failing VGA card. Replaced VGA card first.... didn't make any difference. I turned my attention to the SSD; first I changed SATA3 port and cable; no dice. Then I put it on a SATA2 port with a new SATA2 cable; no difference. Then considering the oddity of the situation I cloned the SSD (which was a challenge since the drive kept freezing up during the cloning procedure), dumped the clone onto a Corsair SSD drive, fired up the system and the problem magically disappeared. The second system I built with this unit 1 month later failed after 48 hours but with a completely different error: the motherboard (ASUS P8Z77-M) would not even detect the drive anymore. I jiggled data and power cable repeatedly with the same result. Then all of a sudden after 8-10 restarts the SSD would get detected and the system would start. If I restarted Windows I would go back to square 1 with a "No bootable device found". After changing ports and cables I tried to get my own server to detect the SSD; it detected it only 1time out of 5 restarts. Newegg sent me a new identical SSD for this one and thank goodness it's been working since; however as a professional, 2 bad units out of 3 is something I don't want to deal with ever again. If you're willing to gamble this unit is fairly inexpensive and works fast, but is it really worth all of this time, frustration and 2 unhappy customers?
Overall Review:
I've been custom building servers, laptops and high-end computers for 29 years now; I have well over 5,000 builds under my belt and this kind of issue is not something I am willing to put up with. The hours of troubleshooting and repair involved in addition to the customer's unhappiness really ticked me off. Fortunately my customers have been with me for so many years that they know this type of issue is beyond my control; the problem is that I expect the products that I recommend to live up to their name and reputation. This one OBVIOUSLY DOESN’T. Mushkin people: get it together. I don’t know what kind of nerve you have to put such and under-developed product on the market and expect customers to be your guinea-pig! As far as I’m concerned you’ve lost not only my company as a customer, but most people who will read this review.
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- Alex G.
-
Verified Owner
-
Owned For:
1 month to 1 year
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