Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

I’ve written about SSDs several times since I first adopted the technology three years ago, and there’s no doubt that replacing a spinning hard drive with an SSD is the best way to boost overall performance of an existing PC (or Mac).  I’ve owned three SSDs in total, and am about to replace my current model – a 128GB Crucial C300 – with something newer, faster and bigger (in storage capacity). 

As is my custom when upgrading computer components, I’ve spent hours researching various reviews, benchmarks, real-world user observations, and recommendations from trusted online sources to find the best SSD available.  And in this particular hardware treasure hunt, I’ve had the welcome (and rare) experience of finding almost every source of information pointing to a single choice:

The Samsung 840 PRO SSD

Check Prices: Amazon.com | NewEgg | eBay

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When Windows 8 was released late last year, one of the novel aspects of the new operating system was its availability as an online download; even more impressive was the low price for this online version – $39 for an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, a version of the OS normally priced $199.

But that promotion ends today.  If you want to snag up to five upgrade copies of Windows 8 Pro for $39 each, you’ll have to do so before the end of the day today. 

Tomorrow they’ll be an extra $160.

I was happy to see Amazon’s new Kindle Fire tablets at the company’s press event yesterday, as I’m sure they’ll inject much needed competition in the tablet space. But as an avid reader, what I was most looking forward to was news on the eInk Kindle updates, since intriguing details had been leaking for weeks.

I didn’t get the news I had hoped for, though.

Amazon announced two new Kindle eReaders yesterday, the Kindle Paperwite and a 5th Gen Kindle.  The Paperwhite model (which was the topic of all of those leaks, as it turns out) is the replacement for last year’s Kindle Touch, but with a new, crisper touchscreen display and front-lighting technology for reading in the dark or low-light conditions.  The new base-model Kindle with buttons, though, was the model I was most interested in.  Sadly, this new Kindle doesn’t offer the lighted screen, just a modest performance bump and new font choices.

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We’re coming up on one year since the last batch of new Kindle eReaders were announced, and recent evidence indicates that the 2012 models are nearing announcement/release.

In the last few days, the Kindle w/ Keyboard Wi-Fi model was quietly removed from Amazon’s Kindle listings, though the 3G version remains.  This doesn’t mean much alone, but taken with the fact that B&N just lowered the prices of their Nook tablets, and that the rumor mill has been churning with Kindle rumors would suggest that something’s coming soon.

We’ll almost certainly see a front-lit eInk Kindle eReader in the coming days or weeks, and perhaps even a first-gen color eInk Kindle, too (but I’m thinking 2013 on that one).  Amazon will also certainly be releasing a newer, higher-spec Kindle Fire to compete with Google’s very well-reviewed $199 Nexus 7.

The 4th Generation Kindle is my favorite model ever; I didn’t like the Kindle Touch at all, and actually returned it for the cheaper model.  Hopefully, Amazon will release a non-touch 5th Generation Kindle that improves on the near-perfect 4th Gen model.

-M