The chip is marked Initio and according to some documents I've found deals with the transfer between USB and SATA. The specs say it can transfer the USB data at 60 MB/S which should give plenty of headroom for the camera.

I don't know about the chip, but the hard fact is my MxM SSD drive happily records overcranked 25p/60 fps, as do my MxM SDHC adapters with ATP Pro 32GB cards - after I finally upgraded my EX1 firmware from the 1.11 version (I went straight to the 1.25).

60 meg is plenty for over cranking and it works flawlessly. Although the only situation I could imagine using the SSD for overcranking is perhaps for fixed situations for industrial videos where you need to record slow-mo for an extended period.

Any chance the new firmware allows an EX1 to see more than 84GB per slot?

John

Hi Marcus,

I was actually asking about the SATA transfer to computer not the USB connection to the camera. If it is Initio then it is the old SATA I, so I am surprised to hear that is SATA I was faster than your RAID.

But thanks for the info.

Hi Ross,

As I said, I don't know about the chip used - my Vista doesn't report on it. However, even if it's the SATA I indeed, I guess it'd be a bottleneck only if used connected to a fast, multi-lane, SATA 3G controller. I've yet to see a single lane, eSATA (as opposed to SATA) controller that is capable of sustained transfer rate above 100 MBps which I'm getting from my MxM SSD, connected to the JMicron controller on my Asus mobo...

The JMicron has two SATA ports: internal SATA II (3G) and external eSATA, and imposes this 100 MBps cap on whatever I connect to it (be it internal SATA II HDD, or external eSATA device such as my WD MyBook Studio II enclosure, configured as a RAID 0 array).

Of course I'm talking sustained, practical datarates here; the MxM SSD is reported as capable of much higher than that by utilities like HD Tune...

Hi Piotr,

Thanks for the info on your system.

It's a pity that you are only able to get SATA I speeds out of your system, as SATA II will get you double the speed of SATA I, which would make any SSD fly.

BTW Marcus has already stated the chipset used in the enclosure, so no need to worry about it.Thanks anyway.

Just to get it straight, Ross:

- I was talking specifically about the JMicron SATA controller, which - even though it is described as SATA II in my Asus mobo specs - creates the 100-115 MBps bottleneck for anything connected to it (be it eSATA, or internal SATA II device).

My mobo's main SATA controller is of course the Intel Matrix (ICH7/R it was 4 years ago when the motherboard was designed), and it allows for 320 MBps transfers using my internal, 3-disk RAID 0.

Next time I have some spare time and my PC opened, I'll try to connect the MxM SSD case straight to the Intel controller, and will be able to tell what its datarate capabilities really are.

I need a low power solution to wrangle cards at the end of the day and since this is powered off the EX1 and the EX1 will do the copy, this MxM SSD recorder is a good solution for me.

Is anyone using this SSD recorder with hard drives? If so, what model(s)?

Also, the MxM site seems to only sell 80GB SSD yet the Intel spec they have indicates a 160GB SSD. Does anyone know what SSD model(s) are compatible?

Epilog:
I ordered this MxM recorder for $169 and a Western Digital WD3200BUDT 5200rpm 32mb cache disk for $55. I chose this one as it reportedly was specifically designed for "streaming digital audio or video that is always active or ON on like DVR / PVR, video display digital also requires supervision and other multimedia applications"

There was plenty of friendly support from MxM on selecting an SSD or spinning drive.

The unit is assembled in Australia from Chinese parts. The EX1R recognized the device but complained the format wasn't supported. After using the camera to format the drive, it functioned flawlessly both recording and playing back.

My purpose was use the SSD Recorder as a storage device for wrangling SxS cards in the field. Using only the power it got from the SxS slot, the device copied 32GB from two 16GB SxS Pro card in 16 minutes. All in all, it's a fine device with nice right angle mini usb connectors on the "right sized" cable. There are no sharp edges nor straight connectors sticking out.

Speaking of cables, it comes with two for use with the camera (one slightly longer than the other) as well as a USB power, USB cable, and eSata cable.

MXM support recommended 2mm rubber on the bottom of the drive for a bit of shock absorption.

This is normal for any drive as the camera needs to format it before it can use it.

Have used my unit (with SSD) twice over recent weeks for long form recording with the camera in a single position on sticks.

It was so nice not having to wrangle lots of cards and the offloading was painless thanks to the fact I installed an E-SATA card in my Mac Pro.

I wish I could write something more exciting but basically the unit sits there and does the job. You literally forget it's there.