Kingston Digital today announced the release of the SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive, the latest addition to its V (Value) family of solid-state drives (SSD).

The Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive is available for as low as $84.99 after rebates (U.S. only) at e-tailer Newegg.com at launch.

Using the PCMark Vantage Advanced HDD Suite, the 40GB Boot Drive received a score of 13,883, whereas a 7200RPM hard-disk drive attained a score of 3,708, according to data provided by the company. PCMark Vantage Advanced HDD Suite runs a series of tests such as Windows Vista startup, importing photos, adding music to Windows Media Center and application loading. The score is an indicator of how many bytes were moved per second.

Kingston's SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive is designed for novice SSD users looking to increase their current desktop performance. The drive is also available with a bundle that includes cloning software, 2.5" to 3.5" brackets and SATA data and power cable extenders. The SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive is designed for a desktop system to be used in conjunction with an existing hard-disk drive (HDD). A PC operating system and key applications reside on the SSD while all data such as documents, music, files and photos remain on the HDD.

The Kingston SSDNow V Series 40GB Boot Drive has an MSRP of $115.00 (U.S.) and will begin shipping on November 9, 2009. It is backed by a three-year warranty.

Kingston SSDNow 40GB Boot Drive Features and Specifications:

* Sequential Speed: up to 170MB/sec. read 40MB/sec. write
* 2.5" form factor; uses NAND Flash memory components
* Silent: runs silent and cool with no moving parts
* Reliable: less likely to fail than a standard hard drive
* Shock Resistant: no moving parts; handles rougher conditions than a hard drive
* Supports S.M.A.R.T.: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology
* Guaranteed: three-year Kingston warranty, 24/7 tech support
* Capacity: 40GB
* Storage temperatures: -40 C to 85 C
* Operating temperatures: 0 C to 70 C
* Vibration operating: 2.17G (7-800Hz)
* Vibration non-operating: 20G (20-2000Hz)
* Power specs: Active: 0.15W (TYP); Sleep: 0.06W
* Life expectancy: 1 million hours MTBF