120 GB Packaging

[idata]

Hi All,

I purchased from a very large authorized internet retailer, and I just received my SSDSA2MH120G2K5 RT today, and I have a question for owners of Intel SSDs. One end of the box came with a label over it, from Intel, esentially sealing that end. The other end did not have a seal on it. It could be opened without braking any plastic or security stickers. Is this normal, or did I get a returned / repackaged drive?

Thanks!

[idata]

When you say that your 120GB SSD is showing 111.7GB, do you mean when looking at it's properties like this:

If so, that is just fine. These are the Properties of a new Intel 80GB SSD, initalized and formatted, with nothing on it. But why the difference is sizes?

So, when is a Gigabyte not a Gigabyte? When you are comparing powers of 10 (decimal) to powers of 2 (binary.) We can see above that the 80,024,170,496 bytes in decimal, Base 10, is equal to 74.5 GB in Binary, Base 2. That is not due to formatting, but just the differences in number systems. Notice that Windows used 92MB for the NTFS file system, as you would have seen if you initialized and formatted it on a working PC. But this tells us nothing about whether or not your SSD was used.

If your SSD was a return, the other owner didn't do much if anything with it. If you connected it to a working PC, and the SSD was unused, you would have had to initialize it and format it. If you did not need to do this, it was pre-formatted, and it was used previously. If you never connected it to a working PC, and just installed your OS on it the very first time you connected it to your PC, you won't be able to tell that way.

Your hour count is low, as is the power cycle count. Same thing for the power cycle count, and don't forget all the re-boots that Windows does during the OS installation, as well as yourself if you adjusted your BIOS settings, etc. You've done two OS installs, updates, and other software installs, that easily adds up to the numbers you are quoting.

I'm thinking... it was new, unused.

[idata]

I just checked the packaging from an X25-V 40GB i bought when they were first available, and the box is the same: one side has the sticker covering the lip, and the other end is unsealed. However, as i mentioned above, the SSD was in a tamper-evident bag. You're probably used to the processors having the seal on the box, however here, the SSD bag itself is the evidence.

You have a brand new drive IMO, so don't worry