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In our multimedia multitasking test, which gauges a computer's performance as it converts an HD movie from one format to another while iTunes is doing a heavy job of music conversion in the background, the SanDisk did as expected, averaging 327 seconds, similar to other SSDs. In our Office performance test, in which we time how long the computer takes to finish a comprehensive set of different concurrent tasks including Word, Excel, file transfer, and compression, the SanDisk took the longest at 417 seconds.
While we don't have concrete numbers to show, the drive did improve application loading time compared with traditional hard drives. When using it as the main drive, expect large applications, such as games or video editing software, to launch much more quickly.
Similarly, the drive cuts down the amount of time required for a computer to boot and shut down by quite a bit. On average, the test computer, combined with the SanDisk Ultra, took only around 28.2 seconds to boot, compared with about 1 minute when it was powered by a hard drive, and about 7 seconds to shut down.
In all, though we were disappointed by the SanDisk Ultra's file transfer speeds, we did notice great overall improvement in the system's performance when the test computer used it as the main drive.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
 |
MMT | |
Office |
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
|
Shutdown | |
Boot time |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
|
As secondary drive | |
As OS drive |
Service and support
The SanDisk Ultra comes with a three-year warranty, which is decent and standard for most SSDs, though not as generous as the five-year warranty of the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G. At the company's Web site, there's a support page dedicated to the drive where you can find more information about how to use it as well as more information on the warranty.
Conclusion
With relatively high costs and slow copy performance, the SanDisk Ultra is not a great deal. Nonetheless, it would still make a good investment for those who want to significantly improve the overall performance and battery life of a laptop.
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