Mushkin Releases SandForce-Based Callisto SSD Series

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• chemist1 - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link

  I agree that the in-depth articles are their strength, and what separates them from the rest of the pack. However, they apparently want to add release news to make the site more commercial. Nothing wrong with that from a content perspective, since the in-depth articles continue to appear. However, from a presentation perspective (and particularly because the in-depth articles are their signature) the two should be distinguished. I.e., when scrolling through the home page, it should be easy to tell which pieces are release news, and which are in-depth (say, by color-coding the background around the text). Currently, I don't see any way to distinguish them except by opening the links.
  
  Or, to put it more simply: since the in-depth articles are their strength (and take much more of their resources than the release news), they should be highlighted in some way.

• KaarlisK - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link

  Besides which, Anandtech could distinguish itsellf by making those release news articles just a TINY bit more analytical - just spend 10 more minutes on them. Then there'd be both a reason to come to Anandtech for release news articles (when compared to other sites), and Anandtech would be able to keep even the short articles "Anandtechy".

• numberoneoppa - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link

  Yes, I agree. If the release/news articles could be a bit more as you described, that would be quite nice.

• capeconsultant - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link

  Yes, also agreed on the just a bit more detail would be valuable.

• chemist1 - Friday, May 14, 2010 - link

  Agreed as well!
  Gee, this is so . . . pleasant!

• IanCutress - Friday, May 14, 2010 - link

  Hi all,
  
  We are currently looking into changing the way news and main articles are displayed so make them easier to differentiate. One way this is already been done is that only main articles get displayed in the top carousel on the front page, but we are looking into other changes.
  
  With regards this news in particular, SSDs aren't a top strong point on most of the team apart from Anand, who is currently unavailable. But rather than keep you guys out of the loop, we had to post something to the best of our ability. Given the reponse here, all future SSD news will surely go through Anand until either I or other team members get up to full speed, and as such SSD news won't be posted until Anand gets back.
  
  We do thorough research on our news items, which actually does increase time to post exponentially, and in such a cut and thrust news market, having that knowledge at hand already really does help, whereas spending two hours on a 4 paragraph news item isn't cost effective for either AT or the readers.
  
  To answer the question of news on AT vs. DailyTech, the focus of news on AT is purely at the hardware level, in terms of product announcements, releases, and dissection of that information to help you make a more informed choice. To some extent, it also helps us get the products in to test for you if there is a strong enough response.
  
  We're here to help, so if you've seen any information we've missed on news or main articles, let us know so we can update everyone on recent developments. We try and have a thorough understanding of the market before any post, but personally trying to know and keep up to date with almost a dozen PC hardware market segments can take its toll, alongside a full time job and writing AT news :)
  
  All the best,
  Ian

• chemist1 - Saturday, May 15, 2010 - link

  Hi Ian,
  
  I'd like to offer some additional feedback on the current display format:
  I don't care for the carousel feature; I don't like the fact that you need to cycle through it to see all the recent in-depth articles (as opposed to seeing them all listed at once); further once you start cycling, you lose track of the chronology (though I suppose this could be addressed by having a bright red vertical bar [or vertically stretched triangle] to the left of the most recent article -- or just list the dates!).
  
  Instead, I'd like to see a format that enables the reader to see what articles are available as easily as possible. [I.e., to be able to take it all in with a glance.] To that end, I'd suggest a 2.5 column format: list the in-depth articles chronologically in the first (left) column, the new releases in the second column, and the DailyTech stuff in the third (half-width) column. Then your readers could quickly scroll down the page and easily see what's available. Given that most modern displays have a wide-screen format (and are thus generous horizontally), I think this format would work. Related to this, another good reason to eliminate the carousel (or at least make it much thinner) is that modern displays have limited vertical real estate.

• chemist1 - Saturday, May 15, 2010 - link

  I.e., comparing the new version of the site to the old, I'd say it's more visually appealing, but less functional for your readers.

• Memory Man - Thursday, May 13, 2010 - link

  240GB is selling at $666.49 on Mushkin's website
  120GB @ $369.99
  60GB @ $218.49
  
  and EVEN CHEAPER on NEWEGG! "Mush" better deal :)
  
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Sub...

• numberoneoppa - Friday, May 14, 2010 - link

  Holy Crap, for $215 this is a bitching drive! If you can go w/ 60GB instead of 80GB, this could be a better buy than the Intel x25M G2.
  
  Thanks for the tip. :)