Win9x does enough disk writes even without heavy virtual memory load to make it noticeable vs. a decent mechanical. I have some CF cards that are so...
Again, there is a DOS utility to manually invoke trim. I DO care about linear transfer speeds, and every CF card I've tried has been slower than IDE...
You just can't make money doing it anymore. No one is going to pay skilled labor rates approaching $100/hr for component level repair on cheap modern...