BY JON L. JACOBI MEET THE NEXT great budget SSD. Intel’s 545s is an affordable yet reasonably fast SSD that finally demotes Samsung’s EVO from the top spot in the consumer space. The 545s offers all the capacity and cost advantages of TLC NAND plus the sustained write speed of MLC NAND. Don’t turn up … Read more
Samsung 960 Evo 250GB – Proof that a smaller cache comes at a cost. Samsung’s premium Pro drives are pretty much the go-to SSDs for enthusiasts seeking the best in solid-state storage performance. The latest 960 Pro is a barnstormer of an SSD. But it ain’t cheap. In 512GB M.2 configuration — the smallest option. … Read more
Lexar supports a relatively untapped product type, the portable SSD DETAILS • Manufacturer: Lexar (Crucial) • Website: www.lexar.com/workflow • Requirements: USB 3.0 port on PC or Mac • Part No. LRWSSD512U account Back in 2014 I covered a product that Lexar produced for its HR1 and HR2 Professional Workflow hubs, the DD512 (LRWDD512U). On the … Read more
Big SSD. Small price. Give it up for 3D NAND memory Good things cometo those who wait, they say. If that’s true, Crucial’s new MX300 SSD must be smoking hot. It’s Crucial’s first SSD to offer 3D NAND memory technology, but it’s fully two years later to market than Samsung’s first SSD with 3D NAND. When … Read more
Samsung has become known for dominating the entire spectrum of consumer SSDs over the past few years, partly thanks to it being the first company to market with 3D NAND. However, what really kicked off the company’s SSD success was its 2D planar TLC NAND, which was used in the hugely successful 840 Evo range. … Read more
Samsung makes the move to NVMe affordable with the 960 EVO A few weeks ago, I covered the Samsung 960 PRO in all its NVMe goodness, but by SSD standards that enhanced speed can come at a high price. As with most parts in the PC world, you can get silly performance with unlimited funds, or … Read more
Samsung created a splash last year with its 950 Pro SSDs. Using the latest NVMe protocol over PCI-E 3, they brought unprecedented performance for the money. Thanks to the tiny M.2 form factor, they could also bring that performance to desktops and laptops alike. A year later, the 950 Pro range still reigns supreme, but … Read more
DETAILS • Manufacturer: Kingston • Requirements: SATA-3 for best results, space for a 2.5″ drive This 120GB drive falls under Kingston’s V300 SSDNow range. It has an older LSI SandForce 2281 controller, which has been customized for Kingston and uses the Toshiba-built 19nm Toggle NAND flash. It measures 69.8 x 100 x 7mm, weighs 86g … Read more
• Requirements: SATA-3 for best results, space for a 2.5“ drive When Toshiba purchased the OCZ brand a couple of years ago, the first product to come from the newly marketed name was the OCZ Trion, an SSD that failed to excite the media at the time. Roughly a year later, Toshiba released the Q300 … Read more
Let’s be real: Solid-state drives aren’t exactly known for their stunning visual flair. Best-case scenario, the SSD you buy has a decent enough aluminum housing and a product sticker that looks like it was designed in Photoshop rather than MS Paint. After all, there’s a reason nobody squawks about SSD drive bays on the reverse … Read more
Any similarities between the name of this product and a gadget mag are purely coincidental Samsung is always looking for new ways to exploit its VNAND flash technology, and the T3 is the latest it’s come up with. Essentially a USB memory key on steroids, the T3 is a precision-made device that looks like something … Read more