SATA 3

We are often amused at the progression of SSDs throughout the years.  Even today, check anywhere and you can easily find information on the fastest SSD, or even the highest capacity SSD, but what about SSD form factors?  Form factor progression has seen SATA 3 notebook SSDs grow into to PCIe SSDs, AIC, mSATA, U2 and then to what was …

It is much too easy in the storage world to get caught up in the hype of increased performance as we move from 550MB/s at SATA 3 all the way up to 5GB/s and higher with the newest NVMe PCIe 4 SSDs.  Let’s face it; 5GB/s in a SSD the size of a stick of gum is pretty amazing, especially …

It isn’t too often that we’re reviewing SATA 3 SSDs these days.  The reason of course is that that bigger and better gets all the attention.  Data transfer speeds of 550MB/s are all to often forgotten when PCIe 4×4 is now moving data at just under 10x that.  Similarly, capacities up to 2TB are fairly common but we have really …

We have looked at plenty of SSD security solutions in the past, the most recent being the Apricorn Aegis Fortress L3 External SSD, or my personal favorite and constant companion, the Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3.0 480GB flash drive which had been with me for some three years now.  I prefer hardware security solutions to software, as many do, simply …

It has been a bit since we posted a review on a 2.5″ notebook SATA3 SSD and that comes with the territory I guess.  We get caught up with the latest and greatest, and we are always amazed that M.2 SSDs the size of a stick of gum can reach mind blowing speeds of NVMe at 3.5GB/s.  Nevertheless, SATA3 SSDs …

If you are up to spec in the tech storage field, 4-bit mlc (multi-level cell) is all the rage.  If you are a typical consumer, things get just a ‘bit’ confusing.  After all, what does your search for adequate storage have to do with anything but price, warranty, speed and capacity?  Actually quite a bit (intended pun), as electronic storage …

Mushkin has been updating infusing its product line with 3D NAND, but that’s not all they have been up to. While doing that, they have been pushing to make SSDs cheap again. Their latest offering, the Mushkin Source, is selling for as low as $28.99 for the 120GB and just $158.99 for the 1TB model! If that’s not something to …

In December of 2017, we got to take a look at Crucial’s latest SATA SSD, the MX500. With a superb mix of performance, features, accessories, price, and warranty the MX500 earned our Top Value award with ease. There really wasn’t anything holding it back except for maybe one thing, availability. At the time of writing, only the 1TB 2.5″ form factor …

Today we are going to take a close look at the Plextor M8V. Just like the top of the line Plextor M9Pe we just reviewed last week, this new value-oriented SSD from Plextor promises to come into the market guns blazing. It is filled with Toshiba’s BiCS3 TLC NAND and powered by an SMI 2258 controller. Together this combo can easily …

There comes a time when we all just need to stop, sit back and think; take a look around and reassess our direction perhaps.  The SSD industry is a beautiful example of this.  SSDs were introduced some 11 years ago now, although flash technology had been in use prior.  Today, there isn’t a person in the world that hasn’t been …