This is the continuation of SSD week for me. You’ve had a taste of the drive I am looking at today from a pair of Icy Dock reviews just published here and here. And thanks to Icy Dock, I have been able to show off this SSD from a couple of views.
So, this is the item I received some time ago in a pretty little package from FedEx
which just so happens to be the Plextor PX-128M1S 128GB 2-1/2” SSD. Plextor was one of the companies that I visited at CES. When I saw their SSD product line, those worn gears in my head started turning with the thought of installing Window Home Server on an SSD. Who cares if the drive is 1/10 the size of the current sweet spot of mechanical HDD’s? Who cares if the cost is 3 to 4 times higher than that aforementioned HDD?
This is a Solid State Drive. This was Plextor, which is known to produce high-quality and leading-edge products. I just had to try out one of these! Maybe even try out a new OS on it to see how well the 2 got along together. Maybe…
These drives were announced at CES and are just now coming on line in the retail channel. The (condensed) official CES announcement:
CES 2010: Plextor Launches SSDs and New 24x External Writer with eSATA Dual Interface
(Las Vegas, NV Mirage Suite – January 6, 2010) – Plextor LLC (www.plextor.com), a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, announces its first line of solid-state drives (SSDs), as well as the new PX-880UE 24X external eSATA writer, at CES. Plextor will be located in the Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions (PLDS) suite in the Mirage.
Plextor introduces its first generation of SSDs, using non-volatile NAND Flash memory as the storage medium. The new SSDs, which utilize Marvell controller chipsets, deliver faster speeds for system boot-up, application launch and file transfer, lower power consumption and longer battery life, among other benefits. They will be available as 64GB or 128GB in the first quarter of 2010.
Equipped with Plextor’s unique Wear Leveling algorithm, Plextor SSDs can prevent degradation of drive performance and prolong product life. Based on PCMark and SYSMark benchmark tests, Plextor SSDs were the only drive that maintained the same level of performance regardless of whether or not the drives were clean or dirty.
For more information on Plextor and its products, please visit www.plextor.com.
Before we go on, a little information on Plextor for those who may not know them. From their website:
SHINANO KENSHI is a global leader in providing integrated motion control solutions, multi-media solutions, printing solution and textile solutions. The company is organized into four divisions, each dedicated to a specific market. They are:
- Electrical Division – Small precision motor
- Electronic Equipment Division – CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW optical disk drives, and Professional Audio Equipment
- Printing Equipment Division – Offset printing presses.
- Textile Division – Spun silk yarn
SHINANO KENSHI was founded in 1918 to manufacture Spun Silk Yarn, which at the time, was one of the most “High-Tech” industries in the world. As the years passed, SHINANO KENSHI embarked on other industrial markets that would grow more progressively, while maintaining its proud history in the Silk Industry. These ventures insights led to the successful expansion into technology-driven, knowledge-intensive fields, such as Electrical Division, Electronic Equipment Division and Printing Equipment Division. While maintaining and strengthening its core competencies, Shinano Kenshi has continued its global expansion by establishing subsidiary companies and promoting its products on a worldwide basis. These subsidiaries are chartered with the continual growth of Resellers and OEM’s in their respective territories, who have come to rely upon Shinano Kenshi for performance, quality oriented and technically superior optical peripheral products. Marketing base toward abroad.
Plextor is the worldwide brand for all products manufactured by the Electronic Equipment Division and Printing Equipment Division of SHINANO KENSHI.
Specifications
Product Description:
Leveraging Plextor’s years of expertise in optical storage products, Plextor is proud to expand its product category to the solid state drive.
The Plextor SSDs are designed to bring top performance and portability to your daily workflow. With Plextor’s wear Leveling Technology, the SSDs can maintain the performance and reliability over an extended period of usage. The SMART technology analyzes data error ensuring the accuracy of data every time you use the drives. PC Mark, SYSMark, & HD Benchmark industry utility tests gave high scores to Plextor SSDs which have proven to prevent data degradation overtime when compared with other SSDs.
The PX-128M1S is offered in a 2.5” small form factor that delivers a digital storage capacity of 128GB. It has a SATA II interface for better performance and versatility. It delivers 130MB/s sequential read, and 70MB/s in sequential write, and up to 4,300 random read IOPS and 1,800 random write IOPS. The PX-128MIS also offers low power consumption, high shock and vibration resistance among other benefits.
The PX-128M1S bundles Acronis® True Image provides users a full set of advanced features for backup and recovery needs.
Product Features:
The Latest Technology
- Innovative technology prevents degradation in performance and maintains original condition
- Wear leveling technology maintains SSD reliability over period of usage
- S.M.A.R.T (Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology) for error analyzing and reporting
- Designed with a commercial grade controller IC for professional use
- 64MB on-board cache
- Ultra low power consumption
- Completed SATA compatibility test in “Drive Master”
Performance & Reliability
- Sustain up to 50,000 power on-off cycles
- MTBF 1.5M hours
- Top scores received in PCMark & SYSMark & HD Tune Benchmark tests
- High shock and vibration resistance
Product Specifications:
