14 DAY TRIAL // Another month has passed and, after unshackling a number of newer or redesigned hard disk drives, Buffalo has changed the tone and switched back to Flash memory. This once, however, the market is not witnessing the rise of yet another solid state drive, even though the new products are promoted as USB SSDs. Instead, the company has unveiled a new line of flash drives with both a high storage capacity and a set of hardware and software features that enhance their versatility, reliability and speed.
The new flash-drive family is dubbed the SHD-LVS-BK series and is composed of drives capable of packing up to 64GB of storage space inside a case measuring 23 (W) x 10 (H) x 98 (D) mm. Additionally, their full weight is of only 17 grams. Unfortunately, end-users that want to move forward to new standards fast will be disappointed to know that this particular set of devices is only meant for the mainstream USB 2.0 interface. Still, Buffalo implemented a certain functionality set that offset this, at least to some extent.
One thing is that the so-called USB SSDs are designed with a switch that can prevent new files from being written onto the drive, or older files from being deleted. Also, to ensure that operational speeds are as high as possible, they boast the TurboPC and TurboCopy tools that boost transfer rates. This is especially useful in the case of larger files, which are known to take a long time to copy via USB 2.0 ports.
As consumers have most likely realized, Buffalo's SHD-LVS-BK series of USB flash drives will be available in capacities of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. All models will be formatted using the NTFS file system and should reach Japanese stores by the end of April. Prices will be of $28, $45, $77, $134 and $259, respectively.