14 DAY TRIAL // Two weeks after releasing the v4 mSATA solid-state drive series, Crucial, one of Micron's global SSD brands, has formally introduced the 2.5-inch v4 line.
We'll say it upfront that the 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB SSDs aren't high-end products. They don't even possess the SATA III 6.0 Gbps interface actually.
Instead, they are equipped with SATA II 3.0 Gbps ports and are advertised as drives meant to improve the performance of systems built before 2011.
We actually think this is a smart move. Regardless of what the rest of the media says, many people still use desktops and laptops that are several years old.
That said, Crucial v4 SSDs should be able to read data at up to 230 MB/s and write it at 190 MB/s.
“The Crucial v4 SSD boils down to two things: performance and value,” said Robert Wheadon, senior worldwide product manager, Crucial.
“Most consumers realize that SSDs help their computers start quicker and run faster, and are a more durable alternative to hard drives, but many don’t realise that most SSDs outperform the data transfer capabilities of their SATA 2 machines. With the Crucial v4 SSD, we’ve come up with a product that’s designed to bring the most value out of a SATA 2 system without paying for extra performance that can’t be used.”
As we said before, Crucial's v4 2.5-inch solid-state drives have capacities of 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB.
The first one bears a price of £31.99, which corresponds to $50 / 40 Euro, assuming exchange rates are to be taken into account. Chances are that the actual prices in the US and EU will be lower, as UK tags normally exceed them.
Meanwhile, the 64 GB drive ships for £44.99 ($70 / 57 Euro), the 128 GB SSD for £63.99 ($100 / 81 Euro) and the 256 GB device for £122.99 ($193 / 157 Euro).