Crucial introduced a new solid state drive with powerful speeds and advanced features starting at $79.99 for128GB and $109.99 for the 256GB model.
Crucial, renowned global brand for memory and storage devices backed by Micron Technology, added a new member to its extensive line of solid state drives (SSDs) with dvanced features and impressive speed to load programs and launch applications. The Crucial MX100 is a budget-friendly SSD and offers 89 percent more efficiency than a standard hard drive, while consuming less power. The main attraction is its pricing, which starts at $79.99 for the 128GB variant and $109.99 for 256GB.
Solid state drives have found great use in offices and homes. The competition in this category is intense with big players like Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate and Intel among others offering various storage options. Crucial's new entry stands out in the highly crowded market for its combination of overall performance and low-cost price tag.
"The Crucial MX100 represents a significant step forward for the mainstream SSD market, delivering outstanding performance and robust features at an excellent price," Jon Weech, senior worldwide product manager at Crucial, said in a press release, Tuesday. "This product truly broadens the storage consideration set and enables more users than ever to make the jump from traditional spinning hard drives to a solid state drive."
The Crucial MX100 was well received by the review tech site AnandTech. The 2.5-inch MX100 prevents files from getting corrupted by using four layers of defense guards. The SSD also preserves data even when there is a sudden power cut and avoids overheating with the adaptive thermal protection technology. Other significant features include instant boot time, loading programs in a fraction of seconds and accelerating demanding applications. The data is encrypted with a 256-bit key and also uses RAIN technology to protect data better than any other consumer class SSD.
As for the technical aspects of the MX100, it uses Micron's latest 16 nanometer (nm) 128gb NAND and SATA 6Gb/s controller along with a custom upgradeable firmware. This helps the SSD to deliver up to 90,000 input/output operations per second for the 512GB SSD, 85,000 IOPS for 256GB SSD and 40,000 IOPS for the 128GB SSD, the company said. The sequential read speeds in the 512GB MX100 is 500MB/s and the 256GB and 128GB get 330MB/s and 150MB/s read speeds, respectively.
Crucial MX100 challenges other SSDs in the market with its attractive price structure. While an Intel SSD 730 with 256GB storage sells for $205, Crucial MX100 is priced at $110. According to AnandTech's review, MX100 is the "drive with the best bang for the buck in the market by far."
The SSD is also available through Amazon and other retailers for the same price. The 128GB MX100 sells for $80 and the 512GB SSD is available for $225.
