SSD

There are many companies producing quality solid state drives these days in various capacities, speeds, and form factors. SATA variants are perfectly fine, but NVMe models are significantly faster. If your computer has an M.2 slot and supports NVMe, you should consider replacing your current SATA drive with one.

Today, Lexar releases a new solid state drive that looks to be pretty solid. Called "NM620," this M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe SSD is not only fast, but rather affordable too.

There are many companies producing quality solid state drives these days in various capacities, speeds, and form factors. SATA variants are perfectly fine, but NVMe models are significantly faster. With all brands considered, one company's offerings have stood out among the rest thanks to speed and reliability -- Samsung. Remarkably, the wildly popular company's storage drives are competitively priced too, making them an absolute no-brainer.

Today, Samsung launches its latest solid state drive. The "980 NVMe SSD" as it is called, is notable for not having added DRAM. Wait, isn't that normally a bad thing? For most drives, yes, but in this case, no. You see, the 980's use of Host Memory Buffer technology will make sure this drive has the performance consumers have come to expect from Samsung -- along with reliability and affordability too.

While solid state drives make wonderful internal boot drives for computers, they are also great options for external storage. Not only are they smaller than mechanical hard disk drives, but they use less power, and are much faster too. Quite frankly, if you are someone that needs to transport data on a portable drive, you'd be insane to still use HDD in 2021.

If you want a diminutive external solid state drive, you cant go wrong with Micron's Crucial X6 Portable SSD. Not only is the drive fast, durable, and small, but it utilizes USB-C too. Not to mention, its design is so cute -- I absolutely adore the square body and its rounded corners.

Solid state drives are one of the best computing innovations in years, as they provide a huge performance boost without breaking the bank. By simply upgrading from a mechanical hard drive to an SSD, your computer will feel brand new. Best of all, SSD manufacturers are not resting on their laurels, but instead, continually pushing performance boundaries.

Currently, PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSDs are all the rage with enthusiasts, and today, CORSAIR launches two new models -- the MP600 CORE and MP600 PRO. There is even a "Hydro X Edition" variant of the latter, which utilizes water-cooling to reduce temperatures.

There are a lot of companies manufacturing 2.5-inch SATA solid states drives these days. For the most part, these drives are relatively all the same. They have similar speeds and performance, so you should just choose whatever brand costs the least, right? Whoa there, cowboy -- not so fast. Don't forget about reliability! You should always stick to drives from reputable companies. After all, speed doesn't matter if your data gets lost forever...

There are several trustworthy brands on the market, but none are more respected than Samsung. For years now, Samsung solid state drives have proven to be fast and reliable. And today, the company launches its latest SSD. Called "870 EVO," this 2.5-inch SATA drive promises improved performance over its predecessor -- up to 560/530 MB/s read/write. Best of all, it can be had in capacities up to 4TB.

While I am not a "Mac guy," I recently bought a 2020 Mac mini. Why? Well, I was quite intrigued by Apple's new M1 processor, and the $699 starting price was actually reasonably affordable. And so, I went with the base model (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD), as Apple's prices for more memory and storage are a total rip-off. For instance, to go from 8GB to 16GB RAM costs $200. Sorry, but I can't drop two bills on 8GB. Not happening, Apple.

Unfortunately, you cannot upgrade the RAM, so the 8GB decision might bite me in the ass one day, but I'll cross that bridge later. However, since the little computer has two Thunderbolt and two USB ports, I knew I could always add fast storage later on. And now, Other World Computing (aka OWC) has a new rugged drive (for macOS and Windows 10) that is perfect for this.

There was this big hope that 2021 would be wonderful after 2020 was so terrible. Well, folks, so far that's certainly not the case. People are dying of COVID-19 at record numbers, while vaccinations for the virus remain woefully low. Oh, and here in the USA, we had a friggin' coup attempt. Sigh. 2021 is already garbage.

Thankfully, we have distractions from the bad news with things like sports and technology. Speaking of the latter, this week is CES 2021 and we are already seeing some cool new products. For instance, today, PNY announces the XLR8 CS3140 M.2 NVMe Gen4 x4 SSD. It offers insanely fast speeds -- up to 7,500MB/s read and up to 6,850MB/s write. This NVMe Gen 4.0 SSD can even be had with a monstrous heatsink to assist in cooling.

RGB lighting is amazing -- it's a fact. It has the ability to make a great product even better. True, some people hate the inclusion of RGB in so many products nowadays, but to them I say, either buy a different product or simply turn the lighting off. You see, many of these products allow you to turn off the lighting effects entirely, so there really is no downside.

Today, ADATA announces its latest solid state drive, and yes, it features RGB lighting. Called "SPECTRIX S20G," this PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD carries the company's XPG branding, meaning it is intended for gaming. With that said, even non-gamers can enjoy the performance and good looks of this SSD.

M.2 NVMe solid state drives are much faster than 2.5-inch SATA versions -- the former is clearly the future. And yet, companies continue to manufacture new models of the latter. But why? It is quite simple -- many computers don't have M.2 ports, so those types of drives are of no use to people with older computers. Not to mention, SATA SSDs are still fast enough, making them great drop-in upgrades.

With all of that said, today, Lexar launches a new 2.5-inch SATA SSD. Called "NQ100," it is rather unremarkable, making it just another SATA drive on the market. However, its affordable $36.99 starting price should make it attractive for those on a budget -- especially consumers upgrading from a mechanical hard drive.

Solid state drives continue to get faster, with PCIe 4.0 variants leading the pack nowadays. Of course, most PCs don't have PCIe 4.0 support, so these ultra-fast drives are reserved for enthusiasts and those with brand new computers.

If you have such a cutting-edge PC, you will probably want to get a PCIe 4.0 SSD to maximize your performance. True, it is largely for bragging rights and benchmarks -- you probably won't notice a difference in actual use -- but still, you might as well go for the best if the difference in price isn't totally obscene.

It was damn near a year ago when we told you about the Western Digital WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD. This drive was very fast thanks to its PCIe 3.0 interface. In fact, the drive could achieve an impressive 2,400 MB/s read. It was a no-nonsense SSD that provided excellent performance at a competitive price. For instance, the 1TB model can be had here for under $100.

Unfortunately, that 1TB variant was the top capacity, with the other two being 250GB and 500GB. What if you needed more than a terabyte of storage? Thankfully, starting today, the WD Blue SN550 NVMe SSD now comes in 2TB -- double the previous top capacity.

Nowadays, many laptops utilize solid state drives, with capacities often ranging from 250GB to 1TB. For many consumers, that is more than enough for all of their files, and if it isn't, they can always purchase an external drive to easily expand it. USB SSDs in particular are very popular, as they are small and have no moving parts.

Today, ADATA launches an all-new external solid state drive, and it is quite special. Called "SE770G," the USB-C SSD stands out from the crowd with RGB lighting. The drive functions as any other USB-C SSD does, but it also has customizable lighting. Is that feature necessary or important? No, not at all. However, it is certainly fun, and it makes the SE770G very pretty. In fact, it might just be the most attractive USB SSD I have ever seen.

When shopping for a bus-powered external storage device, speed is definitely important, but it is certainly not the only thing to look for. My advice would be to first focus on durability of the enclosure and reliability of the internal drive by sticking with a reputable brand. With SSD prices so low nowadays, a mechanical hard drive really shouldn't be considered anymore.

If you take my advice and focus on durability and speed from a reputable company, then the all new Envoy Pro Elektron from Other World Computing, Inc. should absolutely be considered. Not only is the aluminum body dust-, water-, and crush-proof, but OWC is a name you can trust.

Western Digital makes damn good storage products, and its WD_BLACK line is probably its most intriguing. While primarily designed for gamers, WD_BLACK is also a great choice for enthusiasts that crave high performance and elegant designs.

Today, Western Digital unveils a trio of new WD_BLACK gaming NVMe SSD products, and all three look incredible. There is the SN850 which is a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the AN1500 PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD Add-in card, and the drop-dead gorgeous D50 Game Dock NVMe SSD -- a Thunderbolt 3 docking station with integrated NVMe SSD.

You can never go wrong by purchasing SanDisk storage products. From memory cards to solid state drives, they are consistently excellent. Not only are the drives often quite fast, but more importantly, they are extremely reliable too. While not the only company making great flash storage products, I try to only use SanDisk SD cards in my camera when taking family photos -- the content is too important to lose.

SanDisk's Extreme and Extreme PRO Portable SSDs are quite popular thanks to their high-end performance and durable housings, and today, the company launches the next generation. Designated as "V2," both the Pro and non-Pro drives feature 256-bit AES hardware encryption and IP55 ratings for both water and dust resistance. SanDisk says both feature drop protection of up to 3 meters.