We're expecting all the usual suspects to show off solid-state drives (SSDs) at this week's CeBIT exhibition in Hannover, but we'll be honest and admit that we didn't think Plextor would be one of them.
Nonetheless, the manufacturer - best known for its highly-regarded range of optical drives - has today made its foray into the SSD market with the launch of its first two NAND Flash drives; the PX-64M1S and PX-128M1S (pictured).
The company's 2.5in drives, offering 64GB and 128GB of capacity, respectively, make use of Marvell controllers and proprietary wear-levelling technology that helps deliver a mean time before failure of 1.5 million hours.
There's no mention of support for Windows 7's TRIM command, unfortunately, but Plextor has shed light on the drive's performance credentials. The entry-level 64GB model will deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 110MB/s and 65MB/s, and up to 4,200 random read IOPS and 1,200 random write IOPS. Not the quickest SSD we've ever seen, but the 128GB model raises speeds a little higher, with sequential read and write speeds rated at 130MB/s and 70MB/s, respectively.
Plextor has both models available now for U.S. consumers, priced at $225 for the 64GB drive and $400 for the larger 128GB offering, but there's no word on UK pricing or availability.
