Plextor launches M3S SSD series, starts at $200

Plextor has unveiled a new line of solid-state drives that improves upon its previous offerings in three key areas: price, specs and warranty. The new 2.5-inch M3S drives combine SATA III connectivity and a Marvell controller to deliver speeds of up to 525MB/s and 445MB/s for sequential reads and writes, and up to 70,000 and 65,000 IOPS for random reads and writes. They also feature the Plextor's proprietary TrueSpeed feature, which claims to preserve "like-new" performance even after prolonged use.

The lowest capacity 128GB model will sell for $200 later this month, alongside a 256GB variant for $350, while a 512GB version is scheduled to arrive early next year for $700. All three utilize Toshiba's 24nm MLC (Multi-level cell) NAND flash and are backed by a longer than usual five year warranty.

Additional features of the M3S include the company's disk cloning, backup, and analysis utility, making it easy to migrate data from a traditional hard disk drive to an SSD. It also comes with a 3.5" mounting bracket and screws for desktop installation making it ideal for both laptop and desktop installations.