After many months of watching the market closely, it appears that memory maker Corsair is finally ready to quietly enter the solid state drive race with a 2.5-inch 128GB unit. The MLC NAND-based SSD, dubbed S128, is primarily targeted at the mainstream market and features maximum sequential read speeds of 90MB/s and maximum sequential write speeds of 70MB/s.
These are some fairly-average speeds compared to what's available today. However unlike many other drives of its type, not including Intel's, the S128 is equipped with Samsung NAND flash memory and a Samsung controller to provide a more consistent performance in everyday usage - as opposed to the often-used JMicron 602 controller which has proved troublesome in the past.
The company is also expected to release a second generation SSD range later this year, increasing performance to more competitive levels, allegedly even reaching speeds of up to 400MB/s. In the meantime, the S128 drive by Corsair is available for pre-order from online retailers NCIX and Scan starting at around $330.