Review of Transcend SSD18M solid-state drive 128GB

Transcend manufactures portable storage devices like pen drives, external hard drives, etc. at affordable costs. Transcend SSD 18M is a solid-state hard drive which has static parts to store data. The portability of Transcend SSD 18M is an additional bonus. The 128 GB Transcend SSD 18M costs around $440, but it’s worth for the faster transfer speeds, eSata/USB combo and the small foot print.

Transcend SSD18M
Transcend SSD18M

Design specification and features present in Transcend SSD 18M:

Transcend SSD 18M has a subtle design and many other have no idea of what design it is. It has a glossy diamond finish on a black plastic. The logo of Transcend appears in one corner. It covers 8 cm by length, 1.25cm by width and 5cm by height. It contains eSATA and USB port on one side of the drive. Entire weight of this hard drive is 50grams. Dynamic parts and spinning plates are absent in SSD, which proves to be a greater advantage to hard drives. SSD 18M uses a NAND flash memory to save data, which is reliable and offers faster throughput and lesser power consumption. This hard drive contains no software and Windows XP, Windows Vista and Mac OS X supports this hard drive. 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacity hard drives are available in 1.8inch transcend SSD 18M.

Advantages of SSD 18M:

In spite being a lightweight product, it is tough enough to withstand fall tests and impact tests carried out on it. It also resisted the Top Drop-Test and met the U.S. Military Drop Test standard. High durability is incorporated because people have tendency to throw their equipments in some places where already some heavy components are present. In order to prevent dust particles from entering the eSATA port, a rubber foot is provided however, USB port is exposed to air.

Disadvantage of SSD 18M:

The only drawback of Transcend SSD 18M is that it is not self-powered when you transfer data through the eSATA port. Unlike USB 2.0 port, the drive needs to be powered with the help of a cord that accompanies the feature. This additional cord is a USB prong present on both sides for providing adequate power. You will find it uncomfortable to use it and if you lose the cord, you have to claim a replacement from Transcend website.

Prices of SSD 18M:

Transcend SSD 18M prices of 32GB, 64GB and 128GB are $126, $233 and $440 respectively. Many other external hard drives cost around $110 for 400GB capacities, e.g. Fujitsu HandyDrive. So, the cost of SSD 18M is high that only investors preferring performance rather than cost will buy a SSD 18M. SSD 18M costs $3.43 for a GB while X – 25M from Intel costs $8.75.

Performance and after sale service of SSD 18M:

Performance of SSD 18M is unique and it leads other hard drives with a huge margin. It performs brilliantly in both eSATA and USB 2.0 connections. It has a high writing and reading speeds of 78.4 MB per second and 45.6 MB per second respectively. Everyone is still waiting for the prices to drop a little for Solid State Devices. With a much compact and safe design, transcend offers you a 2 year guarantees for parts if they are not modified or disassembled.

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