Two terabytes may seem a lot, but you’d be surprised at how quickly this amount depletes in the digital age. A few years ago, even just one terabyte can contain practically everything you need for several years. That quickly changed. Now, the name of the game is size and speed. It’s not just about how much you can store, but how fast you can retrieve it again from storage. When handling big amounts of data, recall is as equally important as storage.
In comes the age of the SSD, the solid state drive, or the new standard. In a nutshell, solid state drives store and retrieve data at much fast speeds than ordinary hard disk drives (HDDs). In USB 3.0 standards, a 1GB file may take around 30 seconds to store from your hard drive to a flash drive. Fast enough? How about just five seconds? That’s the standard now. The applications are endless. From a simple perspective, you’ll be able to watch load your favorite games and movies much, much faster. On a broader level, creative content (like videos) and vast amounts of scientific data (for example) can be processed quicker for instant results.
SanDisk is one of the leaders at the forefront of the storage revolution. Today, they’ve announced the Philippine availability of two new devices which bring SSD capabilities to a consumer level: the SanDisk Extreme 900 and Extreme 500 Portable SSDs. The SanDisk Extreme 900 is available in sizes of up to 1.92TB (or in 480GB and in 960GB capacities). It’s encased in durable rubber and anodized aluminum design (which gives it a stylish finish) with a shock resistant solid state core. My first impression of its design is that it’s incredibly light. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say it was filled with air.
The Extreme 900’s speeds is touted to clock in at 850MB/s, or 9x the speed of a normal hard disk drive. It comes with both Type-A and Type-C USB cables. (Type-C cables haven’t taken off on consumer levels yet, but once it does, expect greater applications of the wires this device comes in.) Inside the Extreme 900, you’ll find SanDisk’s SecureAccess which provides encryption for private files.
Candy Gao, SanDisk’s country manager for Hong Kong & Philippines, gave the Extreme 900 a test run. She transferred a folder containing more than a hundred files, which total to more than 1GB of data, between her laptop and a storage device. She tried it first with a normal HDD, which clocked in at around 35 seconds. Then, she tried it with the SanDisk Extreme 900 which clocked in at a blazing five seconds.
Meanwhile, the SanDisk Extreme 500 is built for more rugged environments. While its construction may be the same as with the 900, the Extreme 500 is also surrounded by rubber bumpers which add another layer of protection for the active user. It also has a metal ring which makes it easy to clip onto backpacks and other bags. The Extreme 500 is smaller than the 900. It’s as big as the palm of my hand. Transfer speeds are touted to be up to 415MB/s. It’s available in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB (available in Q4 this year) variants.
Both devices come with a three-year warranty. The SanDisk Extreme 500 are available in 120GB and 240GB capacities, retailing for P7,250 and P10,850, respectively. Later this year, it will also be available in 480GB, which will retail for P18,000. The SanDisk Extreme 900 will come out later this year. It will be available in 480GB, 960GB, and 1.92TB capacities, which will retail for P29,000, P43,500, and P72,500, respectively.
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