Model: Plextor PX-256M2P 256GB Solid State Drive
Manufacturer: Plextor
Provided By: Plextor LLC

As one of the biggest names in the storage industry, Plextor doesn't need much of an introduction. For more than a decade, they've produced some of the best optical drives the industry has seen. Known the world over for their quality, performance and features, these drives have become favorites among consumers and professionals alike. Today, Plextor continues to lead the way by bringing cutting edge storage technologies to market. Along with a vast assortment of high-performance DVD and Blu-ray drives, the company offers a growing number of NAS devices, external hard drives and solid state drives.

Like many other manufacturers, Plextor has set its sights on the growing solid-state drive (SSD) market. This fall, the company launched its new M2P series SSD. Powered by Plextor's new True Speed technology, this limited-edition SSD leverages high quality components like Marvell's server-grade 88SS9174 controller chip and Toshiba's 32nm Toggle NAND flash to deliver up to 500MB/s read and 440MB/s write transfer rates. The M2P series also features exclusive firmware with Instant Restore, Global Wear Leveling, and Bad Block Management to maintain original performance levels, even after intensive use and long periods of operation.

For this review, Plextor sent us the PX-256M2P. This 256GB SSD comes equipped with 512MB of on-board cache and is capable of delivering up to 500MB/s sequential read and 440MB/s sequential write speeds as well as up to 70,000 random read and 65,000 random write IOPS.

   Plextor PX-256M2P 256GB Solid State Drive
General Specifications
Capacity 256GB
Flash Type Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
Controller Marvell 88SS9174-BKK2
Cache 512MB DDR3
Form Factor 2.5-inch
Interface SATA III 6Gb/s

Performance
Sequential Read 500 MB/s Max
Sequential Write 440 MB/s Max
Random Read (IOPS 4K) 70,000 Max
Random Write (IOPS 4K) 65,000 Max

Reliability
MTBF 1.5 million hours

Power Consumption
Active 5W
Idle 0.1W

Environmental
Temperature (Operating) 32 ºF to 158 ºF (0 ºC to 70 ºC)
Temperature (Non-operating) -40 ºF to 185 ºF (-40 ºC to 85 ºC)
Shock 1500G/0.5 ms
Vibration (Operating) 7~800Hz, 2.17G (RMS)

Dimensions and Weight
Dimensions 2.75 x 0.3 x 4.0 inch
Weight 67g

Other Features
Exclusive True Speed technology
Instant Restore function
Global Wear-Leveling
Bad Block Management
Supports TRIM, SMART, NCQ, ATA/ATAPI-8
Supports data encryption
Firmware upgradeable
Includes 2.5" to 3.5" mounting bracket and Acronis True Image
Three year warranty

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the PX-256M2P has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at Plextor's new 256GB SSD and then see how well it performs.  Does the PX-256M2P have what it takes? Can it deliver the performance and features that we've come to expect from Plextor? Keep reading as we find out.


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