Monster Digital, Silicon Power Intro New 7mm SSDs

On Friday Monster Digital announced the launch of its Daytona Series of 2.5-inch solid state drives, measuring just 7-mm thin and offering up to 480 GB of storage space. Pricing starts at $99.99 USD, and they're available now on Amazon, Fry's Electronics and PC Mall.

While the actual specs are unavailable, the company claims the drives offer read speeds up to 550
MB/s and write speeds up to 515 MB/s. They're packaged in a "super thin" 7-mm universal fit stainless steel case and consume less than 5W in an active state, and less than 200mW in an inactive state.

The new line of SSDs arrives in four flavors: 90 GB ($99.99), 120 GB ($109.99), 240 GB ($229.99) and 480 GB ($479.99). Features include airtight data security via 256-bit AES encryption, Reduced Write Amplification and Over Provisioning, and support for TRIM. All four drives come with a 3-year warranty.

Monster Digital is also selling a version of its 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB Daytona drives featuring a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) "Easy Installation Kit." This bundle includes easy-to-follow cloning software, an SATA 3/USB 3.0 adapter, a 3.5-inch drive bay adapter, a quick start guide and even a screwdriver. The upgrade kit versions will cost $134.99 (for 120 GB), $234.99 (for 240 GB), and $484.99 (for 480 GB).

"With our new Daytona Series, we are providing an easily accessible, high-speed option for reliable storage with significantly lower energy consumption and silent operation compared to conventional HHD drives," said Monster Digital CEO Jay Tandon. "They are the ideal choice for people who want the very best performance and efficiency. Our new Daytona drives are especially well suited to laptops."

As of this writing, Monster Digital had not updated its website to reflect the new Daytona series.

Meanwhile, Silicon Power is offering two new models in its Slim series of 2.5-inch solid state drives, measuring just 7-mm thin. Presented in a chic aluminum metal body, the Slim drives are ideal for upgrading that boring old HDD to a faster, more power efficient SSD. The two new versions include the black Slim S60 and the champagne gold Slim S70, both in 60 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB capacities.

The specs reveal that the Slim S60 provides reads speeds up to 550 MB/s and write speeds up to 500 MB/s. Silicon Power notes that the golden Slim S70 model sports the latest SandForce SF-2281 controller with synchronous NAND flash and the new optimized firmware, thus it cranks out read speeds up to 557 MB/s and write speeds up to 507 MB/s.

Outside that major difference, the two models are seemingly the same although the company points out that the Slim S70 features a random 4K write speed of up to 86000 IOPS. Both feature a SATA 6 Gbps interface, TRIM command and Garbage Collection technology, a built-in SMART monitoring system, DureWrite and wear leveling to extend endurance, and more.

"Built in a slim and stylish enclosure, the new SSD unleashes the full potential of the 6 Gbps SATA III interface to further expand computing experiences and mobility," the company said. "Unlike the standard 9.5mm SSD, SP Slim series features a new slim 7mm form factor for easy integration into the latest mobile computing platforms."

Silicon Power did not provide availability and pricing details although the drives can be purchased through Amazon, Newegg, Frys, Micro Center, Adorama and PC Connection in the United States.

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