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Conclusion
Pricing and value-add features are becoming more important as the industry turns once-exciting SSDs into commodity items, but the Plextor S2C lacks a feature that makes it stand out from the other typical low-cost consumer SSDs on the market.
The Plextor S2C doesn't stand out from the crowd on the performance front, and the pricing isn't exceptional, either. The 512GB model we tested retails for $139.99, and many of the comparison products cost less. Some, like the Sk Hynix SL308 and OCZ Trion 150, deliver better performance in more diverse workloads. Plextor does have a hidden feature that we shouldn't overlook, though.
Plextor has an advanced software package that only works on some of its products. The S2C does support the full list, but unfortunately, many users will simply ignore the list. The retail package doesn't cover the extra value-add software features, so you will either need to know about them, or lose out. Many of the software features are available through third-party developers, like the hide-and-seek hotkey that changes the accessibility of user configured folders. DRAM cache is hardly revolutionary, but Plextor did a good job of putting granular control in the hands of the user. That isn't always a good thing, though. The SC2 has a nice free software package, but I don't think I would pay a premium for it.
As an upgrade product, the Plextor S2C isn't an SSDreplacement, but it is a hard disk drive replacement. If you have a desktop or notebook and simply want a low-cost, drop-in performance upgrade, then the S2C is one viable option. The problem comes from other products that are superior in one way or another. If you want the best of everything the 850 EVO is still the default--but it comes at a price premium.
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