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Plextor S3C 256GB SATA3 SSD Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing and Availability

The S3 series availability varies at the time of review. I found the drive listed on Amazon UK for £80.52. The US version of Amazon only has the 128GB version listed at this time and they start at $49.99.

Conclusion

Today we saw another classic solid state drive and it was our first look at the new S3 series from Plextor. The S3C is a 2.5-inch 7mm drive which makes it compatible with almost any system. It isn’t a groundbreaking drive as such, but it is an improvement over the predecessor. It uses a different SSD controller, the SM2254 instead of the SM2258, and 14nm TLC NAND instead of 16nm.

The S3 series is designed to be an entry-level drive and it isn’t one that will satisfy the enthusiasts. It is meant as a replacement for your old mechanical-driven HDD. Here, it will speed up your boot times and application loading. At the same time, it will decrease your system’s noise generation, lower the power consumption of it, and decrease the chance of damage due to shocks. Light office work, web browsing, minor image editing, and media centres are tasks and functions in which the S3 will shine.

While the above performance statement is true, there is a lot more potential when coupled with the software bonus. PlexTurbo can take your performance to a completely different level. The RAM disk feature also reduces disk writes which in return increases the life expectancy. There’s also the compressor and vault apps which can increase your available space with compression algorithms and protect valuable files with passwords. These are bonuses you get with any Plextor SATA drive and they are real bonuses in my opinion.