Buffalo intros SHD-NSUM series SSDs with USB and SATA-II interfaces
By Donald Melanson 
posted February 25th 2009 5:24PM
posted February 25th 2009 5:24PM
Internal SSD drives generally aren't the most exciting devices out there, apart from the fact they're SSDs, but Buffalo's new SHD-NSUM series of drives look to bit a bit of an exception, with each packing a microUSB port for some data transfers in a pinch in addition to the standard SATA-II interface. Otherwise, the drives are expectedly pretty standard fare, with Buffalo promising that they're 30% faster than a standard hard drive, and offering them in the usual 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. No word on a 'release round here just yet, but those in Japan should be able to pick 'em up in March for between $120 and $390.
[Via SlashGear]
[Via SlashGear]
nice :D
Wow! Cheap SSD!
Too bad I already lost any interest in those...
Sorry.... remind me again what the point of this is ?
Those are SSD, external and have USB interface as well as SATA.
It would be nothing fascinating if those were not SSDs. But SSDs are still too expensive to consider them anyway. At least for me.
2 TB hard drive is about the same price as 128 GB SSD, if not cheaper.
"2 TB hard drive is about the same price as 128 GB SSD, if not cheaper."
Obviously most SSDs (besides someone wanting absolute best performance in a multi-SSD RAID setup) are targeted for use on laptops, where existing 2.5" drives, even 7200RPM ones, are much slower than desktop counterparts, use more energy and are not shock-tolerant.
A good SSD like a OCZ Apex/Vertex, Intel X25M, etc makes any Core2 Duo laptop scream...
"Internal SSD drives generally aren't the most exciting devices out there, apart from the fact they're SSDs"
WTF ??? Really what does that mean ?
I'm fairly certain it should say external not internal.
it is because tap holes and huge stickers are the new sexyness!
watch out western digital passport & LaCie !
i swear most SSDs have a little usb port?
Yeah, it's like people learned nothing from the cable/connector fiasco that dominated SCSI for its entire existence. The idea of establishing a standard is that it's... STANDARD. So now we have to make sure we carry a "mini USB" cable around, instead of just being able to depend on everyone having a regular one. Granted, the profile of this device is small enough that maybe a full-sized one wouldn't fit, but you see this crap even on full-sized enclosures with 3.5" drives.
And then we have eSATA, which doesn't carry POWER.
Unreal.
I think information central has missed something, these have the standard SATA connections as they are internal drives, but the USB allows them to be used externally as well.
You presented a statement not a question?
So what was "missed"?
I thought most SSDs had a USB port
I'd like to say that... yes, a lot of SSD harddrives have mini-USB ports.
How is this new?
As you can see the Engadget comment system is on top roll today
Just looked at newegg...
OCZ, G.SKILL and Cavalry drives have USB 2.0 ports.
thanks mel, you're my hero
I was just noticing the Cavalry's the other day, and thought it was neat. They would make an interesting jack of all trades for a tech bench, but I question the usefulness for pretty much anything else. I guess you can more easily relegate them to an external roll down the road.
I believe most SSD's that have a usb port on them are only for firmware updates and not to transfer files. Or else this wouldn't be such big news
I clicked through just to see what SATA II was. Does the post mean e-SATA? Google made me believe that SATA II was a spec rather than an interface.
Regardless, not the most useful post despite rodrighostdabest's opinion.
Ahh, should have just clicked the "Via" link. It explains why this is news.
"That means you can image the drive prior to dropping it into whatever gadget is getting an SSD speed boost, or alternatively should your computer suffer a hardware failure it’s straightforward to salvage data from it. Buffalo claim a 30-percent speed boost over a standard HDD."
That is a pretty cool bonus after all.
I don't think you get what the purpose of this drive is. It's got a normal SATA-II interface (and mounting holes), for installing inside of a computer as a normal drive.
In addition, it's got a USB interface, so you can pull it out and take it easily to another computer. Not revolutionary or anything, but a really neat idea.
What an epic waste of money to have an external SSD (wooo 30% faster). They should of not included this as an option and just lowered its price.
I think external drives for a very long time will still be HD.
This is an internal drive...
NOT NEWS
3rd time you've said that. But this is kind of news.. Unlike those millions of iPod docks
There idea is not actually original, Runcore has been doing this a while now.
haven't you seen Transcend's? it's been released awhile now.
http://www.transcendusa.com/products/ModDetail.asp?ModNo=227&LangNo=0&Func1No=&Func2No=
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4433958&sku=T555-2216&srkey=t555-2216
even has a video @
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4433958&sku=T555-2216&srkey=t5552216
I bought one, so I know they are the same thing.
A little confused, but I would like this.