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Amazon one-day sale knocks up to 30 percent off storage from SanDisk and Lexar
Portable drives, SSDs, microSD cards and more from SanDisk, Lexar and others are up to 30 percent off in an Amazon one-day sale.
Crucial's 1TB MX500 internal SSD is back on sale for $85
Amazon knocked 15 percent off Crucial's MX500 internal SSD in 1TB, while discounting other Crucial storage devices.
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This week's best tech deals include over $100 of Sony's WH-1000XM4 headphones, $150 off the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and $30 off the Roku Streambar.
Crucial, PNY and Lexar storage is up to 32 percent off on Amazon today only
PNY, Lexar and Crucial storage devices are up to 32 percent off in an Amazon one-day sale.
Crucial's 1TB MX500 internal SSD is on sale for $85 right now
Save 15 percent on Crucial's MX500 internal SSD at Amazon.
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Amazon discounts a bunch of SSDs and storage devices for Prime Day
Here are the best Amazon Prime Day 2021 deals on SSDs, microSD cards and other storage devices from SanDisk, Crucial, Samsung, and others.
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The best deals we found this week: $30 off Crucial's MX500 SSD and more
These are the best tech deals we found this week, including sales on the iPad Air and Razer gaming accessories.
Crucial's 1TB MX500 internal SSD is cheaper than ever on Amazon
Crucial's 1TB MX500 internal SSD for laptops and desktops falls to $85 in new Amazon sale.
Amazon has a big sale on Crucial and SanDisk storage for today only
Shop Amazon’s one-day storage sale Buy Crucial X8 (500GB) at Amazon - $80 Buy Crucial MX500 (1TB) at Amazon - $89 Crucial’s storage devices are generally solid and we like the X8 for its anodized aluminum unibody that’s sleek while also being strong.
Cyber Monday brings steep discounts on SSDs and microSD cards
Here's a list of the best Cyber Monday 2020 deals on microSD cards, portable SSDs and other storage devices.
Amazon cuts up to 30 percent off hard drives, SSDs and removable storage
A daily deal on Amazon cuts up to 30 percent off hard drives, SSDs, SD cards and other storage devices.
The best SSDs
By Andrew Cunningham This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full guide to SSDs. Whether you're replacing an existing solid-state drive or upgrading from a traditional hard drive to get better performance, almost every SSD you can buy today is great. But some are still better than others. If you need to buy a SATA SSD right now, we think the 500 GB Crucial MX500 is the best option for most people. The MX500 isn't the fastest SATA SSD you can get, but it comes close, and it has the best combination of price, performance, endurance, and capacity of any drive you can buy. The Crucial MX500 is just a little slower than Samsung's more expensive SATA SSDs in most benchmarks, but most people wouldn't notice the difference. It's as good as or better than the rest of the competition and it performs better when full or near-full than its predecessor, the MX300. It supports full-disk encryption and it comes in both 2.5-inch and M.2 SATA versions, but not the (older, less common) mSATA. Crucial offers a five-year warranty on the drive for more peace of mind (three years is typical), The Samsung 860 Evo replaces the 850 Evo, which was our top SSD pick for nearly three years. Compared with both its predecessor and the Crucial MX500, the 860 Evo is a little faster and offers much better durability. And in addition to the 2.5-inch and M.2 versions, it's available as an mSATA drive, unlike the MX500 and most other modern SSDs. But it's usually more expensive than the MX500, and you won't notice the difference between the two in day-to-day use. The MX500 is the drive to get as long as it's cheaper. Any good SATA SSD will help your PC boot quickly, speed up app launches and load times for games, and generally make your computer more responsive; most people, including gamers, don't need anything faster. But serious video and photo editors, server admins, CAD designers, software developers, and other people with workstation-style demands—anyone who frequently loads and saves large files—may benefit from a faster drive. If that describes you, choose the PCIe Samsung 970 Evo Plus, which can be four or five times faster than the fastest SATA drives. It's more expensive—typically $50 or $60 more than a good SATA drive for 500 GB and around $120 more for 1 TB—and you'll need a desktop or an M.2 PCIe–equipped laptop to use it. Just remember that the difference between a SATA SSD and a PCIe SSD isn't as noticeable as the difference between a SATA SSD and a spinning hard drive. Western Digital's WD Blue SN500 is a budget M.2 PCI Express SSD that's faster than (and around the same price as) the SATA-based MX500 or 860 Evo. It's the best option if you're building a new desktop computer, configuring a barebones mini PC, or upgrading a one- or two-year-old laptop that you bought with a smaller SSD and you want a fast drive for a lot less money than the 970 Evo. But most people will be just fine with a SATA drive (and you also shouldn't upgrade to the SN500 from a SATA SSD of an equal or greater capacity). The SN500 performs well for the price and comes with a solid five-year warranty from a reliable company. But it comes in only 250 and 500 GB capacities, it doesn't support hardware encryption acceleration, and like all M.2 PCIe drives it will work in only newer PCs.
Microsoft's Bitlocker compromised by bad SSD encryption
Bad computer security can sometimes have a cascading effect, as researchers from the Netherlands discovered. They first spotted vulnerabilities in the embedded encryption of several SSD models from Samsung and Crucial that allowed them to access data without a password. Then, to make matters worse, they noticed that Windows 10 Bitlocker defaults to SSD encryption, when available. That means if you happened to have one of those SSDs and used Bitlocker, attackers with access to your PC could easily gain access to your files.
Crucial M500 SSD review round-up: 960GB at $600 is cheapest in class, available now
Crucial's budget-friendly yet high-capacity 2.5-inch M500 SSD has finally cropped up for sale today, as have the reviews of it from the usual enthusiast sites. While it's still not exactly low-cost, many applaud the fact that the company's $600 960GB drive is the cheapest near-1TB model you can get on the market. It uses Micron's 20nm MLC NAND flash, a SATA 6 Gb/s controller and is the first to implement the new 128Gb MLC NAND die. According to Benchmark Reviews, it certainly bests its m4 predecessor with peak speeds that reach 500 MB/s read and 400 MB/s write, with 80,000 IOPS in operational performance. Both TweakTown and Anandtech concur that it's not quite as fast as its closest competitor, the Samsung 840 Pro, but as Anand Lai Shimpi said in his review: "If you need the capacity and plan on using all of it [960GB], the M500 is really the only game in town." TechnologyX, however, gives the nod to the 480GB model, if only because it's about $200 cheaper if you're willing to compromise on space. Crucial also offers the M500 in 120GB and 240GB for $130 and $220 for those with smaller wallets. If you're keen to see the full breakdown on this tiny wonder, head on over to the sources to judge for yourself, or just click on the Crucial link below to get your own.
Crucial outs v4 SSD for solid-state storage on a budget
Solid-state drives cost just a fraction of what they did a few years ago, but with prices that can still exceed $1,000, you could hardly label them as cheap. Crucial still aims to put solid-state storage within reach of those on a budget, however, releasing its 2.5-inch v4 drive with pricing that starts at $50. That entry-level model will net you just 32 gigs of storage -- hardly a lust-worthy sum -- but the series is also available in configurations of 64GB ($70), 128GB ($100) and 256GB ($190), offering read speeds of up to 230 MB/s and write speeds of up to 190 MB/s with SATA 2-capable desktops and laptops. The v4 joins Crucial's higher-end m4, which offers much speedier performance and Ultrabook-friendly configurations to boot. You'll find full details in the PR after the break.
Crucial ships mSATA-based m4 SSD upgrade, your Ultrabook never felt better
Crucial has already managed to stuff its m4 SSD into Ultrabook sizes, but the 7mm thick design may still be too portly for the thinner laptops in the pack. With that in mind, the flash memory guru has just started shipping the m4 mSATA, a barebones card that sits cozily next to the motherboard either as a cache for a rotating disk or as a main drive. It's still as speedy as many of its bigger cousins, with read speeds of up to 500MB/s per second. We suspect most buyers will be lured in by the low prices: at just $53 for a cache-friendly 32GB SSD and no more than $226 for a 256GB example, it's entirely feasible to give that spinning-drive Ultrabook a shot in the arm.
Falling SSD prices might give you a swift boot (up) sooner than you think
Solid state drives are the one piece of gear that can turn a dog computer into a cheetah, and it looks like you may not have to scrape much longer to get one. Floods in Thailand made prices for their spinning-plattered brethren climb, but many SSD models like those from Crucial, OCZ and Intel have fallen up to 65 percent in the last year. Lower NAND prices, along with cheaper and better controllers from Sandforce and Indilinx have no doubt contributed to the boon for performance-hungry consumers. All of that means that a 256 GB drive which cost $500+ in June 2011, now runs less than $200 -- and at $.82 / GB, it turns from a near-luxury good to at least a thinkable proposition for many.
