Crucial unveils cheap v4 SSDs for mainstream computing

Traditionally, the SSD is much more expensive than a comparably sized hard drive. The benefits of an SSD are clear with faster booting and quicker application loading among other things with the big downside being that the SSD typically costs much more per gigabyte than other storage options. Crucial has unveiled a new line of SSDs called the Crucial v4 SSD that is available in multiple storage capacities at surprisingly affordable prices.

The Crucial SSDs are available in 32 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB capacities. Pricing on the new line of SSDs is $49.99, $69.99, $99.99, and $189.99 respectively. Under $190 is a nice price for a 256 GB SSD and will certainly lure gamers and computer enthusiasts on a budget away from hard drives. It's interesting that the flooding that affected so many hard drive manufacturers has driven the price of your typical HDD up while the price of SSDs continues to fall bringing the SSD and HDD much closer in price.

The Crucial v4 SSD promises write speeds of up to 190 MB/s read speeds of up to 230 MB/s. The speeds are the fastest you'll find SSD industry, but should offer significantly more performance of the typical hard drive. The new SSD line is designed to work with SATA 2 3Gb/s equipped computers representing most mainstream devices.

"The Crucial v4 SSD boils down to two things: performance and value," said Robert Wheadon, senior worldwide product manager, Crucial. "Most consumers realize that SSDs help their computers start quicker and run faster, and are a more durable alternative to hard drives, but many don't realize that most SSDs outperform the data transfer capabilities of their SATA 2 machines. With the Crucial v4 SSD, we've come up with a product that's designed to bring the most value out of a SATA 2 system without paying for extra performance that can't be used."

These SSDs will work with Mac and PC computers and are perfect for machines that lack speedier 6Gb/s SATA ports. The SSDs have a three-year limited warranty. This is the perfect storage option for computers built before 2011 when the faster SATA port became common.