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Plextor's extremely professional M5 SSD

Subject: Storage | March 1, 2013 - 04:43 PM |
Tagged: plextor, Marvell. Monet 9187, 19nm, toggle NAND, M5 Pro Extreme

Plextor used to be famous for their CD burners and the number of sheep that they were rated, but the days of blindwrite and moving carefully about the PC while burning a disk are long gone.  Instead they are focused on SSDs and other storage media, including the M5 Pro Extreme which [H]ard|OCP just reviewed.  It features a powerful Marvell controller not used by many competitors and 19nm Toggle flash from Toshiba.  While this drive will not compete against some when used by gamers, that is not what Plextor intended for this drive.  Instead focus on the steady write performance as this is a professional drive which thrives under heavy workloads.  Check out the review if you need some fast media for video or high end graphics work.

H_M5 Pro Extreme.jpg

"The Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SSD is designed and optimized for users with demanding workloads. The Marvell Monet 9187 controller in tandem with the 19nm Toshiba Toggle Mode NAND provides outstanding specifications. We test the M5 Pro Xtreme with other flagship SSDs."

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

Plextor's Marvell powered 256GB M5 Pro SSD

Subject: Storage | November 26, 2012 - 05:59 PM |
Tagged: plextor, m5 pro, ssd, marvell 88SS9187, toggle NAND

Hopefully at some point NewEgg will refresh their stock of Plextor's 256GB and 512GB M5 Pro SSDs, as both offer the same rated speed and a price just under $1/GB.  The Marvell controller they are using is one we have seen before, the Indilinx Everest 2 controller found in the OCZ Vertex 4.  The Guru of 3D pitted the 256GB model against numerous MLC SSDs and it trended towards the top of the results, not the fastest but consistent in being among the best performers in all tests.  Another benefit to the drive is the 5 year warranty, something which is becoming all too rare in storage devices.

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"In this article we test, benchmark and review the Plextor M5 Pro series SSD. Plextor has developed this product alongside a marvel controller tied to 256GB of NAND flash memory it is amongst the fastest drives we have ever tested. We sure have lots to talk about alright. The 256GB models have sutained read/write levels of 540 MB/sec and 450 MB/sec respectively.

And with 4K random write performance estimated at 86,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second) it's dressed to impress alright. Have a peek, after which we'll dive into the technology behind it and obviously we'll present you a nice phat performance overview."

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Source: Guru of 3D

Plextor's M5 Pro features new flash and a new controller

Subject: Storage | October 26, 2012 - 02:52 PM |
Tagged: plextor, m5 pro, ssd, toggle NAND, Marvell, Monet 88SS9187-BLD2

The Plextor M5 Pro introduces both Toshiba's new 19nm toggle NAND and Marvell's new 8-channel dual core Monet controller.  [H]ard|OCP tried out the 256GB model, availble for $250, and were impressed not only by the performance but also the error correction abilities and the system utilities which were included.  They were disappointed that the familiar Plextool software is not supported by this drive but they feel it is only a matter of time before Plextor remedies that issue.  Check out the results of the benchmarks in their full review.

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"Plextor brings the M5 Pro with the new Marvell Monet controller powering its banks of high performance Toshiba Toggle NAND. This is the debut of the first SSD with 19nm Toshiba Toggle NAND, the debutof the new Marvell Monet 88SS9187-BLD2 controller. We take a look and see what these new components bring to the table."

Here are some more Storage reviews from around the web:

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Source: [H]ard|OCP

Deal for September 4th - Plextor 256GB SSD for $195

Subject: General Tech, Storage | September 4, 2012 - 06:11 PM |
Tagged: ssd, plextor, deal of the day

Today's deal comes from TigerDirect and will allow you jump on the SSD bandwagon for a more than reasonable price.  How does a 256GB Plextor M5 series SSD for just $195 with free shipping sound? 

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Source: LogicBuy

Plextor Announces New M5 Pro SSD, Impressive Marvell Performance

Subject: Storage | August 8, 2012 - 02:26 PM |
Tagged: ssd, plextor, m5 pro, Marvell, marvell 88SS9187, flash memory

Plextor, a company known best for its line of optical drives has announced a new SSD that offers up some impressive performance numbers. The M5 Pro is powered by a Marvell 88SS9187 Monet controller and claims to offer improved data protection and throughput even when the drive is near-full.

Plextor uses 128-bit error correction built into the Marvell controller in addition to a data hold-out algorithm in Plextor’s firmware to ensure that data reads from the flash memory as accurate as possible. Further, the drive offers up AES 256-bit full drive encryption to protect your data from prying eyes. The company further stated that the drives have undergone “rigorous high-temperature burn-in tests” to ensure reliability. The reliability aspects are the features that the company is touting the most in its press release, but the other half of the coin is performance.

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Fortunately, if its numbers turn out to be true, users will not be disappointed. The Marvell controller is putting out some decent performance numbers. The M5 Pro SSD is capable of read and write IOPS of 94,000 and 86,000 respectively. Further, it can deliver a claimed 540 MB/s sequential read and 450 MB/s write operations. Not bad for Marvell at all!

According to Kathy Huynh, Product Marketing Manager for Plextor:

““In recent years, Plextor has been able to develop SSDs that deliver high real-world performance and sustained speed over the long-term. Our SSDs have one of the lowest annual failure rate in the consumer SSD industry. Now with the M5 Pro, we aim to use Plextor’s abilities to offer extreme data protection and give users total confidence in every single aspect of their drive.”

The new M5 Pro solid state drives will come with a five year warranty and will be available later this month. You will be able to pick up an M5 Pro in 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB capacities, though there is no word yet on how much they will cost. You can find more information in the company’s press release.

For more SSD information, check out our SSD Decoder!

Source: Plextor

Remember when buying a Blu-ray reader would double the value of your PC?

Subject: Storage | August 29, 2011 - 05:19 PM |
Tagged: plextor, PX-LB950UE, bluray, external drive

That isn't the case anymore as you can pick up the Plextor PX-LB950UE for $220 and plug it in externally to burn single or dual layer Blu-ray disks, as well as DVDs.  With both USB 3.0 and eSATA connections you should have no trouble with compatibility and you will want the fast transfer rates due to the volume of data that Blu-ray can handle.  Unfortunately PCStats could not get the Plextor to play back the movie that they were using for testing, no matter what software they tried to use to play it.  A diagnostic showed nothing wrong with the disk nor with the player and a Google search showed that many people have similar problems with a wide variety of disks and players.  They did have a very early version of the firmware; perhaps an updated version will resolve that particular problem.  Certainly something to keep in mind before picking up this external drive.

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"In recent weeks the talk of the town has been a sleek black external 12x Blu-ray WRITER from the folks at Plextor. The Plextor PX-LB950UE connects via USB 3.0 or eSATA cables and is capable of burning single layer Blu-ray Disk (BD) media at 12x, double layer BD media at 8x and DVD-R media at 16x speeds. In addition, it supports the playback of Blu-ray 3D movie titles. The bonus to going the Blu-ray writer route, is that BD-R media is even more useful than DVD media for archiving MASSIVE amounts of data."

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Source: PC Stats

Can Plextor compete with Drobo?

Subject: Storage | June 6, 2011 - 12:06 PM |
Tagged: plextor, network attached storage, NAS, external drive

There once was a time, when dinosaurs like Compaq ruled the earth, when there was only one choice for the true enthusiast when buying a CD burner.  Plextor was by far the most reliable choice in a time when CDs were more sensitive to external vibrations than a fine souffle. Things have changed a great deal since then and the looks you get when you ask how many sheep your burner has can be quite amusing.   This has left Plextor looking for alternative revenue sources and the area they have chosen is NAS devices.  The new Plextor PX-NAS4 has impressive stats but it is competing against heavy hitters like Drobo.  Think Computer tries out this ~$400 NAS device and contrasts its features and controls with similarly priced competitors offerings in their latest storage review.

 

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"Plextor introduced the PX-NAS4 quad-bay network attached storage device late last year to augment its PX-NAS2 dual-bay device and break into a market with larger storage needs. The dual gigabit Ethernet PX-NAS4 can house up to 8 TB of storage in several RAID configurations and sports volume encryption and low power consumption among other standard enterprise and business features. ThinkComputers takes a look, and finds that while the PX-NAS4 provides the basic features, it leaves something to be desired for users with more. Read on for the review."

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Source: Think Computers

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