Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world leader in advanced memory technology, today launched the 850 EVO, the latest addition to its branded solid state drive (SSD) line-up. Based on Samsung’s 3-bit 3D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) technology, the 850 EVO SSD provides a significant boost in performance and endurance as compared to its predecessor, making it ideal for use in mainstream PCs. With the slogan of “a new caliber of performance & endurance,” the new drive will be globally launched in a total of 53 countries in the United States, Europe and Asian markets later this month.

“We are thrilled to be providing users with an improved computing experience through the new 850 EVO SSDs,” said Unsoo Kim, Senior Vice President of the Branded Product Marketing team at Samsung Electronics. “Samsung will continue to introduce V-NAND-based SSDs in a variety of form factors, while accelerating the growth of the global SSD market.”

While the Samsung 850 PRO SSD that launched in July uses 2-bit 3D V-NAND for professional use in high-end client PCs and small- and medium-sized enterprise servers, the 850 EVO is built with 3-bit 3D V-NAND technology. This makes it more suitable for general consumer use in devices such as notebook and gaming PCs. With the introduction of the 850 EVO, Samsung launches the next iteration of its consumer SSD product line-up with new V-NAND-based SSDs.

Other World Computing today announced a new 1TB OWC 2.5” Mercury Electra 6G SATA SSD. Perfect for Mac or PC with 960GB net storage, the Mercury Electra 6G family of SSDs represents the peak in performance and capacity for any application.

Leveraging more than two decades of experience in developing award-winning Mac upgrades and enhancement products, OWC offers the 1TB Mercury Electra 6G SATA SSD with compelling features including:

• Industry leading controller technologies on board for reliability and degradation-free performance
• Sustained transfer rates up to 535/443MBps read/write
• Engineered for Mac – no extra software or hacks needed
• Designed and assembled in the USA
• Lab tested for compatibility, speed, and reliability
• Easy DIY installation with step-by-step install videos
• 24/7 award-winning technical support

CDRLabs kicks off the week with a review of Samsung's new 850 EVO SSD. Optimized for everyday computing, the 850 EVO is available with up to 1TB of Samsung's 3-bit 3D V-NAND and, depending on the capacity, is powered by either the MEX or the new MGX controller. To compensate for the slow write speeds typically associated with 3-bit (TLC) NAND, the 850 EVO uses Samsung's TurboWrite write acceleration technology, which creates a high-performance write buffer in the SSD. It also supports Device Sleep (DEVSLP) for lower power consumption as well as self-encrypting drive (SED) technology that is TCG Opal 2.0 and IEEE-1667 compliant. Last, but not least, the 850 EVO supports Samsung's RAPID technology. By using free PC memory as a cache, RAPID can push the performance of the SSD beyond the limits of the current SATA specification.

CDRLabs returns to its roots with a review of Samsung's latest portable DVD writer, the SE-208GB. This lightweight drive sports a new design that maximizes the ease of pressing the eject button by placing it on top of the case. The SE-208GB is capable of 8x DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 6x DVD±R DL and 5x DVD-RAM writing speeds and a maximum DVD read speed of 8x. The drive is also USB powered and features support for Samsung's AV Connectivity and Smart Archive technologies. When written on archival grade media, Smart Archive delivers a 30 year long data lifetime.