Customer Reviews

Transcend 128 GB 1.8 Inch External Solid State Drive (SSD) TS128GSSD18M-M

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a great little drive. It is significantly faster than the current 64GB flash drives and has twice the space. It is small enough to fit easily in your pocket. It requires either 2 USB ports, or 1 eSATA and 1 USB port, because it draws power from one USB port and transfers data using the other port (Comes with 2 y-cables, one for USB only, the other for eSATA/USB). Mine worked perfectly right out of the box. I liked the first one so much, I bought a 2nd one to use as an off-site backup for my home computers. The only reason I gave this product only 4 stars is because it is currently quite pricey.

There were three factors that motivated me to purchase this drive: (1) the reliability and speed of ssd, (2) the fact that it had an eSata connection, and (3) the fact that it is compact. The drive comes with two connection cords, both of which have Y-connectors. On one cord, the Y branches are both USB. On the other cord, one branch is for eSata and the other is for a USB connector. Both connections (either 2 USB or 1USB/1eSata) must be plugged in to the machine. The Y-connector is very short. No problem if your machine has a USB connection located very close to the eSata connection. My Dell XPS 16 has a combination eSata/USB port on one side of the laptop and two USB ports on the other side. That means I can use the USB connection, plugging both USB connectors into the two USB ports on the left side of the laptop. However, I need a USB extension cord to use the faster eSata connection (eSata on the right and USB on the left). It's annoying especially because part of the drive's appeal is the fact that it's compact. Great for people who carry a laptop around. The last thing I want is to carry an extension cord that is larger than the drive itself. In all fairness to the manufacturer, if they had a Y connection that was long enough to accommodate my XPS 16, it would be longer than desired for any machine that has an eSata and a USB side by side. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't.

I use virtual images extensively in my work and I was looking for a way to speed up the boot process without investing in a new laptop. This product fit the bill perfectly. The drive comes with a cable that will require an esata port & USB port. Be prepared for both connections.

My virtual images now boot in 3 - 4 minutes rather than 15 - 20 minutes. This coupled with the performance gain in the application after it loaded is an easy justification for this purchase.

The manufacturer recommends using one of the supplied split input cables to transfer data and power the unit. I consistently use it with a single usb-mini cable with no issues. I transferred a 3Gb file to a Transcend thumb drive and then the same file to this SSD to prove to my officemate that it was a cool as a 1.8" SSD should be. Epic win for the SSD. The transfer time was less than half to the SSD using only a standard USB Mini cable. I use this drive to back up my files and as a roaming Media disk to go from computer to computer. I've had it for over 6 months and have had no issues. I would not only buy it again, but I would recommend that no one else get it, so I can be the only one with the Uber-Drive....That is, until they come out with a higher cap. unit. Then I'm all over that one...

I liked this drive initially for its size and speed. I used it for my MacBook's Time Machine. It is light, small, and very easy to use. But after about two months I started to have troubles. First, it would not mount properly and require repair through DiskUtilities. After a few times of repair, I lost data because it must be erased and reformat. After 6 months, it stopped working. Mac DiskUtilities cannot repair it and only recognize it as a 2GB USB drive. I cannot erase the disk on MacBook, nor reformat on PC.

Sleek design and no issues.

Performance:
Expect real world performance lower than manufacturer specs and benchmarks with very narrow-and-focussed scenarios.

Reliability:
Granted there are no moving parts.
With so much of hype around MLC/SLCs and block withering,
I dont feel at ease with SSDs in general.
I never backed-up my HDDs; I have started backing up my SSDs!!!
Time will tell.

Will I recommond:
Once you are done with showing-off to your friends,
won't feel a big difference (except for the size) between this device
and for example WD-Passport.

Nevertheless, I know I will buy 256Gb version once released.

Bottome line:
No issues; Nice show-ware; Value is subjective;