A mere six months ago Western Digital made the bold move of purchasing SanDisk, one of the most recognized companies in the solid state storage market. Much like Toshiba’s purchase of OCZ, this was done in an effort to reinvigorate their own solid state drive lineup.
At the time many an internet pundit prognosticated on exactly what this would mean for the future of both of these industry titans. Some predicted Western Digital would follow Seagate and offer Solid State Hybrid Drives, others thought that SanDisk would simply continue as they had in the past – just with Western Digital backing them. As is so often the case the internet was wrong as we are now seeing the results of this match.
Now just six months after their latest acquisition Western Digital are ready to release not one but <i>two</i> new SSD models under their own umbrella rather than using SanDisk’s auspices. While pure mass-market SSDs haven’t been a hallmark of WD’s lineup, they’re sticking to the same nomenclature as their already-familiar hard drives so these new drives use the Blue SSD and Green SSD names.
Both of these are SATA controller-based models that will be offered in a 7mm 2.5" form-factor in an M.2 2280 design and will also come with 3 year warranties. This however is about all they share in common.
<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/intro.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
As its name suggests the new Green SSD is aimed more towards budget conscious and entry level consumers who are interested in transitioning away from HDDs and are purchasing their first ever SSD. This is an interesting if understandable move since this segment may be hotly contested but it also drives volume sales. Western Digital is in for a tough ride here but they also have massive brand name recognition.
The Blue SSD series on the other hand is focused more on mainstream buyers who may already have some experience with using Solid State Drives, may want to increase their capacity but still care about pricing. This is why, unlike the Green series’ 128GB and 256GB options, Blue SSD will be offered in capacities ranging from 250GB to 1TB. As for the asking price the 250GB will have an MSRP of $79 (32 cents per GB), while the large 1TB option will set you back only $299 (or 30 cents per GB). From a value perspective that’s not too bad at all.
<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/endurance.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
Unlike the Green series, the Blue will come with a Total Bytes Written endurance ratings of 100TB, 200TB, and 400TB respectively. Put another way the 250GB model can write over 91GB a day, the 500GB is good for over 182GB, and 1TB is rated for a whopping 365GB – all of which are way, way more than what the approximate 5GB the average home consumer actually writes to a drive on a daily basis. As it is the much more interesting of the two models today we will be focusing in on the Blue – specifically the 1TB model.
<div align="center">
<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/box_sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
With asking prices that are very reasonable Western Digital is obviously taking aim at the entry and mainstream markets for their first foray into the SSD marketplace since their SanDisk acquisition. While Western Digital's product literature talks about models like the Samsung EVO, and Crucial BX200 series as targets for these two drives the reality is only the Green is in their price bracket.
The Blue series on the other hand will have to compete against the likes of Crucial and their MX300 series, AData’s SU800 series, as well as Toshiba’s OCZ VX500 series. That is certainly a tall order but with excellent performance the Blue 1TB may just be able to pull that off.
At the time many an internet pundit prognosticated on exactly what this would mean for the future of both of these industry titans. Some predicted Western Digital would follow Seagate and offer Solid State Hybrid Drives, others thought that SanDisk would simply continue as they had in the past – just with Western Digital backing them. As is so often the case the internet was wrong as we are now seeing the results of this match.
Now just six months after their latest acquisition Western Digital are ready to release not one but <i>two</i> new SSD models under their own umbrella rather than using SanDisk’s auspices. While pure mass-market SSDs haven’t been a hallmark of WD’s lineup, they’re sticking to the same nomenclature as their already-familiar hard drives so these new drives use the Blue SSD and Green SSD names.
Both of these are SATA controller-based models that will be offered in a 7mm 2.5" form-factor in an M.2 2280 design and will also come with 3 year warranties. This however is about all they share in common.
<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/intro.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
As its name suggests the new Green SSD is aimed more towards budget conscious and entry level consumers who are interested in transitioning away from HDDs and are purchasing their first ever SSD. This is an interesting if understandable move since this segment may be hotly contested but it also drives volume sales. Western Digital is in for a tough ride here but they also have massive brand name recognition.
The Blue SSD series on the other hand is focused more on mainstream buyers who may already have some experience with using Solid State Drives, may want to increase their capacity but still care about pricing. This is why, unlike the Green series’ 128GB and 256GB options, Blue SSD will be offered in capacities ranging from 250GB to 1TB. As for the asking price the 250GB will have an MSRP of $79 (32 cents per GB), while the large 1TB option will set you back only $299 (or 30 cents per GB). From a value perspective that’s not too bad at all.
<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/endurance.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
Unlike the Green series, the Blue will come with a Total Bytes Written endurance ratings of 100TB, 200TB, and 400TB respectively. Put another way the 250GB model can write over 91GB a day, the 500GB is good for over 182GB, and 1TB is rated for a whopping 365GB – all of which are way, way more than what the approximate 5GB the average home consumer actually writes to a drive on a daily basis. As it is the much more interesting of the two models today we will be focusing in on the Blue – specifically the 1TB model.
<div align="center">
<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/WD_Blue1TB/box_sm.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
With asking prices that are very reasonable Western Digital is obviously taking aim at the entry and mainstream markets for their first foray into the SSD marketplace since their SanDisk acquisition. While Western Digital's product literature talks about models like the Samsung EVO, and Crucial BX200 series as targets for these two drives the reality is only the Green is in their price bracket.
The Blue series on the other hand will have to compete against the likes of Crucial and their MX300 series, AData’s SU800 series, as well as Toshiba’s OCZ VX500 series. That is certainly a tall order but with excellent performance the Blue 1TB may just be able to pull that off.
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