Transcend SSD18M Portable Solid State Drive [NAND Flash Drive To Go]

With not only the speed, but the far superior durability offered by solid state drives (SSDs) in mind (thanks in no small part to the fact that they employ no moving parts) they undoubtedly lend themselves to the role of portable mass storage particularly well and this is something that has not escaped the boffins at Transcend who have unveiled their first 1.8″ portable SSD – the Transcend SSD18M.

The Transcend SSD18M Portable Solid State Drive, which is set to become available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacity models, measures in at just 3.1″ x 1.2″ x 0.5″, weighs a mere 1.8 ounces and sports both eSATA and USB2.0 connectivity though, should you hook up the SSD18M via eSATA as opposed to USB you’ll need to use the included power adapter (when hooked up via USB the SSD18M draws power directly via the USB interface).

Purportedly offering up to 90Mbps read speeds and up to 50Mbps write speeds (via eSATA) Transcend, who are set to release all three versions of their SSD18M Portable Solid State Drive any time now, list the 32GB, 64GB and 128GB drives as retailing for around the $100, $170 and $285 price points.

We await OCZ’s retort with great interest.

[Transcend | via GizmoWatch]