Apacer Launches Dual-mode SATA and USB3 SSD

I am one of those people who gets exited every time something new that hasn’t been seen before is launched, especially if it’s storage technology. It’s not only my bread and butter, it’s also my biggest interest. Apacer has just launched its newest AS710 SSD drive and it isn’t like anything we’ve seen before. This is a dual-mode drive that works as-is in two modes. You can either connect it via the default SATA3 interface or you can turn it around a use the USB 3 interface. The new Apacer SSD AS710 is the first SSD that comes equipped with both these ports at the same time.

Apacer is no stranger to making weird storage modules, at least looking from a normal perspective. They’ve both released USB Disk Modules as well as ultra slim SSDs that only measure 5 mm in thickness.

Apacer promises that they only use the best flash chips in these drives, but we wouldn’t expect anything else from them. The speeds look quite promising with a read speed up to 550 MB/s and the sequential write speed reaches up to 530MB/s. It isn’t shy on speed over the USB port either and can offer up to 380/420 MB/s read/write speeds when connected to a USB3 interface. These speeds of course require your USB host to support UASP, but even without it should give great speeds to the possible maximum.

In addition the AS710 supports Microsoft Windows-To-Go. This allows you to store the start-up system of Windows 8 Enterprise on the SSD. When connecting it to other computers via USB, one can enjoy fast start-up and run one’s own Windows 8 desktop. This is a great addition, allowing you to use your own system with full mobility and convenience without having to have all hardware with you.

The drive comes in a simplified black with a metallic cutting design and can withstand 30G vibrations and 3000G shocks, thus also protecting your data from corruption while on the go. It measures a default 7 mm in thickness and weighs 75 gram. It of course has built-in wear levelling and error correction code (ECC) as well as trim support.

The only place this drive lacks a little bit is on the capacity, as the release only mentioned a 120 GB model, which isn’t really that much in today’s storage needs and there’s no word on pricing or availability just yet.

Thank you Apacer for providing us with these information

Images courtesy of Apacer