Final Thoughts
OCZ’s last value-oriented solid state drive was the ARC 100, which used the older OCZ Barefoot 3 M10 controller. Now that it has been over a year since the Toshiba acquisition we are seeing a value-oriented drive that uses all Toshiba components from the TLC NAND to the TC58 controller.
When it comes to performance the Trion 100 competes with many high-performance solid state drives in terms of reads, but falls short in write performance. In many of our tests the drive actually under-performed its advertised write speeds. This is likely due to the TLC that was used in the drive. Still write speeds are not horrible and obviously much better than a mechanical hard drive. Also most users are not going to be writing large amounts of data to the drive as most things we do on our computers are read related. But if you are going to be writing large amounts of data this is something you are going to have to consider.
One thing that really surprised me about this drive is the endurance rating of 120TBW for the 480GB. That is pretty high for a value-oriented solid state drive. OCZ is also backing this drive with their ShieldPlus warranty. This 3-year warranty allows users to return a defective drive by just providing the serial number, no sales receipt is needed. Once it is determined that the user needs a new drive one is sent to them at no charge and in the box with the replacement drive they will find a pre-paid return label for the defective drive. This should put many people’s minds at ease when it comes to a warranty or RMA support.
I think that if you are looking for a value-oriented solid state drive, or you are upgrading from a mechanical hard drive the Trion 100 is a great choice.
Right now the 480GB drive we reviewed today is selling at my favorite online retailer for $159.99, which makes it $0.33 per GB. Overall ThinkComputers gives the OCZ Trion 100 an 8 out of 10 score and our Good Value Award!
Pros:
– Great read performance
– 3-year ShieldPlus warranty
– High endurance rating
Cons:
– Write performance could be better
– No accessories or software included
