OWC Debuts First SandForce-Based IDE/ATA SSD

OWC said its new SandForce-based line of SSDs is the first and fastest to utilize an IDE/ATA connection.

Wednesday Other World Computing (OWC) said it will be showcasing at CES 2011 its new Mercury Extreme Pro Legacy Edition SSDs. The company is promoting this new line as the first and fastest SandForce-based SSDs to utilize an IDE/ATA connection for legacy desktops and towers.

"With performance up to 41X faster than today’s traditional hard drives, the OWC Mercury Extreme Pro Legacy Edition offers desktop, tower, and users of other computers that utilize internal IDE/ATA drives the fastest internal drive performance available today," the company said. "It eliminates tedious drive spin up wait time and delayed system responsiveness by providing near instant data access, system boots, and app loads."

The new SSD line comes packed with a mounting sled for easy "plug and play" installation into a standard 3.5-inch IDE/ATA drive bay, and a SATA to IDE/ATA connector cable. When upgrading to a SATA bus-equipped desktop or tower, consumers can simply remove the extra cable, connect the drive to the new rig, and experience "true performance potential" up to 285 MB/s.

Available now through the company's online store, OWC's new SSD line arrives in five different flavors: 40 GB for $129.99, 60 GB for $179.99, 120 GB for $279.99, 250 GB for $579.99 and 480 GB for a meaty $1599.99. All five models have 7-percent over provisioning and a three-year warranty.

"The Mercury Extreme Pro Legacy Edition SSD line is like getting two upgrades for the price of one," said Larry O’Connor, Founder and CEO, Other World Computing. "It can be used in IDE/ATA based computers today thanks to the included installation kit; and then used as a future upgrade in a SATA based machine to unleash the full performance potential of the drive and the machine."

In addition to the new Mercury Extreme Pro Legacy Edition line, OWC will also be displaying at CES 2011 the Mercury Aura Pro Express, the Mercury aura Pro MBA, the Mercury Aura Pro 1.8-inch and the Mercury Legacy Pro.