SanDisk, one of the world's largest maker of NAND flash-based products, has unveiled a new consumer-oriented Ultra family of solid-state drives that will be sold at retail and will be aimed at the upgrade market.

Available in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB capacities, SanDisk Ultra-series solid-state drives offers up to 280MB/s sequential read and 270 MB/s sequential write speeds. The novelties utilize Serial ATA-300 interface and fully support such crucial functionality as Trim and Smart. The manufacturer promises that the 60GB SanDisk Ultra SSD can withstand at least 40 terabytes of data written to it over lifetime, while the 120GB and 240GB drives can withstand at least 80TB and 120TB of data written, respectively.

SanDisk primarily positions Ultra-series SSDs as upgrade options for desktops and notebooks. Previously SanDisk did not actively participate on the market of consumer-oriented solid-state drives. Slowly, but surely rising popularity of inexpensive SSDs made the company to reconsider its attitude towards this class of products.

“Replacing a computer’s hard disk drive with the SanDisk Ultra SSD is more cost effective than buying a new PC. Our new SSD delivers greater speed and reliability than a hard disk drive at an affordable price,” said Kent Perry, director, product marketing, SanDisk.

The drive in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB capacities carry MSRPs of $129.99, $219.99 and $449.99, respectively. Consumers in the United States can order the drive now from online retailers.

Tags: SanDisk, NAND, Flash, SSD