VisionTek's new Pocket SSD delivers PC-sized storage in a flash drive-sized package
The VisionTek USB 3.0 Pocket SSD lineup appears to be mere thumb drives on the outside—albeit ones clad in snazzy aircraft-grade aluminum—but on the inside, they offer SSD-sized storage: 128GB ($90), 256GB ($150), and a whopping 512GB ($280). As the name implies, VisionTek’s tiny USB 3.0 Pocket SSD slips into your computer’s USB 3.0 port, where it delivers read/write speeds of up to 450MBps/155MBps. Being restrained by the limits of the USB 3.0 interface, that’s nowhere near as fast as modern internal SSDs, but it’s still speedier than traditional 7200rpm hard drives—and hey, it’s portable! This could be a solid solution for schlepping your movie collection and Steam library from PC to PC.
VisionTek’s Pocket SSD lineup is slated to launch later this month in North America, and as USB devices, they’ll work with Macs, Windows devices, and Linux PCs. Stay tuned! We have a review sample inbound to deliver you a no-nonsense verdict sooner rather than later.
The story behind the story: Flash drives aren’t just for stashing documents on anymore—they’re getting as spacious as SSDs and faster than the spinning hard drives found in most PCs. Wondering how you can put something like the VisionTek Pocket SSD to good use Be sure to check out PCWorld’s guide to five insanely powerful tools you won’t believe can fit on a flash drive.