Although Buffalo has a wide range of external storage solutions, an entry into the consumer SSD market space wasn't something we expected from the company. Our expectations didn't stop Buffalo to launch is somewhat poorly named SSD-NS/PM3P in Japan though, although at this point in time it's not clear if it'll be available elsewhere.

The SSD-NS/PM3P comes in three different sizes, 128, 256 and 512GB and is apparently manufactured by PLDS, otherwise known as Philips and Lite-On Digital Solutions which contract manufacture a wide range of items. Internally the SSD-NS/PM3P uses a Marvell controller and NAND flash from Toshiba with the addition of 256MB of cache for the 128GB and 512MB of cache for the tow larger models.

Buffalo has only provided rudimentary performance figures for its SSD-NS/PM3P, although at least they are measured using CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1. As such the 128GB SKU will reach read speeds of up to 479MB/s, with the 256GB SKU hitting 513MB/s and finally the 512GB SKU reaching 500MB/s.

Price wise it doesn't look like Buffalo is going to be all that competitive, although it's worth keeping in mind that these are Japanese prices and computer electronics are in general more expensive in Japan. Considering that the list price for the 128GB SKU is 24,400 Yen (US$300/S$375) you can see what we mean. The 256GB is a massive 47,700 Yen (US$588/S$736) and finally the 512GB SKU – which is at least for now only available as a special order item – is going for an insane 90,300 Yen (US1,113/S$1,393). Comparing that with Crucial's pricing for its m4 series and it's hard to see how Buffalo will have any potential buyers for its new SSDs.

Source: VR-Zone

Buffalo SSD-NS/PM3P SSDs Pictures

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