Data Backup Digest

First announced in mid-2017 and released to the public several months later, Toshiba's TR200 SSD is a marked improvement from past models. Outfitted with a 64-layer, 3D TLC flash architecture and a traditional SATA interface, the drive is ideal for upgrading current-gen laptops and even some desktops.

Struggling Performance

While it's not the worst-performing product on the market, especially in the way of laptop SSDs, it's not turning any heads. It starts off strong, showing the standard speeds of 500MBps read/write that is typical with SATA SSDs of today. It's during long-term data transfer and access where the drive really struggles to maintain efficiency.

In fact, the TR200 SSD slows to sluggish read/write speed of 100MBps after processing just 5 – 10 GB of data. Considering that consumers are working with increasingly large datasets, and the fact that most SSDs are used for that very purpose, it's safe to say that this drive is meant for applications that don't require much power – browsing the Internet, playing Windows Solitaire and composing emails.

Alex Mei, vice president of consumer SSDs and storage with Toshiba, touted the new product line by saying: "We are excited to provide consumers with the new TR200 series, our first retail branded SATA 6Gbit/s drives to leverage state-of-the-art Toshiba 64-layer TLC BiCS FLASH."

One of its best features is the availability of different capacities – including 240GB, 480GB or 960GB – so you won't have to settle for an SSD that barely meets your storage needs. It's also great for building basic systems, especially laptops, where a large amount of storage space isn't necessary and transfer speeds aren't that important.

The drive is also optimized for low power consumption. Not only does this increase the overall runtime when installed in a laptop, but it helps to minimize your overall carbon footprint – which is ideal for the eco-conscious users of today.

If you want to tweak the performance of your drive, the TR200 features integrated SSD management software, SSD Utility, that offers various options and settings. The program's dashboard provides a real-time overview of your system while various sliders let you adjust the performance of your SSD as well as your OS. Integrated drive health monitoring provides insight into the overall condition of your drive and the device's firmware is easily upgraded through the SSD Utility.

Finally, every brand new purchase of a TR200 drive comes with a 3-year standard warranty and toll-free technical support from the professionals at Toshiba. In addition, there is a large online community of professionals and amateurs who are willing to lend their knowledge wherever it is needed.

Finding Out More

The Toshiba TR200 might not be the best option on the market, but it's still a viable option for those who don't require a high-performance drive. It's affordable enough and compatible with enough current-gen systems that it is useful in some scenarios – I just wish it was able to maintain its read/write speeds over the course of time.

For more information on the Toshiba TR200 or any of their other products, please visit their official website at www.toshiba.com .