Verbatim 256GB SATA II Review

Verbatim 256GB SATA II Review

Verbatim might not be the first name that most tech enthusiasts think of when looking for a solid state drive. Verbatim might be new to the SSD scene but the company has been front and center in the data storage business for more than 40 years.

Our more technical audience might be asking, "Why is NotebookReview bothering to compare a solid state drive with a SATA II interface to faster SSDs with a SATA III interface?" True, the Verbatim 256GB SATA II drive suffers from an obvious disadvantage compared to the three other SSDs in this round up which use the faster SATA III interface, but many current laptop owners looking to upgrade their existing PCs are using notebooks with a SATA II interface ... and if you're one of those people there's no immediate advantage to buying a SATA III SSD.

The specifications for the Verbatim 256GB SATA II SSD are as follows:

• Model: 2SSD256 (47475)
• Form Factor: 2.5" (9.4mm thickness)
• Capacity: 256GB
• Memory Type: MLC
• Interface: SATA II
• Controller: Phison
• Weight: 90g
• Advertised Max Sequential Read: Up to 270 MB/s
• Advertised Max Sequential Write: Up to 225 MB/s
• MTBF: 1,000,000 hours
• MSRP: $300
• Average Retail Price: $240

Performance

As expected, Verbatim's 256GB SATA II drive delivers read and write speeds that pale in comparison to the CrystalDiskMark and ATTO benchmark test results from modern SATA III drives. That being said, a read speed between 250MB/s and 270MB/s and a write speed between 227MB/s and 235MB/s is still dramatically faster than a SATA II hard disk drive found in most notebooks. If you're looking to upgrade a SATA II laptop (which is most laptops made before 2012) then the Verbatim SATA II SSD isn't a bad idea ... if you can find it for the right price.

It's the "right price" part that might be the problem. At the time of this writing we couldn't find any retailers selling this drive for less than the price of a SATA III drive with a similar capacity. Although people using older laptops won't benefit from SATA III, why bother buying a SATA II drive if it costs more than newer technology?

Verbatim SATA II 256GB as boot drive benchmarked with CrystalDiskMark.

ATTO results from the Verbatim SATA II 256GB.