Crucial (http://www.crucial.com), a brand of memory and storage upgrades, has introduced the Crucial v4 Solid State Drive (SSD), designed to deliver “substantial but affordable” performance gains for mainstream SATA 2 (3Gb/s) systems, the primary performance capability of computers purchased before 2011.

Available in 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities with manufacturer suggested retail prices of US$49.99, $69.99, $99.99, and $189.99, respectively, the Crucial v4 SSD can be purchased now through select global channel partners, or directly via http://www.crucial.com . The Crucial v4 SSD purportedly offers read speeds up to 230MB/second and write speeds up to 190MB/second, enabling faster startup times, faster application downloads, faster transfer data speeds, and increased reliability compared to traditional hard drives.

“The Crucial v4 SSD boils down to two things: performance and value,” says Robert Wheadon, senior worldwide product manager, Crucial. “Most consumers realize that SSDs help their computers start quicker and run faster, and are a more durable alternative to hard drives, but many don’t realize that most SSDs outperform the data transfer capabilities of their SATA 2 machines. With the Crucial v4 SSD, we’ve come up with a product that’s designed to bring the most value out of a SATA 2 system without paying for extra performance that can’t be used.”