CONCLUSION

   Toshiba shares their NAND flash chips with many manufacturers in the market (most actually) so it's safe to "predict" that any SSD launched by them will perform on par if not better compared to other similar models. Firmware always plays a significant role obviously and so does the controller used so it comes as no surprise that Toshiba uses their own customized firmware when using 3rd party controllers (like they did with the Q Series). So what is the verdict regarding the Q Series Pro SSD? Well in some tests it performed very well and on par with the best SATA 3 SSDs in our charts (and it did top AIDA64) but i have to admit that it did let us down in IOmeter since it wasn't able to get even close to its advertised write speed of 35.000 I/Os. Of course the advertised speeds are "up to" so Toshiba isn't lying or anything but still although in real world usage most people will not notice anything it does give a somewhat negative picture to an otherwise great product.

   Toshiba seems to be following quite an aggressive pricing policy with the Q Series Pro SSD line since currently the 256GB model retails for just USD152.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 145Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). There are certainly many other models from other manufacturers at around the same price range (some even have 5 years warranty and not just 3) but the good and obvious thing about Toshiba is that since they supply most SSD manufacturers with their NAND flash chips you just know that they have to be doing something right. Overall the Q Series Pro 256GB SSD may not be the fastest model in the market currently but it's very fast and comes at a very tempting price tag and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality (Toshiba 19nm Toggle-Mode NAND Flash/Toshiba Controller)
- Very Good Performance
- Retail Bundle
- 3 Years Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- IOmeter Performance