Since our review was initially published, pricing details have changed significantly, which has in turn affected our opinion on the Toshiba SSHD. How well the data is cached will largely effect the drives performance, as will the limit of 8GBВ of NAND вЂ“ the results of which we will see in testing.

The drives thus create a pool of вЂњhotвЂќВ data to store in the NANDВ flash to boost overall performance. To that end, the Toshiba SSHDs feature self-learning algorithms that tune performance to meet individual usersвЂ™ data access patterns. Toshiba aims to provide consumers with a reasonably priced option that still increases performance at the same capacity point. Toshiba recognizes that the drives clearly wonвЂ™t put-away SSDs, but its focus lies elsewhere.

With that in mind, Seagate has already launched its third-generation SSHD, WDВ ships an OEM-only consumer model, and, with the launch of the 7mm form factor, Toshiba is expanding its line. Simultaneously, consumers donвЂ™t want to give up the capacity they require and the price-point they need either. The SSHD space is now developing more quickly as consumers attempt to gain additional performance compared to what they could natively achieve with a HDD. Since the Toshiba SSHDs (which is how theyвЂ™ll be referenced in this review) are shipping in both the slim and standard form factors, the drives are primarily designed for thin and light notebooks where users want to leverage the transfer rates of SSDs without making the sacrifice of surrendering several hundred gigabytes of storage. As with almost all other HDDs hitting the market these days, the MQ01ABDHВ spins at 5,400RPM, which helps to reduce power consumption which matches the intended applications. The Toshiba MQ01ABDH is a SSHD that ranges up to 1TB in capacity, features performance assisted by 32MBВ of DRAMВ as a buffer and 8GBВ of ToshibaвЂ™s own NANDВ flash, and comes in a slim 7mm (MQ01ADFH) or standard 9.5mm (MQ01ABDH) form factor.

Sshd vs hdd benchmark