Most of the major companies that were in the computer memory market have also jumped into the flash drive and SSD market. The SSD market has a lot of competition today and prices are coming down as storage capacities are going up.

Crucial is one of the firms that has a firm position in the both RAM and SSD markets. The company has announced a new SSD today that is called the Crucial m4. The m4 SSDs are 2.5-inch form factor storage devices that the company is aiming at the business user and the general consumer. The SSDs are built with 25nm NAND flash technology and the m4 is the successor to the RealSSD C300.

The new m4 SSD has fast operating speeds with up to 415MB/sec read and up to 260MB/sec write speeds. Those speeds are 17% higher then the C300 in read and 20% faster in write speed than the C300. The SSDs also consume little power and are made to be light and to be able to survive shock and vibration.

"The new Crucial m4 SSD builds on the enormous success of its predecessor, the Crucial RealSSD C300. As a subsidiary of Micron Technology, we're in the unique position of leveraging Micron's NAND development and manufacturing expertise for our Crucial branded SSDs," said Robert Wheadon, worldwide senior product manager. "These next-generation m4 SSDs offer customers higher capacities and even greater performance at affordable prices." 

The SSD is offered in a 64GB version for $129.99, 128GB versions are $249.99, and the 256GB version is $499.99. Those needing even more storage space can get a 512GB version of the m4 SSD for $999.99.

All varieties are backed with a 3-year warranty and are available right now.