For those not aware, mSATA was designed to be used in laptops, or more specifically, ultra light notebooks, even tablets. Basically anywhere where power, and space and weight were held at a premium. That said, mSATA is not a new concept but due to its small foot print, mSATA was restricted to small capacities meaning its main use was as a boot drive. As today's samples exhibit huge storage capability (1TB drives are also available), the mSATA format can easily replace a main system storage drive.

Before we examine if performance has taken a hit, let's take a look at the Specification and Features...