Billy and I met with SanDisk at their CES 2016 suite. While Billy talked to them about their internal SSD efforts, I checked out the updates to their direct-attached storage (DAS) offerings. SanDisk had a relatively straightforward launch set, with just three new products in this space.

The SanDisk Extreme 510 Portable SSD (in the middle of the above picture) is based on the same platform as the Extreme 500 Portable SSD that we reviewed recently. The only differences lie in the fact that the new one comes in only one capacity - 480GB. It also carries a IP55 rating (dust and water resistance), thanks to the rubber bumper around the unit. It is targeted towards content creators who want rugged high capacity storage in the field. As I had mentioned in my review of the Extreme 500 Portable SSD, the speeds are very satisfying - but, only when connected to the right host controller. In our testing, we got better performance numbers with ASMedia USB host controllers compared to Intels native controllers integrated in the PCH. The unit is priced at $250, and will be available in retail channels in a few weeks.