500GB Samsung 840 Series 2.5" SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive SSD (MZ-7TD500BW) $280 + Free Shipping

The bottom line is that it's deceptive product naming to call this an 840 and call the MLC version with good performance 840 Pro. Samsung also uses the "panel lottery" in its LCD panels. Companies pull all sorts of fast ones on consumers, so the purposeful naming confusion isn't surprising.

The other bottom line is that, as NAND continues to shrink, the program/erase lifespan of NAND also shrinks. TLC compounds that by being even more error prone than MLC. If people want to pay for a high-voltage/high-power low lifespan product, that's their prerogative. However, Samsung should have named the product clearly since it's the first TLC SSD in the market and chose not to. The established expectations for a consumer SSD are MLC-based. Consumers look at the price tag and think they're getting a great deal on an MLC drive, hence the 10 or so front page listings in the last two weeks for this 840 Series.