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dealz4realz4realz | Staff 23.7K Views
Oct 20, 2025 2:08 PM

Costco Members: 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive w/ Heatsink

$180

$225

20% off
+ Free Shippingat Costco Wholesale
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Deal Details
Costco Wholesale has for its Members: 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive w/ Heatsink (LNMPL8S004T-RNNNU) for $179.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to staff member dealz4realz4realz for sharing this deal.

Features:
  • Additional 4TB Internal SSD Storage for PS5 Console
  • Adding Storage Capacity to your PS5 Console Will Let You Play Directly from The Drive – No Need to Transfer or Delete Games from your Console
  • Designed to Match and Enhance Your PS5 Gaming Experience
  • Exceptional Performance of 7000MB/s Max Read and 6000MB/s Max Write, Ensures Reduced Load Times and Seamless Gameplay

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • This price is $45 less than the previous Frontpage Deal from July.
  • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
  • If you don't have a Costco Warehouse Membership, you can sign-up here

Original Post

Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Costco Wholesale has for its Members: 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive w/ Heatsink (LNMPL8S004T-RNNNU) for $179.99. Shipping is free.

Thanks to staff member dealz4realz4realz for sharing this deal.

Features:
  • Additional 4TB Internal SSD Storage for PS5 Console
  • Adding Storage Capacity to your PS5 Console Will Let You Play Directly from The Drive – No Need to Transfer or Delete Games from your Console
  • Designed to Match and Enhance Your PS5 Gaming Experience
  • Exceptional Performance of 7000MB/s Max Read and 6000MB/s Max Write, Ensures Reduced Load Times and Seamless Gameplay

Editor's Notes

Written by qwikwit | Staff
  • This price is $45 less than the previous Frontpage Deal from July.
  • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.
  • If you don't have a Costco Warehouse Membership, you can sign-up here

Original Post

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Top Comments

Community Reviews

This 4TB Lexar PLAY 2280 SE is a Costco exclusive PCIe 4.0 SSD aimed at PS5 and large game libraries, with a heatsink, 7,000 MB per second read speeds, and a 5 year warranty. The main appeal is the storage capacity and Costco return policy, which makes it feel low risk for buyers who need space now. The big caveat is that this SE version is the downgraded QLC, DRAMless model with an InnoGrit controller, so it is less attractive for heavy writes, video editing, or cache use. For mostly static game storage, it still looks like a practical fit.

  • Costco members who want a low-risk way to get 4TB storage now because multiple commenters pointed out Costco's return policy can make the purchase safer if the drive fails, even if "lifetime" returns depend on how the CSR handles eligibility.

  • PS5 owners who want to expand storage for game downloads and mostly read data because commenters said even a slower PCIe 4.0 SSD worked fine on PS5 with many 100GB+ AAA games, and this one should be even faster for that use.

  • People buying a 4TB SSD specifically for mostly static workloads like installing AAA games with only occasional updates because commenters noted QLC's main weakness is write performance, so it's "just fine" when files don't change much.

  • Desktop users planning to do video editing, heavy file management, or use the SSD as a cache drive because commenters warned that QLC drives are not recommended for those kinds of write-heavy or frequently changing workloads.

  • Buyers who care about controller quality and firmware reliability because commenters specifically called out the InnoGrit IG5236 controller as low-end with known firmware issues, arguing the $180 price isn't good unless you're relying on returns.

  • People who want to avoid DRAM-less designs because commenters said the drive is DRAM-less and strongly discouraged the purchase ("RUN AWAY" / "Trashtier").

Common Questions (4)

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40 Comments

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Oct 20, 2025 2:12 PM
97 Comments
Joined Feb 2016
erict7862Oct 20, 2025 2:12 PM
97 Comments

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7000MB/s Max Read and 6000MB/s Max Write

edit: this wasn't in the description when I added this comment.
5
1
Oct 20, 2025 2:50 PM
878 Comments
Joined Nov 2012
mvpcrossxoverOct 20, 2025 2:50 PM
878 Comments
gonna hit frontpage within a few hours.
1
Pro
Oct 20, 2025 2:56 PM
1.9K Comments
Joined Jun 2018
shivster1796
Pro
Oct 20, 2025 2:56 PM
1.9K Comments

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QLC Drive
8
1
Oct 20, 2025 2:56 PM
147 Comments
Joined Apr 2013
hanxin1985Oct 20, 2025 2:56 PM
147 Comments
Interesting
1
1
2
Oct 20, 2025 2:58 PM
719 Comments
Joined Aug 2022
Kirkland-picklesOct 20, 2025 2:58 PM
719 Comments
Costco- falls under lifetime returns
1
Oct 20, 2025 3:00 PM
14 Comments
Joined Sep 2025
NeatBird798Oct 20, 2025 3:00 PM
14 Comments
It's QLC, but the price is fair.
1
Oct 20, 2025 3:09 PM
127 Comments
Joined Nov 2017
RandomMistakesOct 20, 2025 3:09 PM
127 Comments
How does this compare to something like the Lexar M790?

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Oct 20, 2025 3:11 PM
1.7K Comments
Joined Sep 2005
noobcakeOct 20, 2025 3:11 PM
1.7K Comments

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This isn't a good deal for $180 unless you are banking on the Costco returns. $180 is a pretty average price for a 4TB QLC drive these days; you can get much better YMTC Nand or a better controller for the same price.

Pros:
It's from Costco so in theory you can return it forever.
Very high 3200TBW for a QLC

Cons:
Controller is InnoGrit IG5236, which is a low end one from 2021 with known firmware issues. Either Lexar fixed it as this is a new product or this is never going to be patched. It's a PS5 marketed drive so the tech competency for the average buyer for this product is effectively negative -> review has 0 value.
Very low end Intel/Solidigm QLC
27
2
Oct 20, 2025 3:23 PM
127 Comments
Joined Nov 2017
RandomMistakesOct 20, 2025 3:23 PM
127 Comments

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Quote from RandomMistakes View quoted comment :
How does this compare to something like the Lexar M790?
Researched my own question:
This SSD is the Costco exclusive "SE" version of the normal PLAY model. It's a little slower and is QLC instead of TLC. If it were the normal TLC PLAY version, it would be almost identical to the M790, but that's not quite the case here as it's the downgraded QLC version.

Normal PLAY version review:
https://thepcenthusiast.com/lexar...sd-review/

SE Edition review:
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2...eview.html
12
Oct 20, 2025 3:48 PM
23 Comments
Joined Nov 2014
ArdhimasOct 20, 2025 3:48 PM
23 Comments
For all my more technical friends, if I just need more space to store these 100gb AAA games and I have a budget of $200 for a 4tb drive, what else would you recommend instead of this one?
Oct 20, 2025 3:55 PM
1.9K Comments
Joined Feb 2013
AustinM8565Oct 20, 2025 3:55 PM
1.9K Comments

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Quote from KxrmaJunkie View quoted comment :
Costco- falls under lifetime returns
Computers and electronics aren't covered by that. They have a 90 day return policy.
2
Pro
Oct 20, 2025 4:08 PM
762 Comments
Joined Nov 2011
toky00
Pro
Oct 20, 2025 4:08 PM
762 Comments
Quote from Ardhimas View quoted comment :
For all my more technical friends, if I just need more space to store these 100gb AAA games and I have a budget of $200 for a 4tb drive, what else would you recommend instead of this one?
This one from Costco would be fine for that. And if it dies, you can return. Although it's "lifetime" return, from actual experience, past 5yrs would be pushing it. It all depends on the CSR working that day. I've returned something that was almost 10yrs past; granted the item was still like new and was barely used.

Quote from AustinM8565 View quoted comment :
Computers and electronics aren't covered by that. They have a 90 day return policy.
Need to fully read the description as what is considered Computers and Electronics.

If in doubt or receiving confrontation with the CSR, politely ask them to try to return. If the register allows for the return, it's returnable; had first hand experience with this.
Last edited by toky00 October 20, 2025 at 09:12 AM.
Oct 20, 2025 4:22 PM
99 Comments
Joined Jun 2015
NtndoGuy3Oct 20, 2025 4:22 PM
99 Comments
Quote from Ardhimas View quoted comment :
For all my more technical friends, if I just need more space to store these 100gb AAA games and I have a budget of $200 for a 4tb drive, what else would you recommend instead of this one?
I have a "slow" MSI that's 5000MB/s read and 4200MB/s Write and i've had zero issues on my PS5. I've had it for over a year with many 100+ GB AAA games on it so this one from Costco should be great as it's even faster. Might not be great for a desktop computer doing video editing or something but for downloading a game onto the PS5 and then only reading the data it should be perfect.
Oct 20, 2025 4:22 PM
1K Comments
Joined Nov 2016
edge929Oct 20, 2025 4:22 PM
1K Comments
Quote from Ardhimas View quoted comment :
For all my more technical friends, if I just need more space to store these 100gb AAA games and I have a budget of $200 for a 4tb drive, what else would you recommend instead of this one?
The 4TB Crucial T500 was $200 back in July on Amazon but only for a day before it sold out. It's Micron TLC, has DRAM, Phison E25 controller and 5 year warranty. I would expect it to hit $200 again around Black Friday/Cyber Monday.

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-c...ssd-review

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Oct 20, 2025 4:42 PM
500 Comments
Joined Jul 2011
thehitokiriOct 20, 2025 4:42 PM
500 Comments
Quote from toky00 View quoted comment :

This one from Costco would be fine for that. And if it dies, you can return. Although it's "lifetime" return, from actual experience, past 5yrs would be pushing it. It all depends on the CSR working that day. I've returned something that was almost 10yrs past; granted the item was still like new and was barely used.



Need to fully read the description as what is considered Computers and Electronics.

If in doubt or receiving confrontation with the CSR, politely ask them to try to return. If the register allows for the return, it's returnable; had first hand experience with this.
If it's within a reasonable time. Costco does not have lifetime warranty. They will turn you away if you are not a good member.

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