2.13GHz/128GB SSD Simple Review

[ayeying]

To make it easier for everyone to read, I'm just going to put my review in bullet points.

1) The screen is fantastic even though I know many have problems with the display. My model is 9c90, the same as many have line problems and such.

2) The SSD is a little crap. Fast but not one to win any races. Beats the crap outta the 4200RPM though.

3) Overheating is GONE compared to my Rev A. I can touch all parts without burning myself even after 2 hours of gaming in CoD: WaW on Windows 7 @ high performance mode

4) Battery life is fantastic, at least from what I used. Right now I'm in Windows 7 with 1/3 brightness and battery life reports 4 Hours with balanced setting running firefox, aim and windows live messenger.

5) The fan is quieter then my Rev A even at max speeds.

6) The touchpad button is quieter and the keyboard keys are quieter also.

7) The speaker volume is just the same as my Rev A, no difference whatsoever.

[macinsomniac]

Nice to see a positive experience and review. Crossing my fingers and hoping I have the same when mine arrives.

[gman901]

Nice review! I think I am going to pick one up tomorrow. How does the SSD compare to the stock 5400 drives or even the 7200 rpm drives? Also, everyone on these forums and even the Apple sales rep told me the Air won't be able to play new games at all or maybe at the lowest settings possible. Are you getting good results with COD WaW for real?

[Scottsdale]

Short but sweet. Good job.

At this point, the pros far outweigh the cons!

Have to disagree on the SSD, as mine seems quick just like my original rev B 1.86/SSD.

I do believe mine is slightly warmer to the touch when watching video than my 1.86 was. I guess that makes sense, as it's a faster CPU???

[Giancarlo]

It is definitely warmer than rev. B which I have with me as well. side by side the SSDs are basically the same speed. The battery on the new Air lasted me a full 4 hours and 10 minutes with wifi on, screen brightness at 2 bars short of full and browsing while listening to Itunes. Same setting on my rev B. and the battery lasted 3 hours and 21 minutes same activities.

I have noticed that it does get warmer and the fan comes on more often... But I guess it is expected given that the cpu is more powerful and the way I understand it the video card has also been pumped up...

[fteoath64]

Windows 7 ! You just can't resist, can you?.

Please post Xbench 1.3 benchmarks. I have some reservations on the SSD and I think they might be the Toshiba crap ones rather than nice Samsung SSDs.

My biggest question is: Is the SSD drive using LIF connector (Same as Rev B) or standard microSata ?.

Also, pls load SMCfanControl and check the temps of the CPU and idle and gaming fan speeds. Are the fans audible at full bore ?. I presume full-bore is still 6200 RPM ?.

Congrats.
I will wait till Xmas for it.

[iObama]

I can touch all parts without burning myself...

hehehe :o:D

[e.m.]

Can you tell us what brand the SSD is? Thanks.

[ayeying]

hehehe :o:D

dirty mind. :p

[ayeying]

Can you tell us what brand the SSD is? Thanks.

Samsung. The label on the drive says its a Samsung Brand

[e.m.]

Samsung. The label on the drive says its a Samsung Brand

I see, thanks. Weren't the Rev B's Samsung also? Is it a different model?

[Scottsdale]

My SSD says Samsung. Can check in more info about system. Click on serial ATA and will display info about drive. It just about has to be the exact same drive. I will take mine apart and document all next weekend. Going to fully test temperatures doing things then will reapply thermal paste and check all temps again.

But I am still not sure I want to keep it without waiting to see if anyone gets better results with display models.

[f4ll]

The SSD in my Macbook Air rev C is fast; I also disagree with the SSD being 'crap'.

[e.m.]

My SSD says Samsung. Can check in more info about system. Click on serial ATA and will display info about drive. It just about has to be the exact same drive. I will take mine apart and document all next weekend. Going to fully test temperatures doing things then will reapply thermal paste and check all temps again.

But I am still not sure I want to keep it without waiting to see if anyone gets better results with display models.

Cool. Looking forward to what you find.

[aleksandra.]

Have to disagree on the SSD, as mine seems quick just like my original rev B 1.86/SSD.

I think it goes without saying that SSD in Air is better than any laptop HDD, but did you compared it to Intel's SSDs or OCZ Vertex, even on paper? If the latter was available in 1.8" form factor I'd be even more annoyed with certain laptop using SATA-LIF connector than I'm now...

[Scottsdale]

I think it goes without saying that SSD in Air is better than any laptop HDD, but did you compared it to Intel's SSDs or OCZ Vertex, even on paper? If the latter was available in 1.8" form factor I'd be even more annoyed with certain laptop using SATA-LIF connector than I'm now...

Oh, I am not saying it's an Intel SSD... but it also doesn't double the price of the MBA to get SSD either... which that would do. And Intel doesn't have a 1.8" that works in the MBA with more than 80 GB SSD.

Not saying it's faster than other SSDs, as it's also a small 1.8" form factor... and yes it's far faster than any HDD. My new MBA boots in about 24 seconds and shuts down in about one second! I think that's impressive... faster than my rev B on both ends. Also, Snow Leopard should improve it even more!

I am happy with the SSD in the MBA... and it is incredibly fast compared to the alternative for the MBA (the 4200rpm HDD).

[steve31]

You cant load Windows with boot camp on the Intel SSD...everytime I tried this I would just get errors. It is a problem with the 80 gb Intel drive on a Mac. I will be happy to be able to do this once I have my MBA on Monday.

[zunairryk]

can u run 3dmark06 on windows 7 ? and report the score here

thanks

[stylinexpat]

Oh, I am not saying it's an Intel SSD... but it also doesn't double the price of the MBA to get SSD either... which that would do. And Intel doesn't have a 1.8" that works in the MBA with more than 80 GB SSD.

Not saying it's faster than other SSDs, as it's also a small 1.8" form factor... and yes it's far faster than any HDD. My new MBA boots in about 24 seconds and shuts down in about one second! I think that's impressive... faster than my rev B on both ends. Also, Snow Leopard should improve it even more!

I am happy with the SSD in the MBA... and it is incredibly fast compared to the alternative for the MBA (the 4200rpm HDD).


Are you seeing 3.0 Gbps for your Sata or 1.5 Gbps?

[Mactagonist]

I remember thinking that the Samsung SSD in my Rev B Air was fast. And it was. But now that I'm using the x25m... now that is FAST. :cool:

[ayeying]

Are you seeing 3.0 Gbps for your Sata or 1.5 Gbps?

The MacBook Air's SATA is 3.0Gbps for both Rev B and Rev C

[Scottsdale]

Are you seeing 3.0 Gbps for your Sata or 1.5 Gbps?

Funny thing is on the MBA it's 3 Gbs, whereas on the new mb PRO it's only 1.5 Gbs... LOL

[ayeying]

Funny thing is on the MBA it's 3 Gbs, whereas on the new mb PRO it's only 1.5 Gbs... LOL

Ditto. So apparently the MBA is slightly better then the MBP lol.

[Maven1975]

Can this be fixed through an EFI update for MBP owners?

[NC MacGuy]

Can this be fixed through an EFI update for MBP owners?

One would hope so. A pretty big unadvertised gothcha from Apple if upgrading to a non-BTO SSD.