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Which SSD for MBP? Samsung or Crucial?

V

vampireszombies

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 20, 2011
302
15
Texas
Hello, after much debate whether to get a MBA or MBP with ssd I've come to these questions...

Which SSD would be the better choice?
Both 512GB, both about the same price:

Samsung: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009NHAFEC/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_5?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Crucial: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004W2JL3Y/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_3?ie=UTF8&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER



Also on a side note, both come with an installation kit, I'm assuming the CD and cord will allow me to just plug in the harddrive when I receive it and will copy the harddrive in the MBP to the SSD? It will be a fresh start on the MBP, I'm not transfering any files onto it or recovering, its my first mac.
If anyone has a link with instructions on what to do BEFORE installing the SSD (Recovery disk? Cloning? Partitions?) it would be very helpful.

Thank You :)
 
yusukeaoki

yusukeaoki

macrumors 68030
Mar 22, 2011
2,550
6
Tokyo, Japan
I would go with Samsung since they are faster drives.

And about the side note, I dont remember any of them coming with a cable.
You have to buy your own 2.5in enclosure to transfer data.

Are you want to fresh install or just put everything on there?
 
R

ramram55

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2012
825
183
yusukeaoki said:
I would go with Samsung since they are faster drives.

And about the side note, I dont remember any of them coming with a cable.
You have to buy your own 2.5in enclosure to transfer data.

Are you want to fresh install or just put everything on there?
Click to expand...
just clone it using super duper, you should be fine, make sure you highlight the
start up disk when everything is done.
apple menu > system preference > startup disk.
 
V

vampireszombies

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 20, 2011
302
15
Texas
yusukeaoki said:
I would go with Samsung since they are faster drives.

And about the side note, I dont remember any of them coming with a cable.
You have to buy your own 2.5in enclosure to transfer data.

Are you want to fresh install or just put everything on there?
Click to expand...

Well it says it comes with a SATA to USB cord so you can clone your HDD to the new SSD (at least I think thats whats its for). So I would need something else too?

And I mean that it will be a new MBP with no files of mine on it, so I do not need to recover or anything like that first (if it makes a difference)
 
clyde2801

clyde2801

macrumors 601
Mar 6, 2008
4,365
54
In the land of no hills and red dirt.
Eh, get the best deal you can find on either. If it were even money, samsung would probably be the better choice.

Unless you're doing a lot of disk intensive work, you probably wouldn't be able to tell a difference between the two.

People have been seemingly posting more with crucial drive issues lately. Thankfully, I've escaped that so far.
 
B

BlaqkAudio

macrumors 6502
Jun 24, 2008
495
23
New York
Assuming you have a 2011 or 2012 MBP, go with the Samsung 840, it has faster write speeds. If you have an older model, you'll be limited to SATA II speeds, so it doesn't matter as much.

yusukeaoki said:
And about the side note, I dont remember any of them coming with a cable.
You have to buy your own 2.5in enclosure to transfer data.
Click to expand...
The notebook kits come with a SATA to USB cable for data migration.
 
dmk1974

dmk1974

macrumors 68020
Sep 16, 2008
2,387
462
Is the Samsung 830 also faster than the Crucial M4? Or is just the Samsung 840 faster?
 
Orlandoech

Orlandoech

macrumors 68040
Jun 2, 2011
3,341
887
Samsung.

Both the 830 and 840 series are faster than the Crucial, not just the 830 and 840 Pro.
 
T5BRICK

T5BRICK

macrumors G3
Aug 3, 2006
8,313
2,387
Oregon
Samsung unless your MBP doesn't have SATA III, if that's the case, whichever one is least expensive.
 
B

bonedaddio

macrumors member
Jan 23, 2009
63
0
PA, USA
Crucial choice!

Nyuck nyuck... I went with the Crucial 256... I read reviews and at least on Amazoon, 4.5 of 5 stars out of 1200+ reviews is pretty impressive; the Samsung got the same, but with a lot fewer reviews... The Samsung specs are a little better, 50mb/s or so. Same 3 year warranty for both. I went with leading, not bleeding, edge. Sigh... the Sammy might have been the better choice. YMMV. I have another one here to run externally with my iMac 27" (if it ever gets here...). I could always turn that back for a Samsung.
 
Last edited:
richnyc

richnyc

macrumors regular
Nov 8, 2012
180
1
NYC
bonedaddio said:
I read reviews and at least on Amazoon, 4.5 of 5 stars out of 1200+ reviews is pretty impressive; the Samsung got the same, but with a lot fewer reviews...
Click to expand...

It might have to do with Crucial m4 series being available for sale since March/April 2011, whereas Samsung 840 only since November 2012;)
 
E

el-John-o

macrumors 68000
Nov 29, 2010
1,588
766
Missouri
I went with two Crucial M4's in a RAID 0 configuration. Running about 920MB/s (around 8gbps). Pretty stinking quick! (That's RAID 0 though). Like others, Crucial being around longer seemed more 'proven' and so many SSD's are hit and miss, being rushed out the door with the latest and greatest features and speeds and capacities, but failing months later with an alarming number of users. The Samsung could turn out to be solid, or it could turn out to be a dog. At least we know, so far, the Crucial drives seem to be holding up. Everyone once in a while I see a review of an M4 failing, but not many. We shall see.

In the end though, I think the speed difference between the two in real world benchmarks (not advertised speed) is negligible, though the tip goes to Samsung. I don't think you can go wrong either way, that's just what I did.
 
8CoreWhore

8CoreWhore

macrumors 68030
Jan 17, 2008
2,653
1,186
Tejas
I chose the Crucial M4.

Crucial M4 uses MLC, Samsung 840 uses TLC. TLC long term is an unknown. And they should be charging less per GB.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6337/samsung-ssd-840-250gb-review

I'm not in a race where if I lose by a couple seconds I lost period, and don't get to kiss the girl on the podium. My thinking is I'm not going to really notice the difference in speed.

So I chose Crucial because they support updating the firmware in Macs.

The software Samsung uses to update your firmware runs in Windows only. For some, no big deal.

I don't want to disconnect my SDD and go find a Windows box to do an update.

And, Frankly, I don't want to support a company that doesn't respect me as a customer.

Crucial is the consumer face of Micron Technology, an American company.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micron_Technology
 

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