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Best SSD drive for Early 2011 model Macbook Pro?

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DubLogic19

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2011
75
0
South Carolina
As stated in my previous thread, I need to replace my drive. But as that problem is determined now, I just want recommendations on a new drive. I know I want a SSD. I've seen them range anywhere from 85$-$500 on Amazon and I can't really determine which one to buy. I want a minumum 1 TB, no exceptions. What's a good drive? :apple:
 
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airattack111

macrumors member
Dec 9, 2008
84
3
Probably the Samsung 850 1TB. I think they're around $600.

I know you say no exceptions but.. why spend so much money on an SSD for an '11 model? You could always get a smaller SSD and use a big hard drive in place of the DVD drive or vice versa.

If I was going to drop $600 on a storage device I would just order a brand new macbook pro instead.
 
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cjmillsnun

macrumors 68020
Aug 28, 2009
2,399
48
1TB SSD's are extremely expensive.

Bear in mind you have a 2011 Mac which if a 15" or 17" will suffer from Radeongate at some point (the chips are crap), you'd be better saving money by buying either 1 TB spinning drive, or a smaller SSD and a larger HD (either external or in a caddy in the optical bay).

I have a 1TB SSD in this rMBP because Apple specced it as a replacement for my Mid '12 (which I bought with a 512 GB SSD) under AppleCare. Were I buying, I would've got the 512 GB, and keep most data on my NAS. (I keep most of my data on my NAS anyway).
 
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DubLogic19

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2011
75
0
South Carolina
airattack111 said:
Probably the Samsung 850 1TB. I think they're around $600.

I know you say no exceptions but.. why spend so much money on an SSD for an '11 model? You could always get a smaller SSD and use a big hard drive in place of the DVD drive or vice versa.

If I was going to drop $600 on a storage device I would just order a brand new macbook pro instead.
Click to expand...

A new MacBook pro is way more than $600, so I don't see how that's reasonable, but I am also unaware that I could replace the DVD drive with a hard drive...how difficult would that be to perform?
 
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DubLogic19

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2011
75
0
South Carolina
T'hain Esh Kelch said:
Nothing, it is one of the most bought models. But you asked for the best, and the Samsung 850 is the best.
Click to expand...

Well for the price the 840 series seems to be the way to go for me. I'm not completely interested in running dual drives, and the cost of a smaller SSD and a 1-2TB HHD is about the same as the 840 series 1 TB.

UPDATE: I've decided to go with the 840 series 1TB Samsung. I just researched how to do the install/swap, and also how to activate TRIM on a 3rd party SSD. Anything else I should know about guys?
 
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Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,346
12,461
OP wrote:
[[ I want a minumum 1 TB, no exceptions ]]

Unless you absolutely need all that space, you'll be paying a hefty premium.

Right now, the 240gb-480gb size factor represents the "value buy" in SSD's.

If a large percentage of your storage needs are things like photos, videos, music -- an HDD (perhaps in an external case) will do just as well.
 
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airattack111

macrumors member
Dec 9, 2008
84
3
DubLogic19 said:
A new MacBook pro is way more than $600, so I don't see how that's reasonable, but I am also unaware that I could replace the DVD drive with a hard drive...how difficult would that be to perform?
Click to expand...

I realize that. It just seems like a lot of money to spend on an upgrade. You could probably sell the macbook for $800, save the $600, and put a huge down payment on a new retina.

But if you plan on keeping the SSD later for maybe your at home PC, I don't see any issue. Otherwise I would just get a 256GB for roughly $120.
 
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DubLogic19

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 4, 2011
75
0
South Carolina
Nails1 said:
TRIM enabler will enable TRIM. But the KEXT security is disabled.
Click to expand...

I read that. I don't fully understand the pros and cons of enabling TRIM to begin with, and also don't understand the danger of disabling KEXT. Would it be recommended to just run Yosemite without enabling TRIM?:apple:
 
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