2011 MBP... need bigger SSD... Apple? OWC? Other?

[terzinator]

Love the stock 128GB SSD in my MBP 8,2... Plenty fast for me.

Snow Leopard OS, Home folder and Win7 VM is on the SSD, but I've only got 13GB left, and would like some breathing room. (I have music/movies/photos on the 750GB HDD in the optibay.) I don't plan on upgrading to Lion until I get a bigger SSD. (Not sure if Lion takes up more or less space than SL, but figure the install will go more smoothly if there's more free space to work with.)

So, would you suggest just going with an Apple 256GB SSD? (Can one even get these aftermarket? Not even sure what the cost would be... Apple store only?) I can install it myself, so I don't NEED Apple to do it. But it might be the case where you can only get it if Apple installs it at the store.

Or would you go with a third-party SSD? The new SATAIII OWC unit that was just announced is $600, which seems a tad pricey. But it's 6gbs, and has garbage-collection stuff, which I understand is good. (vs. TRIM on the stock drive.)

I'm really happy with the stock SSD, and I love that I've never had an issue with compatibility; I don't NEED a performance upgrade, just more space.

 

[awer25]

You can easily do it yourself. Get a drive from Newegg - it's much cheaper. For instance, they have the OCZ Agility 3 240GB for $333 after $20 rebate. It's also SATA III and has the same great garbage collection as the OWC model, as they're both Sandforce drives.

For a little more ($388), you can alternatively get the Crucial M4 256GB. It's a bit slower, but also SATA III and has better reviews (although both are great)

 

[Badrottie]

You can easily do it yourself. Get a drive from Newegg - it's much cheaper. For instance, they have the OCZ Agility 3 240GB for $333 after $20 rebate. It's also SATA III and has the same great garbage collection as the OWC model, as they're both Sandforce drives.

For a little more ($388), you can alternatively get the Crucial M4 256GB. It's a bit slower, but also SATA III and has better reviews (although both are great)

bit slower? forget it nobody want a bit slower SSD!

 

[alphaod]

I have the 4x OCZ Vertex 2 in my Macs; it's been great. Never had any issues with any of them. If I were to upgrade the Vertex 3…




However I really would like the new Intel 720~

It's technically a 512GB SSD, but you are only able to use 300GB do to overprovisioning!

 

[awer25]

bit slower? forget it nobody want a bit slower SSD!

If you can tell the difference in the real world I'll give you a cookie

 

[terzinator]

Awesome, thanks for the replies...

I heard impressive numbers about the Vertex 3 when the MBPs came out... but also heard about issues with OCZ customer service and quality, etc... I'm guessing that's all worked itself out...

What's the diff between the Vertex and the Agility? (Yeah, I'll go google it!)

You can easily do it yourself.

Yep, no problem there. I upgraded the RAM and installed the 750GB HDD in the optibay myself.

 

[terzinator]

diff between Agility and Vertex...

apparently the Agility is the "midlevel performance" series, and Vertex is "High Performance."

Not sure what it means in the real world... Would the Agility be on par with the stock Apple SSD?

 

[dusk007]

Agility is mostly just cheaper nand it isn't that much slower than the vertex 3 and still a lot faster than the Apple SSD.
Check out anandtech or storagereview.com
there should be plenty agility benches.

 

[oxfordguy]

Crucial M4 is also worth a look, comparable in speed to the Vertex 3 after the latest firmware updates and, it appears, less hassle and more reliable

 

[awer25]

Awesome, thanks for the replies...

I heard impressive numbers about the Vertex 3 when the MBPs came out... but also heard about issues with OCZ customer service and quality, etc... I'm guessing that's all worked itself out...

What's the diff between the Vertex and the Agility? (Yeah, I'll go google it!)



Yep, no problem there. I upgraded the RAM and installed the 750GB HDD in the optibay myself.

Given the price, I'd probably just go with the Agility. All these drives are insanely fast, and the Agility is cheap too. I can't believe that just a few months after spending over $300 on a 120GB Vertex 3, I can get a similar drive of the 240GB variety for almost the same price.

If anyone wants to trade a 120GB Vertex 3 for a 240GB Agility 3, let me know