Best SSD / RAM upgrade for 2010 13" MBP?

[coolbreeze]

Hi all,

My wife's 2010 13" Macbook Pro has become dog slow with Lion. Beachball city and lags everywhere. I've repaired permissions, etc, etc, and have just decided to make some hardware upgrades.

Ideally, she needs ~120gigs of space and 8gigs of ram. Currently, the machine is stock (250gig 5400 rpm drive, 4gigs of ram) and I want to put an SSD and more RAM in the machine. She is pretty casual in use, but is getting more into photos, so we need more speed. No photoshop or anything, just large image files that are currently choking the stock setup. She currently has 50gigs of photos. I don't want to pay $2k for a new machine also.

So, what SSD/RAM combo would you recommend? I'm looking for reasonable buys, not the absolute top of the line SSD.

Thanks

 

[coolbreeze]

Found an OCZ 120gb Vertex 2 locally NIB for $170. I offered the buy $150. It's sealed and is a warranty replacement.

I have read horror stories about the reliability of this SSD. Is the 3-yr warranty transferrable in this circumstance? I would hate to buy it and have it fail in a week only to have OCZ say sorry, you don't have a warranty...

 

[RedRallyeZ]

The samsung 470 series of SSD's is still getting the best reviews for reliability. And with those you aren't paying the premium for SATA III speeds (which the 2010 won't support anyway)

As far as RAM, check whatever is on a newegg special, I got crucial RAM, but theres really not a ton of difference in the memory thats highest price versus whats cheapest. As long as its ddr3 1066, you're good.

 

[DWBurke811]

I'm loving my Vertex 3 in my mid 2010 13", constant read/writes of 260/210

 

[coolbreeze]

The samsung 470 series of SSD's is still getting the best reviews for reliability. And with those you aren't paying the premium for SATA III speeds (which the 2010 won't support anyway)

As far as RAM, check whatever is on a newegg special, I got crucial RAM, but theres really not a ton of difference in the memory thats highest price versus whats cheapest. As long as its ddr3 1066, you're good.

Thanks. So this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147125

And this RAM is what I'm eying:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139083

Seem like good choices?

 

[cfII]

Thanks. So this one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147125

And this RAM is what I'm eying:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139083

Seem like good choices?

Yes, buy them.

 

[coolbreeze]

Yes, buy them.

I'm not sure what you mean.

Thanks. Pretty clear that these choices are well worth the $250 to breathe new life into a C2D MBP. Unless there are any disagreements, these are what I will order from Newegg.

 

[Demosthenes X]

I'm not sure what you mean.

Thanks. Pretty clear that these choices are well worth the $250 to breathe new life into a C2D MBP. Unless there are any disagreements, these are what I will order from Newegg.

I just put 8GBs of RAM and an SSD (Kingston) into my 2009 13", and it's a night-and-day difference. Phenomenal performance compared to before.

That said, if you currently have 120GB of stuff on the machine, I'd be wary of putting in a 120GB SSD. It just doesn't give you any room to grow, unless you plan to move stuff to external drives (maybe all those photos?).

For $50 - 60 more, you can get a 160 - 180GB SSD. I'd be a lot more comfortable with that size, just to give some degree of room.

 

[coolbreeze]

I just put 8GBs of RAM and an SSD (Kingston) into my 2009 13", and it's a night-and-day difference. Phenomenal performance compared to before.

That said, if you currently have 120GB of stuff on the machine, I'd be wary of putting in a 120GB SSD. It just doesn't give you any room to grow, unless you plan to move stuff to external drives (maybe all those photos?).

For $50 - 60 more, you can get a 160 - 180GB SSD. I'd be a lot more comfortable with that size, just to give some degree of room.

I just went with the 128 (120gb) model.

After looking at my wife's usage, 33gb were iTunes videos that have already expired...instant remove. I just told her to watch all the crap she puts on the computer. If she needs excess storage, there's always the 1TB external drive.

 

[GermanyChris]

Hi all,

My wife's 2010 13" Macbook Pro has become dog slow with Lion. Beachball city and lags everywhere. I've repaired permissions, etc, etc, and have just decided to make some hardware upgrades.

Ideally, she needs ~120gigs of space and 8gigs of ram. Currently, the machine is stock (250gig 5400 rpm drive, 4gigs of ram) and I want to put an SSD and more RAM in the machine. She is pretty casual in use, but is getting more into photos, so we need more speed. No photoshop or anything, just large image files that are currently choking the stock setup. She currently has 50gigs of photos. I don't want to pay $2k for a new machine also.

So, what SSD/RAM combo would you recommend? I'm looking for reasonable buys, not the absolute top of the line SSD.

Thanks

I have the same computer..I have 8gb of Kingston and an OCZ Vertex 2 really this is is FAST now except when the virtual's come into play..I am on my second SSD though the first was RMA'd this one with the new firmware and "inferior" NAND is superior...

----------

Found an OCZ 120gb Vertex 2 locally NIB for $170. I offered the buy $150. It's sealed and is a warranty replacement.

I have read horror stories about the reliability of this SSD. Is the 3-yr warranty transferrable in this circumstance? I would hate to buy it and have it fail in a week only to have OCZ say sorry, you don't have a warranty...

.
The jist of what I get from the OCZ folks is install them and use them don't play geek games with them that most do "quantifying the speed" IMHO OCZ warranty replacement is the best in the business...it's really just send them your old drive and get a new one in the mail easy as that. While ther is very little Mac love at OCZ there is a ton of geek love..I explained what my problem was what I had tried as solutions and they simply said "send it back" and sent me a new one..please don't fear OCZ or Sandforce 1200..