Definitive SSD for the 2011 MBP

[WonkyPanda]

So, instead of wading through the dozens of threads on SSDs, I'd like to see if I can just get some quick opinions on which SSDs are giving the least amount of problems and best performance on the TB MBPs.

My other question is: would a person who plans to use it mainly for word, email, some gaming, and school work benefit at all from SATA III? From the anecdotal evidence i've gathered here, SATA III is really only for those moving massive amounts of storage and/or working with big files.

Lastly, does it really matter which SATA port you connect the SSD to? I know the superdrive link speed shows me only 3 gigabit. Is this only because the superdrive is using such a low link speed or is that SATA port only compatible with up to 3 gigabit?

Oh, and I plan to get a 128gb if that changes anything.

 

[chafey]

1) People generally believe the Intel 320 series is the most reliable.
2) You would definitely see benefits from an SSD - the system will feel much snappier in all cases
3) You can connect it to either port, but the optical drive port is SATA2 so you wont get the maximum performance from a SATA3 drive if you plug it in there. You probably wouldn't notice the performance difference in day to day use, but it will show up on performance benchmarks

 

[Hellhammer]

For your usage, the Intel 320 Series seems to be the best option. It's one of the most reliable ones, if not the most reliable, and competitively priced along with decent speeds (great random speeds). IMO people look way too much at the benchmarks when it comes to SSDs. The difference between Vertex 3 and Vertex 2 for instance isn't noticeable in real world unless you do something disk intensive.

 

[Merkyworks]

just got a intel 320 128GB and its speed its great!

 

[DustinT]

The Intel is fine but the Vertex 3 is faster. But, no matter what you get it will smoke your current hard drive.

 

[Peteman100]

Vertex 3 is a sweet drive, but it is anything but maintenance free. Go with the Intel 320 if you want an SSD that "just works".