DIY SSD Upgrade Report

[germinator]

I just finished installing an 80 GB Intel X25M G2 in my new MBP i7. Nothing I saw convinced me that there is a better SSD (at a reasonable price).

I went with the newmodeus tray and I installed the SSD in place of the optical drive. I do not care about hibernation, and I will disable it. I want my computer to use sleep-only because I want it to go to sleep immediately when I so choose, and not have to wait one minute or so for it to dump the RAM to disk.

I also upgraded the stock 500 GB Hitachi HDD to a 7200 RPM model. Both the HDD and SSD are recognized at 3 Gbps by System Profiler.

A warning: Do not follow the ifixit take apart blindly. In particular, DO NOT unplug the 3 antenna connectors from the AP/BT assembly (step 7): They are EXTREMELY HARD to plug back in---one hour sweating and a few grey hairs.

You also only need to remove the AP/BT connector and the SATA connector from the mobo.

The tray is held in place by the AP/BT assembly on the top and by a piece of electrical tape at the bottom. This makes it completely reversible in case I need Apple to service it (no double-sticky tape that can leave residues).

 

[brand]

I purchased the MaxUpgrades OptiBay kit and the 60GB Intel G2 SSD but am waiting for my i7 15" MacBook Pro to arrive. I was planning on moving the HDD to the the optical bay and mounting the SSD where the factory HDD was mounted. Why did you do it the way that you did instead of how I am planning on doing it?

 

[paintballswimgu]

The tray is held in place by the AP/BT assembly on the top and by a piece of electrical tape at the bottom. This makes it completely reversible in case I need Apple to service it (no double-sticky tape that can leave residues).

Does that hold it in the computer securely enough. I really want to do this to my new mbp i5, but i'm scared that it might move around and damage other stuff in the computer.

I really like the fact that this one http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=Product.display&product_id=186 has screws mounting positions for the drive, unlike the newmodus drive bay. But i can't see paying 2x as much if i don't have to

 

[germinator]

I purchased the MaxUpgrades OptiBay kit and the 60GB Intel G2 SSD but am waiting for my i7 15" MacBook Pro to arrive. I was planning on moving the HDD to the the optical bay and mounting the SSD where the factory HDD was mounted. Why did you do it the way that you did instead of how I am planning on doing it?

I thought I had explained it. The only advantage I can see in putting the SSD into the HDD bay is that hibernation would work. But I have disabled hibernation (that is, I only have sleep). If my battery gets completely discharged, the computer shuts down and I will lose the status and unsaved work.

Disadvantages of putting HDD outside of HDD bay:
- It is not mounted using proper damping hinges
- according to what I read here, it may note receive proper signal from the accelerometer sensor

 

[germinator]

Does that hold it in the computer securely enough.

Yes, it's quite secure IMHO. No need for the screws. Keep in mind that SSDs are resistant to shocks. If you are paranoid, you can always glue it in...