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Is it possible to check SSD (Samsung or Toshiba) without registering the MBA?

D

Diesel-DK

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 10, 2011
4
0
Bruxelles
I ordered the MBA 13, i7, 256GB a couple of weeks ago and it has finally arrived.

I want the Samsung SSD (as opposed to the Toshiba), however my MAC-pusher won't allow my to unpack the MBA and check what SSD is inside and return it, if it is the "wrong" SSD.

He says that I would need to register the MBA with Apple before I can access the hardware information. And if it turns out to be a Toshiba SSD, he cannot sell it as a new MBA since it has already been registered.

Now, is it really true that I have to register the MBA before I can check the SSD? Or are there any other ways to get the information?

Cheers,
Diesel-DK

PS: We called Apple but they told us that they cannot (will not!) tell the SSD included.
 
No, there isn't. You can return it (check on your reseller's return policies first).

But why would you want to???? Enjoy your new MBA. It doesn't matter which SSD you get, they both work great!!!
 
Diesel-DK said:
I ordered the MBA 13, i7, 256GB a couple of weeks ago and it has finally arrived.

I want the Samsung SSD (as opposed to the Toshiba), however my MAC-pusher won't allow my to unpack the MBA and check what SSD is inside and return it, if it is the "wrong" SSD.

He says that I would need to register the MBA with Apple before I can access the hardware information. And if it turns out to be a Toshiba SSD, he cannot sell it as a new MBA since it has already been registered.

Now, is it really true that I have to register the MBA before I can check the SSD? Or are there any other ways to get the information?

Cheers,
Diesel-DK

PS: We called Apple but they told us that they cannot (will not!) tell the SSD included.
Click to expand...

If you don't EVER check, you won't notice a difference. Enjoy the laptop for what it is, not what you want it to be.
 
Diesel-DK said:
I ordered the MBA 13, i7, 256GB a couple of weeks ago and it has finally arrived.

I want the Samsung SSD (as opposed to the Toshiba), however my MAC-pusher won't allow my to unpack the MBA and check what SSD is inside and return it, if it is the "wrong" SSD.

He says that I would need to register the MBA with Apple before I can access the hardware information. And if it turns out to be a Toshiba SSD, he cannot sell it as a new MBA since it has already been registered.

Now, is it really true that I have to register the MBA before I can check the SSD? Or are there any other ways to get the information?

Cheers,
Diesel-DK

PS: We called Apple but they told us that they cannot (will not!) tell the SSD included.
Click to expand...

They wont tell you cause they dont know. Why not identify where you bought so we can tell you more.

14 day return from Apple, how did you buy that would forgo that return policy.
 
Thx for the quick replies.

ZipZap said:
They wont tell you cause they dont know. Why not identify where you bought so we can tell you more.

14 day return from Apple, how did you buy that would forgo that return policy.
Click to expand...

I ordered it from a premium Apple retailer "Humac" in Copenhagen, Denmark. Humac doesn't offer the standard 2 weeks return policy. In other words: If I register the MBA, I cannot return it.

And surely, the Toshiba is not bad. But I am up-grading from the MBA 2010 in order to get a more powerful system (that's why I also got the i7) and I would be rather upset getting second-best hardware while paying top dollar!
 
Yes you simply strat up and press cancel registration from the welcome screen. It will then let you in Lion once you've made an account. I did mine that way.
 
Yes!
I did that when I fired up my MBA for the first time. Was totally unable to access my WLAN, so I just cancelled the registration and went on. No problems at all.
 
From the Spreadsheet of the SSD's and the panels I deduced that most people with a 13" i7, the 256 SSD is Samsung, Panel is LG; this is what you'll probably get but don't rely upon it to make a decision. Somebody should check for more patterns because I'm sure the way the Airs are assembled is not random.
 
SHIPARCH said:
From the Spreadsheet of the SSD's and the panels I deduced that most people with a 13" i7, the 256 SSD is Samsung, Panel is LG; this is what you'll probably get but don't rely upon it to make a decision. Somebody should check for more patterns because I'm sure the way the Airs are assembled is not random.
Click to expand...

At face value, there surely seems to be the correlation you point to. However, it would be interesting to know whether date of assembly and place of delivery mean anything? As of now, most of the entries in the spread sheet come from the US.

The link between i7 and Samsung SSd seems to be weaker for the reported European purchases, but then again there are not that many European entries which may bias the observations...
 
YES...YES there is!

While turning it on for the first time, press and hold the "option" key which will bring you into the recovery. From there you can open up Terminal and bring up the system profiler through Terminal without EVER registering the device.

Yes...you have to turn it on BUT you will NOT have to go through the registration process.

Code: 
system_profiler -detailLevel basic
 
I simply cannot believe what i am reading.

It has even been proven that the toshiba has a faster random 4k read time which is the most common drive operation mode, i.e. booting, opening programs etc.

Unless you are moving large files across the disk there will be no difference.

When thunderbolt drives come out, there might be a slight improvement then too, as they will be the only external device that could possibly max the SSD read/write, but who's to say you won't be putting in an OWC blade in a year or 2's time.


They even tested both ssd's with a real user test. They condensed something like 4 days worth of laptop use into a single test. The difference in seconds was negligible.
 
mfldmike said:
YES...YES there is!

While turning it on for the first time, press and hold the "option" key which will bring you into the recovery. From there you can open up Terminal and bring up the system profiler through Terminal without EVER registering the device.

Yes...you have to turn it on BUT you will NOT have to go through the registration process.

Code: 
system_profiler -detailLevel basic
Click to expand...

Just to build on this excellent advise

To just get SSD info type into terminal :

Code: 
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType SPSerialATADataType
 
who's to say over time that the toshiba won't last longer?

also what about samsung vs lg screen.....


i would be more concerned about overall build quality (backlight bleed,not sitting flat,ect ect) and if all good...would keep
 
Seriously? The MBA you ordered several weeks ago finally arrived and you afraid to use it because it may have an SSD that, while it will blow any HDD out of the water, gets lower numbers in certain benchmarks that do not necessarily represent real world performance.

Forget all the debate over which SSD is fastest or which video panel is best, the only advice that is worth taking away from any of these threads is enjoy your MBA, its an awesome machine
 
bp1000 said:
I simply cannot believe what i am reading.

It has even been proven that the toshiba has a faster random 4k read time which is the most common drive operation mode, i.e. booting, opening programs etc.

Unless you are moving large files across the disk there will be no difference.

When thunderbolt drives come out, there might be a slight improvement then too, as they will be the only external device that could possibly max the SSD read/write, but who's to say you won't be putting in an OWC blade in a year or 2's time.


They even tested both ssd's with a real user test. They condensed something like 4 days worth of laptop use into a single test. The difference in seconds was negligible.
Click to expand...

Where do you see that the Toshiba has a higher 4k read?
According to this test:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4528/the-2011-macbook-air-11-13inch-review/8

Toshiba: 1.65 MB/s 4k random read
Samsung:27.2 MB/s 4k random read



Buy it from Apple Store (Det gjorde jeg)
 
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