Is it worth putting an SSD in my MBP? Will it fix issues?

[Andi90]

So I got a 13 inch MBP in late 2010 and it was really really great. Then I went overseas about 6 months ago and had to ship it back. I think it was knocked around a little. I had some trackpad problems for a while but eventually they went away, apparently there was some kind of hard drive problem at the same time but Disk Utility fixed it. Then just a few days ago my laptop wouldn't go load past the loading screen, booted up from the Snow Leopard Disk and scanned the hard drive, there was a problem in red but disk repair fixed it. The computer has also been strangely slow lately, with a lot more of the spinning wheel. I ended up erasing the hard drive and re-installing Snow Leopard over Lion, and it's been better since then but still not the way it was.

I've been pretty mobile with my laptop lately, taking it a lot of places with me and such, and over its lifetime it has been knocked around a bit, on planes, travelling, falling off beds etc. I read that impacts tend to gradually damage the hard drive and I tend to think maybe I have gotten to that point. I've just started leaving it at home all the time so it doesn't break but I am not so keen on that.

So I was thinking, would it be worth getting an SSD put in? I have a netbook with a small SSD and it's been great, and been knocked around heaps. Would this maybe fix my problems? If so, should I just go to a local Mac store and get them to put one in, or should I source my own/go to an independent store? My MBP is out of warranty so that is not a concern. How much does it generally cost (I am located in Australia)?

I was considering getting a new MBP when they come out, but now I am leaning towards an iMac, if I could just get this one working as my portable computer again that would be great.

What do you think?

 

[charlieegan3]

you sound a tad accident prone to install your own SDD, however if you are careful i would say that would be your best option.

 

[QuarterSwede]

It does sound like your HDD is going bad due to shock damage. An SSD is a lot more durable to shock so it would definitely help. Plus you'll get a massive improvement in speed.

 

[Andi90]

Thanks for your replies.

I'm not bad at fixing things when I pay attention, I just get a little rushed and careless sometimes and my Macbook suffers

I was looking at the OWC Mercury Electra 3G 2.5" drive 120GB. I've looked up reviews and they don't seem too bad? I'm just an internet brower/word processor/watch movies person, so my requirements aren't high, but it's almost half the price of what the Mac store quoted me. Is it a reasonably reliable drive? It comes with a 3 year warranty.

I've read that there can be some problems with TRIM? Would this be relevent with this drive (I am running Snow Leopard), or would I need to update to Lion again?

 

[Medic278]

I would also say that you upload as SSD with SSDs having no moving parts they are far less prone to failures than a traditional HDD. Plus its a great way to breathe to life into an older machine you'll see some pretty significant performances gains from it. I am running an Intel520 for several reasons I read some reviews and it gets 5 stars plus they are crazy reliable and under went a full year of testing before they were released and they come with a 5 year warranty! You should be able to do it yourself there are plenty of excellent guides out there. I myself used the ifixit guide and it was great and even included a video.

 

[Andi90]

Thanks again!

Yes, I've seen a few good reviews of the Intels as well, and they are recommend here on the sticky for the pre 2011 MBP (mine is a mid 2010 I think), although that recommended the Intel 320 which I haven't seen around.

I've found a good online/physical store that offers both the 520 and the 330 series - I'm not sure about the difference (besides price) but 520 does seem faster, but I don't know if it would really make a difference on my computer (with the whole 3G/6G SATA or whatever). They also come with a 5 year warranty which is super.

So I'm not sure what to do with, the OWC Mercury Electra 3G (which is cheap), or the Intel 330 or 520 (I don't mind paying a bit more if overall it's more reliable and compatible), or maybe something completely different. I'll be getting around 120GB.

What is the best choice? Also, is a 2.5" drive the correct size for my MBP?