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Is SSD worth it?

T

Thunder82

macrumors 6502
Jul 16, 2008
442
3
Chicago, IL
Intel X25m 160GB (gen2) and a WD 1TB 2.5" drive (when they finally become available) in an optibay is what I'm after. Speed and Endless storage = Win.

And no, I don't need an optical drive. I only use it to load the OS.. And have a USB Optical drive for that.
 
A

adamjackson

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2008
2,334
4,730
adamk77 said:
Then again, people spend lot of money on lot of other things. I spend $100 easily on a night out on food and alcohol. And I spend it seemingly without even thinking about it.
Click to expand...

Amen. Now I have to say that my addiction has gone too far. I live in SF and make enough money to get by but I never go out EVER. I moved here 14 months ago, don't have any friends, work over 100 hours a week and don't take any time off. I'm launching a company, wrapping up my book and just got my 12th consulting client signed on this month. I'm "professionally" doing great.

All of the money I save by having no friends helps me buy tons of s hit.

3Ghz 17" MacBook Pro w/ Dual SSDs in Raid 0
MacBook Air 2.13Ghz
32GB iPhone
Apple TV
TimeCapsule
30" Dell LCD
Bose Speakers
Shure SE530 Earphones
and more

I have a problem though and spend entirely too much money on technology but I have friends that will bitc h and complain when their Dell LCD dies or a hard drive crashes in their PowerBook G4 they bought in 2003 and no I don't gloat but these are the same friends that go out drinking 4 nights a week and go on dates and travel to vegas once a month. I'm not saying my technology filled life is full of happiness but there's a middle ground.

If you're asking whether or not you should get an SSD, sign on to mint.com and add all of your bank account info. it will tell you exactly how much money you spend on shopping, going out and drinking. If you can cut that stuff in half and save the money for 3 months and afford that $600 SSD then it's well worth it ESPECIALLY if you use the MacBook Pro for WORK and your productivity goes up by having a faster machine.

If your productivity increase = more money in your paycheck then by reducing the money of going out then it's worth saving up for that drive so you can party more later after you make more money from being more productive. make sense?

I'm going to go back to working and saving my money for a 2nd 30" Monitor KTHXBAI.
 
F

Farplaner

macrumors 6502
Aug 4, 2008
303
0
Is the G2 even listed on bing? I bought it without bing cashback but I wasn't able to get a search term that returns the G2 SSD, only the G1...
 
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adamjackson

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2008
2,334
4,730
adamk77 said:
I
Yeah, I probably did end up meeting more ladies as a result of all my socializing, but that usually ends costing me more money down the road :)
Click to expand...

Yeah and I haven't been on a date in 3 years but that's life.

At least there were guys out there like you keeping the ladies happy :)
 
GroundLoop

GroundLoop

macrumors 68000
Mar 21, 2003
1,583
62
Thunder82 said:
Intel X25m 160GB (gen2) and a WD 1TB 2.5" drive (when they finally become available) in an optibay is what I'm after. Speed and Endless storage = Win.

And no, I don't need an optical drive. I only use it to load the OS.. And have a USB Optical drive for that.
Click to expand...

Well the 160GB X25-M G2 is at NewEgg right now. I ordered mine tonight.

Hickman
 
uberamd

uberamd

macrumors 68030
May 26, 2009
2,785
2
Minnesota
gianly1985 said:
Try an Intel SSD before saying that it isn't worth.......
Click to expand...

No need to try one. I may do a lot of programming that requires compiling, and my work revolves around my computer, but at the same time I am not in that big of a hurry that I need immediate read/write times on my drive. The HD may be a bottleneck on my systems, but oh well. I would rather have all 350GB of my data with me at all times without needing an external hard drive or spending another $130 on an optibay.

The SSD is what, $400? Thats insane. $400 for the SSD + $130 for the optibay + $100 for a 500GB HDD to store the rest of your data = $630 for storage? Vs my $100 I spent? I would gladly have hundreds in savings and a hair slower computer. But thats just me.

As I said, cost per gigabyte, SSD's make absolutely no sense to me. My netbook has a SSD, and the only thing I like about it is the fact that I can shake it and know the data is safe. Beyond that novelty, big deal. I realize netbook SSD's are not good, but that isn't the point. My point is that right now, I have no need to throw hundreds of dollars out for a drive that will be a faction of the cost in a few years. I like being on the cutting edge, but not when it means pissing money away for minimal storage and a speed bump. I call that a waste of $.
 
MacLadybug

MacLadybug

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2008
633
28
I like the concept of no moving parts and more stability and speed... I crave the speed. But I keep a lot of data on my laptop. I never know what I will need to reference so I want it all. So, I'm waiting for a larger SSD that will fit in my 10/08 13" Unibody. So right now, how large an SSD will fit in my Alum MB?
 
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adamjackson

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2008
2,334
4,730
MacLadybug said:
I like the concept of no moving parts and more stability and speed... I crave the speed. But I keep a lot of data on my laptop. I never know what I will need to reference so I want it all. So, I'm waiting for a larger SSD that will fit in my 10/08 13" Unibody. So right now, how large an SSD will fit in my Alum MB?
Click to expand...

It's actually nice when I went from a 7200RPM drive to SSD. I never noticed how the bottom left part of the MBP vibrates with the faster drive spinning. now no vibration and I think it's running cooler as well.
 
MacLadybug

MacLadybug

macrumors 6502a
Jun 6, 2008
633
28
rgarjr said:
MacLadybug,

U should consider getting a small SSD drive for the OS and Apps, and then drop your current HD in the SuperDrive area.
Click to expand...

You can do that??? Have you done that? Does that mean I could put 2 SSDs in?
 
gianly1985

gianly1985

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2008
798
0
Some tips for future x-25m G2 owners:

- both size are blazing fast, but 160gb is faster than 80gb model (in case someone didn't know, 'cause it's not intuitive), even if probably the difference is hardly noticeable in everyday usage

- thanks to the 50nm -----> 34nm shrink, the current x25-m (called "G2") have a completely free side of the disk where Intel could put with NO EFFORT another 160gb of flash, which means that probably we will see a 320gb version coming out in the next months....if you're looking for that kind of capacity on single disk you could want to wait for it...
 
P

pocketdoc

macrumors 6502a
Apr 15, 2008
799
37
Great thread.

I am getting a new MBP and may just get a HDD and upgrade later. $800 for 256 Apple SSD is too much for me.

I was wondering how you replace your existing HDD and install the OS on the new SSD?
 
fehhkk

fehhkk

macrumors 6502a
Jun 11, 2009
730
202
Chicago, IL
MBP mid 2009 with Seagate 7200.4 500GB:

Results 55.67
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.7 (9J3050)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type ST9500420AS
Disk Test 55.67
Sequential 124.79
Uncached Write 142.81 87.69 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 155.03 87.72 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 76.52 22.39 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 180.71 90.82 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 35.83
Uncached Write 11.53 1.22 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 160.76 51.47 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 83.57 0.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 149.47 27.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]

With G2 Intel X-25M 160GB:

Results 272.56
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.5.8 (9L30)
Physical RAM 4096 MB
Model MacBookPro5,3
Drive Type INTEL SSDSA2M160G2GC
Disk Test 272.56
Sequential 178.75
Uncached Write 165.19 101.43 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 156.49 88.54 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 133.39 39.04 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 410.34 206.24 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 573.53
Uncached Write 699.52 74.05 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 263.26 84.28 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 1437.91 10.19 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 951.61 176.58 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Almost 4X the speed of the hard drive. Damn my MBP flies now. Totally worth it.
 
noodle654

noodle654

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2005
2,070
22
Never Ender
SSD are not worth it for the average computer user. The costs are too high for the size. You could buy a couple 500GB 7200RPM drives for the cost of a single high capacity SSD. The technology is too new and too expensive for it to even be an option for most computer users. I know the benefits and all that, but the price is not worth it at all. In the next few years the prices will drop and everything will be good. Don't we all remember in 2000 when the iBook Clamshell SE Graphite had a 10GB HDD standard?? How much did a drive back then cost? Just give it time. Just my thought.
 
NC MacGuy

NC MacGuy

macrumors 603
Feb 9, 2005
6,233
0
The good side of the grass.
Once you've had a SSD, it's hard to go back to a mechanical drive. Vibration, noise, boot times, instantaneous app. launches. Bought a MBP and got low end. Threw in a SSD and it's faster than if I'd sprung for the extra 200 some MHz and the price is pretty close. So yes, for me it's worth it. Really worth it.
 
P

PacMookBro

macrumors regular
Jan 31, 2007
224
0
SSD Decision Guide!

Buy SSD if:
1) You are just a fanatic of technology, or
2) You want to or must get a work done few minutes/hours faster then you can with non-SSD, or
3) You have an extra money to spare

No one really needs to be able to do (2) above even if one calls him/herself a "professional". In real life, effective efficiency and quality of work do not correlate to how fast your computer runs. We human are convenient procrastinators anyway. :rolleyes:

Most people here are actually closet geeks and to some extent (1). We love new technology. Some of people of (2) are constantly finding a plausible reason not to be seen as (1). Most likely justifies buying SSD for (1) folks. :D

Technology is a business. Intel knows how to make money. So if you want to promote current price of SSD to further come down faster and (3) applies to you, go ahead and buy it to support Intel.

I want Intel SSD bad, but not yet for me. Not yet until enough (3) pay Intel for SSD R&D. Let me know if you like my guide! ;)

IMHO
 
A

antskip

macrumors regular
Apr 24, 2009
100
0
Australia
Buy a good SSD if you:
1) want to get the best of your other expensive computer hardware and software
2) if you are tired of noisy, spinning, vibrating, hot, HDD's that can (and do) fail at any given second, with no external cause
3) if you don't want to have a storage system which is so vulnerable to impact damage
4) if 80-250GB is sufficient for primary storage
5) if you love silence
6) if you love immediacy of access to programs and files
7) if you can afford to buy one
8) if you want a glimpse of the future
:)
 
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