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Need help with SSD, which direction I should go.

simsaladimbamba said:
That MacBook has a S-ATA 3.0 Gbps (S-ATA II) interface, thus you are limited to a maximum of approximately 250 MB/s.

Or what do you mean with limited?



PS: I have a 2009 MBP with a Vertex 3 ( S-ATA 6.0 Gbps (S-ATA III) ) and the MBP has an S-ATA 3.0 Gbps (S-ATA II) interface. It works okay.
Click to expand...

Thanks, those guides should suffice for information purposes. I appreciate it. I just didn't want to overbuy I suppose, or pay for something my computer couldn't handle. I plan to continue using my current hard drive as a backup with an enclosure, at least that's the idea. Is there anywhere else I should be looking aside from Ebay?

Also how big of a loss is using the X-25 versus the 320 series? I understand the X-25 was a predecessor of some sort. I think after reading those articles though I should just be safe and settle on the 320 series from intel.
 
Okay, so can you tell me exactly how to install OSX Lion?

From my very low technical experience, this is what I understood:


Using USB
1. I make a "bootable" USB or DVD. If I got the right file, is it around 3.7GB? Am I looking at the right file?

2. I plug in my new SSD as a USB External Drive.

3. I hold 'option' while rebooting.

4. Then what?

Can I use my current HD to install directly into an External Drive?

1. Plug in new SSD as a USB External Drive.

2. Start OSX Lion Installer on my current system and install to that (External) drive? Will the list of attached drives show up if I'm already on Lion? Will the installer even start?

3. Then what?


Thanks to anyone who can help a newbie out. :)
 
johann1228 said:
Okay, so can you tell me exactly how to install OSX Lion?

From my very low technical experience, this is what I understood:


Using USB
1. I make a "bootable" USB or DVD. If I got the right file, is it around 3.7GB? Am I looking at the right file?
Click to expand...

Yes, a bootable USB stick or drive would be around 3.7 GB. Apparently it's advised to use an 8 GB stick though.
However, you can also copy the recovery partition to a USB stick. You only need something like 1 GB. However, it will download Lion through the installer/during the installation, not a problem for me (10 MB/s) but maybe it is for you.

johann1228 said:
2. I plug in my new SSD as a USB External Drive.

3. I hold 'option' while rebooting.

4. Then what?[/I]
Click to expand...

Then you'll see some drives, depending on which drives are connected. You select the recovery partition. This will start the installer. If you want, you can go to disk utility and format your SSD for Lion. This page should explain a lot. Again, this will download Lion using your internet.

johann1228 said:
Can I use my current HD to install directly into an External Drive?

1. Plug in new SSD as a USB External Drive.

2. Start OSX Lion Installer on my current system and install to that (External) drive? Will the list of attached drives show up if I'm already on Lion? Will the installer even start?

3. Then what?
Click to expand...

That should be possible as well. You could also "option boot" (using the alt key) into the recovery partition (so no need to create a USB stick or DVD). Apparently, you should be able to install Lion onto a USB connected hard drive.
Then you get the SSD out of the USB casing and just open up your macbook and put your SSD in. Now your macbook should start and boot into Lion without any problems.

johann1228 said:
Thanks to anyone who can help a newbie out. :)
Click to expand...

No problemo
 
arjen92 said:
Yes, a bootable USB stick or drive would be around 3.7 GB. Apparently it's advised to use an 8 GB stick though.
However, you can also copy the recovery partition to a USB stick. You only need something like 1 GB. However, it will download Lion through the installer/during the installation, not a problem for me (10 MB/s) but maybe it is for you.



Then you'll see some drives, depending on which drives are connected. You select the recovery partition. This will start the installer. If you want, you can go to disk utility and format your SSD for Lion. This page should explain a lot. Again, this will download Lion using your internet.



That should be possible as well. You could also "option boot" (using the alt key) into the recovery partition (so no need to create a USB stick or DVD). Apparently, you should be able to install Lion onto a USB connected hard drive.
Then you get the SSD out of the USB casing and just open up your macbook and put your SSD in. Now your macbook should start and boot into Lion without any problems.



No problemo
Click to expand...

Thank you for the complete and very clear answer to my questions. :)

I have one last question.

I have seen very plenty websites regarding TRIM on Intel 320 Series 160GB SSD but most of these posts were posted and updated early to mid 2011.

Would you know what the conclusive answer is? To enable TRIM or not? And if yes, through which method? Is it easy to 'maintain' through OSX patches too? I would like to stay away from Terminal as much as possible because I'm not pro like that.
 
I use Trim Enabler and it does the job for me.

I believe he first just replaced some files in Lion with some old files from Snow Leopard. But now Trim Enabler actually enables TRIM on Lion, making Lion think you got an SSD from Apple (or something like that).

I just upgraded to 10.7.3 and TRIM was no longer supported. But I just ran Trim Enabler and TRIM was working again.
 
FWIW I have a 6,1 (late 2009) white Macbook, and went with the Intel X-25M Gen 2. It's by far the most reliable of the three SSD's I have/have had and is very very fast. That plus 8GB of memory has really made a difference, it's very fast and - did I mention this already? - reliable. They can be had for decent prices when you can find them.

I also researched the 320 series recently and they seem pretty popular as well.
 
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