Renice 128GB SSD for rev A MBA reviewed. Double the storage and speed of your MBA!

[djenss]

Yes, I mentioned I did just that to try it out. Took an extra 20 minutes or so, but it did work fine.

Just follow Apple's tutorial on it. It works perfect, and it's absolutely simple to set up.

Good luck.

Well not so simple is my experience!

My drive was also crashed so could not make a carbon copy.
At first when I installed the new SSD i ran the remote install of Leopard.
Then I went to disk utility but the ssd was not recognized.

So I decided to put the ssd in the external housing and I connected via USB to my MBA, ran remote install, and it was recognized so I formatted it (extended journaled) and partitioned it with GIUD selected.

Then I installed it again in my MBA, ran installation, disk utility but.... nothing!

So it is seen when on usb but not when inside. Installation of all cables etc looks totally fine. What to do???

Any suggestions? I'm pretty hopeless :-((

 

[Scottsdale]

Well not so simple is my experience!

My drive was also crashed so could not make a carbon copy.
At first when I installed the new SSD i ran the remote install of Leopard.
Then I went to disk utility but the ssd was not recognized.

So I decided to put the ssd in the external housing and I connected via USB to my MBA, ran remote install, and it was recognized so I formatted it (extended journaled) and partitioned it with GIUD selected.

Then I installed it again in my MBA, ran installation, disk utility but.... nothing!

So it is seen when on usb but not when inside. Installation of all cables etc looks totally fine. What to do???

Any suggestions? I'm pretty hopeless :-((

Are you certain that your getting the ZIF/LIF cable on properly? It seems like your ZIF cable isn't connected properly. Can you look at some photos online and follow along with your MBA's cable?

I think you should start there. Good luck.

 

[djenss]

Are you certain that your getting the ZIF/LIF cable on properly? It seems like your ZIF cable isn't connected properly. Can you look at some photos online and follow along with your MBA's cable?

I think you should start there. Good luck.

Thanks for the tip. It works now, but I'm not sure which did the trick.

I managed to make a carbon copy from the defected HD after all. (it wasn't 100% broken, just very unstable) Then I put in the SSD and it worked!

Because I wasn't 100% about the cable, this time I put the cable less firm in the SSD and then locked it. So maby it was the cable connection OR it was the fact that i managed to make a Carbon copy. I don't know, but I'm happy. So far... because after one day I experienced that after waking up from a long sleep (1 hour) it wakes up but freezes after 30 seconds.

So I have to find out how to solve this problem. Any suggestions?
I just unckecked "hibernate HD when possible" in the system prefs, but I'll have to test if that solves it.

Let you know.
Cheers,
Michiel

 

[riveting]

Any update on this SSD

Any update on this SSD, I would like to speed up my old MBA, but has to put reliability as the first place. It is just frustrating that I can't just buy a OCZ vertex 2 and put in.

 

[nando4]

Any update on this SSD, I would like to speed up my old MBA, but has to put reliability as the first place. It is just frustrating that I can't just buy a OCZ vertex 2 and put in.

I've benchmarked a 60GB Renice X3 using a SF1200 chip across a sata-to-pata bridge. It was slower than a Renice K3VLAR ZIF SSD (Indilinx). Maybe the 120GB would perform better? Not sure.. maybe you could shorn it in with a DIY.US$15 sata-to-pata bridge. More details at 1.8" ZIF SSDs available.

 

[altecXP]

Thought OWC had a SandForce based SSD for the older Air now.

 

[crx7]

Does anyone know what the difference is between the K3 and K3 E? The E seems to come in more sizes and is cheaper. Is it slower?

 

[SSDinsider]

Does anyone know what the difference is between the K3 and K3 E? The E seems to come in more sizes and is cheaper. Is it slower?

The E Version has the Eastwho 720 Controller. Lower power consumption, PATA native controller, and slower but for those of you not willing to risk having the wake from sleep issue for the extra speed this is going to be the ticket. We are still talking 20 times faster instead of 40 and at a better price. If you are not a computer tweaker then go with the E version. If you like to play and occasional bugs don't bother you then go with the Indilinx model.

The Kevlar E seems to be the drive everyone has been waiting for really. Low price, native PATA controller, and low power consumption. Seems to finally be the 1st SSD to fill the demands of the average MBA Rev A owner.

 

[riveting]

So does any one actually tried the Renice K-E model on Rev. A MBA? At $140 for 60gb, it does seem to attractive and be a much more logical update for average Rev. A MBA user. Since if you are spending $400 on upgrading a SSD for Rev. A MBA, you might as well just sell your Rev. A and buy a new Rev. D instead.

The E Version has the Eastwho 720 Controller. Lower power consumption, PATA native controller, and slower but for those of you not willing to risk having the wake from sleep issue for the extra speed this is going to be the ticket. We are still talking 20 times faster instead of 40 and at a better price. If you are not a computer tweaker then go with the E version. If you like to play and occasional bugs don't bother you then go with the Indilinx model.

The Kevlar E seems to be the drive everyone has been waiting for really. Low price, native PATA controller, and low power consumption. Seems to finally be the 1st SSD to fill the demands of the average MBA Rev A owner.

 

[Wolfaslov]

Tried SuperTalent 64GB SSD FZM64GW18P

Hey. New guy here. Loved this thread and learned a lot before attempting to replace my 80GB Factory Drive that crapped out on MacBook Air Rev A. Wanted SSD so did a lot of research about this.
I was about to go with the Renice SSD, but was concerned about the "hanging" when opening up the MBA lid from closed.
I learned that the reason the Renice and Runcore drives have this problem is that they both use a Sata to Pata bridge. This bridge is what causes the MBA to not wake properly.
The Supertalent drive (FZM64GW18P) is straight Pata so need to have a bridge.
I successfully installed the drive the other day with great help from ifixit website in about an hour. Installed OS X (SnowLeopard). I have had no problems with the MBA not waking properly (as of yet as it's only been a couple days).
The 128GB model is rated at nearly a 50% increase in sequential write rate.
I didn't need more than 64GB as all stuff is kept on network drives and I was trying to keep my costs down.

I include my xbench drive specs for this new drive.....

Results 96.32
System Info
Xbench Version 1.3
System Version 10.6.6 (10J567)
Physical RAM 2048 MB
Model MacBookAir1,1
Drive Type STT_FZM64GW18P STT_FZM64GW18P
Disk Test 96.32
Sequential 86.74
Uncached Write 105.87 65.00 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 100.47 56.85 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 48.86 14.30 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 159.93 80.38 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Random 108.28
Uncached Write 86.48 9.16 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Write 47.25 15.13 MB/sec [256K blocks]
Uncached Read 657.62 4.66 MB/sec [4K blocks]
Uncached Read 371.14 68.87 MB/sec [256K blocks]

 

[spriter]

Hi riveting/all,

I've just installed a 120GB K3E today in place of my old dog 80GB stock drive in my Rev A. I'm going to give it a few days use before giving a summary. I mainly want to test battery life as that was the prime reason I opted for K3E rather than Indilinx (well that plus the wake/sleep problem). However, I will say initial impressions are very good

spriter

So does any one actually tried the Renice K-E model on Rev. A MBA? At $140 for 60gb, it does seem to attractive and be a much more logical update for average Rev. A MBA user. Since if you are spending $400 on upgrading a SSD for Rev. A MBA, you might as well just sell your Rev. A and buy a new Rev. D instead.

 

[riveting]

Great, I am waiting for your update. By the way, where did you buy our ssd?

Hi riveting/all,

I've just installed a 120GB K3E today in place of my old dog 80GB stock drive in my Rev A. I'm going to give it a few days use before giving a summary. I mainly want to test battery life as that was the prime reason I opted for K3E rather than Indilinx (well that plus the wake/sleep problem). However, I will say initial impressions are very good

spriter

 

[spriter]

Great, I am waiting for your update. By the way, where did you buy our ssd?

I ended up going to Renice direct. All explained in the review here:
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=12073192#post12073192

 

[couto27]

So does any one actually tried the Renice K-E model on Rev. A MBA? At $140 for 60gb, it does seem to attractive and be a much more logical update for average Rev. A MBA user. Since if you are spending $400 on upgrading a SSD for Rev. A MBA, you might as well just sell your Rev. A and buy a new Rev. D instead.

i all
i order the renice 60gb from asian techtrade and they are very fast dispatch,it take about 5 days to arrive in portugal from hong kong since my online payment.

i will do business with them again im 100% sure.

about the installation with was very simple to perform using ifixt website ( it was my 2 time that i upgrade a hard drive/ 1st on the macbook air )

in the renice box ....everything perfect.
-ssd
-ribbon cable ( was the most difficult to put in) in old hard drive
-screws
-0mm keys
- external enclosure fit well in the old hard drive.

i made a clean install, the renice ssd jump from the box into the macbook air.
insert mac osx disc, disk utility, format extend journaled, installing....

WELL DONE RENICE SSD

 

[XavierCarrel]

This thread is very interesting to me, although I'm not 100% sure it brings the solution to my problem, so here I ask:

My first MBA died (motherboard, RIP) but the SSD Drive is still good. I want to use it as hook it up an external drive to my new MBA. So the question is: can I plug my old SSD drive in a Renice external case ?

I kind of doubt it given the connectors of the drive (see attached pics), but I hope someone's going to tell me I'm wrong...


Xavier