Solid State - worth it?

[hooly]

I can't offer any technical advice but some direct experience. I have:

1) a revB MBA with 2Gb RAM, 1.86Ghz CPU and 128GB SSD

2) an 'old' MBP with 4Gb RAM, 2.5Ghz CPU and 500Gb HDD (and a better graphic card than the MBA).

Boot up/shut down times and times to open applications on my MBA blow me away. It is lightening fast in this respect whereas my MBP takes over 30-45 seconds to boot up. I would love to see that response time on my MBP and can only attribute the difference to the SSD.

On the other hand, for intensive processing tasks (my most common one is rendering and editing >10mb RAW files in Aperture) the story is completely reversed. My MBP renders the file for editing in 1 - 3 seconds and let's me keep a fairly swift workflow. My MBA takes several seconds and basically I can't use it for serious RAW editing without becoming annoyed. This assume this is down to the CPU and graphics card in the MBP...

As other posters have said it will be a bit of a trade off whatever you do. Personally I am dreaming about a MBP with a 500GB SSD drive, but I guess I have to wait a while

 

[macgrl]

I have an SSD in my mbp and it is so fast. Can't imagine being without it now. I suppose it may be one of those things that you would miss if you had it and then somebody took it away

 

[dr. shdw]

I can't offer any technical advice but some direct experience. I have:

1) a revB MBA with 2Gb RAM, 1.86Ghz CPU and 128GB SSD

2) an 'old' MBP with 4Gb RAM, 2.5Ghz CPU and 500Gb HDD (and a better graphic card than the MBA).

Boot up/shut down times and times to open applications on my MBA blow me away. It is lightening fast in this respect whereas my MBP takes over 30-45 seconds to boot up. I would love to see that response time on my MBP and can only attribute the difference to the SSD.

On the other hand, for intensive processing tasks (my most common one is rendering and editing >10mb RAW files in Aperture) the story is completely reversed. My MBP renders the file for editing in 1 - 3 seconds and let's me keep a fairly swift workflow. My MBA takes several seconds and basically I can't use it for serious RAW editing without becoming annoyed. This assume this is down to the CPU and graphics card in the MBP...

As other posters have said it will be a bit of a trade off whatever you do. Personally I am dreaming about a MBP with a 500GB SSD drive, but I guess I have to wait a while

CPU speed difference makes a huge impact.

 

[dwsolberg]

Another thing to consider with the SSDs is cpu utilization. The Intel X25-M uses a lot less CPU power than most of the other drives — about the same as a normal hard drive. Since the CPU is rarely at its maximum, this doesn't have much to do with performance, but I think it might have some effect on battery life. Most reviewers report a 20-minute increase of battery life with an X25-M, which may or may not be important to you.

Just another thing to consider... Personally, I'd either go with Apple's built-in offering or spend the money for the X25-M. I would not choose the Vertex. Although it's plenty fast, it's not a stable platform yet (lots of firmware updates, and each one requires a complete wipe of all your files).

 

[friareunuch]

Another thing to consider with the SSDs is cpu utilization. The Intel X25-M uses a lot less CPU power than most of the other drives — about the same as a normal hard drive. Since the CPU is rarely at its maximum, this doesn't have much to do with performance, but I think it might have some effect on battery life. Most reviewers report a 20-minute increase of battery life with an X25-M, which may or may not be important to you.

A 20-minute increase over other SSDs, or over HDDs? That's another piece of data I have yet to see put forward definitively. Batt life increase of SSD over 5400/7200 HDD.

Just another thing to consider... Personally, I'd either go with Apple's built-in offering or spend the money for the X25-M. I would not choose the Vertex. Although it's plenty fast, it's not a stable platform yet (lots of firmware updates, and each one requires a complete wipe of all your files).

Yikes. That's good info. I was leaning toward the intel 80gb already, but that helps a lot. Now I just have to decide between the apple-installed one and the smaller intel.

Doesn't the Samsung SSD (the one I believe Apple is installing now) best the Vertex in all tests?

The Vertex I believe is comparable if I'm not mistaken, but still not as good as the Samsung.

1. Intel
2. Samsung
3. Vertex

Is this not a fair ranking?

Hmm, well that would actually make me feel pretty good about sticking with the apple-installed one. Anyone have a link to a comparison of these?

This forum rocks.

 

[emt1]

Just another thing to consider... Personally, I'd either go with Apple's built-in offering or spend the money for the X25-M. I would not choose the Vertex. Although it's plenty fast, it's not a stable platform yet (lots of firmware updates, and each one requires a complete wipe of all your files).

I'm going to have to disagree with you. Yes, there have been about 3-4 firmware updates since the Vertex was released, but it never had any crippling issues. I have a Vertex and have used it in an Early 08 MBP and a uMB and have never had any problems with it. Also, you can now (v1.10) update firmware without wiping your files. The Vertex SSD is a real contender.

I do have to admit, though, that if I had the money I'd go for Intel. But there isn't anything wrong with Vertex.

 

[dr. shdw]

Another thing to consider with the SSDs is cpu utilization. The Intel X25-M uses a lot less CPU power than most of the other drives — about the same as a normal hard drive. Since the CPU is rarely at its maximum, this doesn't have much to do with performance, but I think it might have some effect on battery life. Most reviewers report a 20-minute increase of battery life with an X25-M, which may or may not be important to you.

Just another thing to consider... Personally, I'd either go with Apple's built-in offering or spend the money for the X25-M. I would not choose the Vertex. Although it's plenty fast, it's not a stable platform yet (lots of firmware updates, and each one requires a complete wipe of all your files).

Intel X25-Ms have a firmware update as well...

And Vertex updates no longer wipe the data either..

 

[alphaod]

15-inch MBP: changing drive voids warranty, changing battery does not
17-inch MBP: changing battery voids warranty, changing drive does not

Search apple.com support section. If something is said to be user serviceable, then doing that keeps warranty intact. If it is not listed as user serviceable, you must let Apple do it if you want to keep your warranty. Simple as that...

On the 15" changing your drive does not void your warranty because Apple even provides you the instructed on the back of the battery cover!

 

[alphaod]

Yikes. That's good info. I was leaning toward the intel 80gb already, but that helps a lot. Now I just have to decide between the apple-installed one and the smaller intel.

If you get the Intel one, just load the firmware update DVD before you install your OS and flash the drive; that way you don't have to deal with wiping the drive later.