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SSD Buying Guide

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I was wondering, how is the reliability of the SSDs that apple puts in the Air and built to order MBPs? I don't see any reports that indicate widespread SSD failures in the Airs, so they are probably just doing as good as ordinary HDDs? Of course most Airs are still pretty new...

Anyone who had any major issues with a Apple SSD in a MBP?

How are the Intel 320s doing? Are they more reliable than the SATA III intel SSDs? Or just slower?

i have my apple 128 GB and am happy with it. I was just wondering if it is worth recommending SATA II SSDs in general and the Apple SSDs in particular for people who don't just care about speed, but also about reliability?
 
thundersteele said:
I was wondering, how is the reliability of the SSDs that apple puts in the Air and built to order MBPs? I don't see any reports that indicate widespread SSD failures in the Airs, so they are probably just doing as good as ordinary HDDs? Of course most Airs are still pretty new...

Anyone who had any major issues with a Apple SSD in a MBP?

How are the Intel 320s doing? Are they more reliable than the SATA III intel SSDs? Or just slower?

i have my apple 128 GB and am happy with it. I was just wondering if it is worth recommending SATA II SSDs in general and the Apple SSDs in particular for people who don't just care about speed, but also about reliability?
Click to expand...

I've been trying to "break" the Intel 320 40 Gb in order to "proof" a hypothesis that I have. I have sofar been unsuccesfull in getting it to fail and have it revert to the "8Mb error". However.... it has been hanging my Thinkpad (in the ultraslim bay) on occasions and after I put the SSD in an external USB enclosure it has been hanging both the Thinkpad and the Mac Mini 2011 on occasions. It is certainly "misbehaving" enough for me that I no longer want to use it as my internal SSD and it has been reassigned for using it for backup. (no dish noise from an external enclosure). It stays very cool and is more relaible / faster than a normal USB 2 memory key.

I do not yet have an opinion on SATA III - with new technology I just do always take a bit of a "go slow" approach with using "non standard configurations". In this respect I would be carefull with putting in something that is outside the tried and proven stuff. Certainly the Samsung SSD 470 would be a good choice. ( best would be to use a Samsung SSD supplied to Apple - we do not know how the standard firmware differs from the custom firmware for Apple) I have seen a reference to that also a Toshiba SSD may be used but since I cannot put my hands on a Toshiba it is a moot point to investigate it further.

I have been thinking about the Crucial M4 (SATA III) but since it is "faster" it will (may?) also generate more heat. I am now seriously considering buying a Samsung 470 64 Gb from South Korea.
 
thundersteele said:
I was wondering, how is the reliability of the SSDs that apple puts in the Air and built to order MBPs? I don't see any reports that indicate widespread SSD failures in the Airs, so they are probably just doing as good as ordinary HDDs? Of course most Airs are still pretty new...

Anyone who had any major issues with a Apple SSD in a MBP?

How are the Intel 320s doing? Are they more reliable than the SATA III intel SSDs? Or just slower?

i have my apple 128 GB and am happy with it. I was just wondering if it is worth recommending SATA II SSDs in general and the Apple SSDs in particular for people who don't just care about speed, but also about reliability?
Click to expand...

Apple uses Toshiba and Samsung SSDs (the latter only in MBAs) and they appear to be the most reliable SSDs. To be honest, I haven't seen a single complaint of Apple SSDs' reliability. No need to go for something else if you already got one.
 
Hellhammer said:
Apple uses Toshiba and Samsung SSDs (the latter only in MBAs) and they appear to be the most reliable SSDs. To be honest, I haven't seen a single complaint of Apple SSDs' reliability. No need to go for something else if you already got one.
Click to expand...

a couple of new 128 Gb Toshiba SSD pulls are for sale at present on eBay
 
ljx718 said:
Just wondering if our MacBook pros need the laptop kit for the Samsung 830? All I can find is the 64gb with only the desktop kit
Click to expand...

Both include the same SSD. The "desktop" kit usually includes a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (you won't use it), while the notebook kit includes a 2.5" external USB enclosure (it's useful for installing and to have around, but it's not required).

So you can buy either kit :)
 
Artagra said:
Both include the same SSD. The "desktop" kit usually includes a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (you won't use it), while the notebook kit includes a 2.5" external USB enclosure (it's useful for installing and to have around, but it's not required).

So you can buy either kit :)
Click to expand...

But isn't the drive 7mm instead of the regular 9.5mm?
 
ljx718 said:
But isn't the drive 7mm instead of the regular 9.5mm?
Click to expand...

From looking at photos of the 830 in reviews, it looks like it has the standard screw holes in the side and those will mount to the rubber bushings in the Macbook the same as a 9.5mm height.

If you watch install videos you will see there are two little screws with nubs on them on each side of the SSD. Those nubs fit into a rubber bushing on each side of the drive in the Macbook. I don't think a drive that is slimmer than stock would matter with this setup.
 
Any good deals on SSDs for cyber Monday?

After reading this great thread (Thanks Hellhammer and all those who contributed) I'm itching to get an SSD (and opti-bay my 750GB HDD)! ;)
 
Hellhammer said:
Apple uses Toshiba and Samsung SSDs (the latter only in MBAs) and they appear to be the most reliable SSDs. To be honest, I haven't seen a single complaint of Apple SSDs' reliability. No need to go for something else if you already got one.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I didn't plan to replace my SSD in the near future. I think for "consumers" and people who rely on their MBP for work, the SSDs provided by apple are the safest solution.
 
enklined said:
Any good deals on SSDs for cyber Monday?

After reading this great thread (Thanks Hellhammer and all those who contributed) I'm itching to get an SSD (and opti-bay my 750GB HDD)! ;)
Click to expand...

NewEgg has Intel 320 Series at $1/GB. The 160GB model is sold out but others are still available.
 
Okay guys need some help. My Crucial M4 came in today. I ordered it with the data transfer kit. So I loaded the cd into the cdrom drive and shutdown the computer. Plugged in my ssd booted the computer holding the "c" key. The program loaded but my trackpad didn't work so I couldn't select any options. So I got out and tried again and now the cd only loads to a blue screen. What are my other options for cloning my hard drive to my sad? carbon cloner? I downloaded it but the ssd doesn't show up in the "destination" drive option. When I plug the sad into the computer it says it is unreadable which is obvious to me. I really don't care that much to clone the drive the computer is so new (late 2011 mbp) that there isn't much on it to save. Can I just install the blank ssd and boot using "r" and do a fresh install from the internet? thanks
 
okay I now realize that superduper is for the mac. So I installed it from the CD and it crashes unexpectedly over and over. so I downloaded it from their website and it seems to be okay. Just not sure how to get the new drive to show up in the destination section. My guess is it needs to be formatted first through disk utility but not sure exactly how to go about it.
 
aaargh! make sure you have a small torn screwdriver.
i went to remove the screws from the original internal HD, and my torx screwdrivers are too large.

:(
 
up and running! wow this thing is awesome! I actually only had the torn t7 but it worked fine. I do fire alarm/security work so I already had a set of tamper bits.

----------

okay for some reason my boot time is longer than it ways with my HDD..
 
17 inch MBP with 128 SSD and Optidrive HDD?

Hello fellow Macrumors addicts.

I will be upgrading and getting a 17 inch Macbook Pro (late 2011) in a few days. I recently became aware of this thing called "optidrive". Im really interested in running OSX and a few essential Applications off of the SSD and having all my multimedia files on the HD. So my question is: Would it be better (overall) to get the 750 GB HD that comes with the Macbook Pro and then move the OS to the Optidrive SSD----Or should I pay the extra $100 to get the 128 GB SD pre- installed with the computer and add in the HD?

Thanks!!!
 
Weaselboy said:
From looking at photos of the 830 in reviews, it looks like it has the standard screw holes in the side and those will mount to the rubber bushings in the Macbook the same as a 9.5mm height.

If you watch install videos you will see there are two little screws with nubs on them on each side of the SSD. Those nubs fit into a rubber bushing on each side of the drive in the Macbook. I don't think a drive that is slimmer than stock would matter with this setup.
Click to expand...

Can anyone confirm this?
 
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