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SSD Buying Guide

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Sairo said:
Can someone please, please, please help me sort this out.
There are so many SSD topics but I can't find the right answer.

I have a mid 2010 MBP 13" and ordered a Samsung 830 26GB.
I have an optibay ready to be used so when my SSD arrives tomorrow its rock and roll.

Now comes the tricky part;
do I put my SSD in my optibay or main HDD spot?

Since the 2010 model doesn't have Sata 6Gb/s it should not make a difference right?
I currently have a Seagate Momentus XT 500GB hybrid drive and I'm not sure if this drive supports build in motion sensor. Since the main HD spot supports sms I'm was thinking about putting the SSD in de optibay.

Does it mather if I put my SSD in de optibay?
Will sleep and hibernate still work while my OS X is being booted from the optibay?
Does sms work only in the HD spot or is it build into the unibody?

Can someone please help me with clear answers?
I hate pulling apart my baby 10 times if I can keep it to 1 or 2.
Click to expand...

- I can help you with one of your questions:
The SMS only works in the hard drive bay, not in the optical bay.

And then I can tell you that I would probably put the SSD in the hard drive bay, but I'm not sure if it really makes a difference. In any case, you lose nothing by putting it in the optical bay. If it works and has no issues, just keep it there. If not, move it.
 
I've found a cheap (ish) SSD from a guy selling locally to me. However, he bought it new from eBay a little over a year ago. Its a 512GB Toshiba/ Apple, for £200 ($314). As its a year old, i questioned about the receipt, and he only has the email confirmation from paypal and ebay. It may prove difficult to return it as i'm not sure who i'd go to even it was in warranty.

Would it be worth buying it, despite being a year old? Or is it better for me to spend more and get a brand new SSD where i've got 'peace-of-mind' with the warranty?

Thanks
 
TomAndrews said:
I've found a cheap (ish) SSD from a guy selling locally to me. However, he bought it new from eBay a little over a year ago. Its a 512GB Toshiba/ Apple, for £200 ($314). As its a year old, i questioned about the receipt, and he only has the email confirmation from paypal and ebay. It may prove difficult to return it as i'm not sure who i'd go to even it was in warranty.

Would it be worth buying it, despite being a year old? Or is it better for me to spend more and get a brand new SSD where i've got 'peace-of-mind' with the warranty?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I guess it's no different to buying a second hand MBP in that you don't know much about the disk and how it's been used. Personally I would rather spend a little more and buy a new SSD though. If it was really cheap, like £100, I might be tempted, but not at that price.
 
ask about crucial M4 64G

hai guys

i have MBP 2010 13" and i already use SSD corsair force 3 60G,my friend was put SSD crucial M4 128G. for that ssd read and write 167MB/s and 197MB/s.

any one have 64G M4 crucial, i would like to know about write and read speed ? any one can help me because if that crucial more faster than my corsair. i would like to change with that SSD. thank you guys.
 
Could anyone please tell me if there is any difference (overall performance-wise) between placing a SSD in the HDD drive v/s swapping the optical drive of an SSD? Would the HDD replacement for a SSD imply a better performance regarding speed v/s the other option? Thanks in advance.
 
I'm planning to get a Macbook Pro 13". And putting in my own SSD at the earliest possible time (Sooner rather than later) so that I will have less data transfer to do.

I will put in the new SSD into the HDD bay and the existing HDD into the optical drive bay. I'm gonna get a technician to do it so hardware fixes wont be a problem.

Just need some advice on data migration / transfer.

When I first turn on the Macbook, I will hold down the option key and let it boot to the SSD. Since it's a blank SSD i will use the internet recovery to download the Lion OS onto the SSD. After this I'm unsure how to transfer data from the HDD (now in the optibay) to the SSD.

What I'm planning to do is to have the OS and all applications on the SSD for faster speeds, and the HDD for other files (school/work/music/videos/pictures) which do not require a fast speed.

Alternatively, I thought I could use a data cable to clone the entire HDD to the SSD prior to installation. Then upon putting in the SSD and HDD in their respective places, I will boot to SSD and format the entire HDD empty.

Any advice/input? This is my first Mac and I'm not that familiar with stuff. I figured doing all these right upon having my Mac will be easier.

Thanks in advanced.
 
bockscar said:
When I first turn on the Macbook, I will hold down the option key and let it boot to the SSD.

Since it's a blank SSD i will use the internet recovery to download the Lion OS onto the SSD.
Click to expand...
You can't boot from the SSD, since there is no system on it. You have to boot by holding down the R-key, so it can boot from the recovery disc on the HDD, or from the main system on the HDD. If that is not possible, since it is in the optibay (No idea if the system doesn't want to do it), you can boot while holding down command-R, and let it download Lion from the internet.

After this I'm unsure how to transfer data from the HDD (now in the optibay) to the SSD.
Click to expand...
Drag and drop from one drive to the other, using Finder?

What I'm planning to do is to have the OS and all applications on the SSD for faster speeds, and the HDD for other files (school/work/music/videos/pictures) which do not require a fast speed.
Click to expand...
I would recommend keeping school/work/pictures on the SSD. Otherwise you'll miss a great deal of the effect of the SSD.

Alternatively, I thought I could use a data cable to clone the entire HDD to the SSD prior to installation. Then upon putting in the SSD and HDD in their respective places, I will boot to SSD and format the entire HDD empty.

Any advice/input? This is my first Mac and I'm not that familiar with stuff. I figured doing all these right upon having my Mac will be easier.

Thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...
Personally I would always do a fresh system install, and then just move whatever needs to be moved. But again, that is a personal preference, and I know many people would just clone things.
 
Hi everybody.
It's a couple of days that I've installed a SSD (through optibay) in my old MacBook Pro Late 2008.
I've moved some of the "home" subfolders in the mechanic disc (Documents, Downloads, Music...).
I've followed the procedure shown here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/386836/

Everything's fine (the Mac is lighting fast!), but there's a small problem:
in the Finder sidebar the standard Lion icons have disappeared (see below).

Somebody know how to fix this?
I've tried to copy&paste the icons from somewhere else, but doesn't work..

5UpR8.jpg
 
Hi guys,

http://www.newegg.ca/Special/ShellS...hellShocker-_-na-_-na&AID=10638308&PID=749547

I've been thinking about getting a SSD..the price seems really good, is this a 'good' one to get? I know that they can make the experience feel a lot faster and etc, but don't know anything about 'SATA' or anything :/ I have an entry level 2011 MBP if that helps or anything.

Thanks

Edit: I just read a bunch of amazon reviews which make it sound like a really bad choice even for $65? Does anyone here have any thing to add/ any reason why it's worth getting? :) ty
 
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cyc94 said:
Hi guys,

http://www.newegg.ca/Special/ShellS...hellShocker-_-na-_-na&AID=10638308&PID=749547

I've been thinking about getting a SSD..the price seems really good, is this a 'good' one to get? I know that they can make the experience feel a lot faster and etc, but don't know anything about 'SATA' or anything :/ I have an entry level 2011 MBP if that helps or anything.

Thanks

Edit: I just read a bunch of amazon reviews which make it sound like a really bad choice even for $65? Does anyone here have any thing to add/ any reason why it's worth getting? :) ty
Click to expand...

For 70 bucks, I would get it and use it as a paperweight if it breaks :p Seriously, it's a good deal and it's not like all OCZ SSDs are defective. You always have warranty in case it fails.
 
Hellhammer said:
For 70 bucks, I would get it and use it as a paperweight if it breaks :p Seriously, it's a good deal and it's not like all OCZ SSDs are defective. You always have warranty in case it fails.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the quick reply! Do I have to know anything about the SATA or if it'll work with my computer or not? I was thinking I'd just buy it and see if I could find someone to install it for me. Wait, if no one I know can do it would any of the electronic stores like TigerDirect install it for me?
 
Hey! Sorry for all the questions. So I'm reading that I need to give the drive a firmware when I put it into my HDD bay. Whats the deal here? I can't just use my carbon copy clone'd copy of the hard drive? I read there's a 000f version out but on the Early 2011 MBP it causes bugs and crashes so people are saying to stick to the 0309 firmware. I'm confused. I thought it was just plug in the hard drive and copy things over. What am I missing here?

The stuff comes tomorrow and I want to be as ready as possible.

EDIT 1: I am hearing of way too many issues on the crucial M4 SSD. Might return it to Amazon and get a samsung.
 
cyc94 said:
Thanks for the quick reply! Do I have to know anything about the SATA or if it'll work with my computer or not? I was thinking I'd just buy it and see if I could find someone to install it for me. Wait, if no one I know can do it would any of the electronic stores like TigerDirect install it for me?
Click to expand...

SATA is just the interface that is used between the drive and computer. Both the drive and your computer support SATA 6Gbps.

Installation is rather easy so you can do it yourself. OWC has plenty of installation videos:

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
 
Cloning software

I'm preparing to replace my hdd with a ssd, and intend to clone my drive first. I notice that Carbon Copy Cloner is no longer a free application - can anyone recommend a good free cloning application, or is Disk Utility my best option? I've read some comments that Disk Utility is not the best for cloning a bootable drive.

Thanks.
 
Kinsella said:
I'm preparing to replace my hdd with a ssd, and intend to clone my drive first. I notice that Carbon Copy Cloner is no longer a free application - can anyone recommend a good free cloning application, or is Disk Utility my best option? I've read some comments that Disk Utility is not the best for cloning a bootable drive.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Not sure if it is the best but I used Disk utility to clone my drive and it was simple and works perfectly. I removed my bootcamp partition prior to this though as I wasn't using it and I have read about people having issues with that but not sure if that affects all cloning software.
 
Thanks for that, appreciate the info.

I'm also wondering whether it might simply be easiest to simply instal the ssd (without cloning), use the Snow Leopard installation disk to boot (I'm currently running 10.6.8), format the ssd using Disk Utility and then simply restore my hard disk to the ssd from a Time Machine back-up. Has anyone else tried that?

Thanks.
 
I have recently installed a crucial M4 in the optical drive bay of my 13" 2010 MBP.

Although it gives a noticeable speed increase to the machine, the read speed don't quite match up with what other ppl have reported with the same drive on a SATA 2 interface.

I was under the impression that a SATA 3 drive would max out the speed of a SATA 2 controller. Am I naive for assuming this.

My drive performs consistently 211 mb/s plus or minus 5 on sequential reads with black magic speed test &/or Xbench. The ceiling of SATA 2 is 240-260 no ?

The firmware is on the latest revision of 000F & OS Lion clean install (no cloning) with trim enabled.

What can I do if anything to improve the performance of this drive under OSX?
 
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Will running 2 hard drive (SSD + HDD in optibay) in a Macbook Pro considerably affect battery life?

If it does then maybe I wont put the old HDD into the optibay but remove the optical disc drive to make the Macbook lighter for carrying to school.
 
Kinsella said:
I'm preparing to replace my hdd with a ssd, and intend to clone my drive first. I notice that Carbon Copy Cloner is no longer a free application - can anyone recommend a good free cloning application, or is Disk Utility my best option? I've read some comments that Disk Utility is not the best for cloning a bootable drive.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

True, but they still have a 30 day trial. Just DL CCC and use the free trial to do your clone.
 
bockscar said:
Will running 2 hard drive (SSD + HDD in optibay) in a Macbook Pro considerably affect battery life?

If it does then maybe I wont put the old HDD into the optibay but remove the optical disc drive to make the Macbook lighter for carrying to school.
Click to expand...

Your battery life will take a hit. Especially when accessing both drives simultaneously, not to mention your dual drive setup will make your machine run slightly hotter & make it noticeably
heavier than when it was outfitted with the optical drive.

You could it make it lighter without an optical drive & so it will come down to what you value most.

storage over weight.
 
Retrostarscream said:
Your battery life will take a hit. Especially when accessing both drives simultaneously, not to mention your dual drive setup will make your machine run slightly hotter & make it noticeably
heavier than when it was outfitted with the optical drive.

You could it make it lighter without an optical drive & so it will come down to what you value most.

storage over weight.
Click to expand...

Whoa. In terms of weight, SSD + HDD > HDD + Optical Drive ?
 
bockscar said:
Whoa. In terms of weight, SSD + HDD > HDD + Optical Drive ?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is correct. The optical assembly is remarkably light. My SSD (Crucial M4) plus hard drive caddy does seem to sum up greater than the optical drive & you should feel the difference when coming from optical drive.

The added weight may be subjective but still noticeable.
 
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