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SSD Buying Guide

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I just purchased a macbook pro from a user here, and it came with an OWC mercury extreme pro 60GB SSD. I was thinking about upping the capacity with a new SSD, because I'd like to dual boot and have enough room for two OSs on the same drive. I did some looking around, but I can't find a solid price that this particular drive is selling for used. Any suggestions?

Thanks :)
 
I ordered a new 2012 high end model 15" non-retina macbook pro and am looking for the best SSD to deal with uncompressed data as well as low power consumption. My job deals with large video files and will be needing my laptop on site. Any suggestions?
 
alexstrider18 said:
hi ,. i got a replacement mbp-rd there only the other day and as you know the smallest size memory on it is 512 GB ,. now thats great an all but the first mbp i had had 256GB and i bought an app called WHATSIZE ,. and it reads EVERY kb bar the IOS system drive i.e. usually (2/5GB) IN size ,.

now the first mac i had it read ALL the system ,. then i got that replaced there a few months ago and it was only reading 233GB out of the 256 GB SSD !!???!?
even when i tried to do a full restore on the system it only showed 233 GB available on the HD ???
and now on the new mbp-rd its only reading 464 GB out of the 512 ,.and in the activity monitor its showing that I AM USING 151.61GB ???View attachment 357366 i was expecting at least 5GB to be unreadable for the IOS system,...???
can you tell me if this is normal and why ?? this is happing,.. considering that im paying so much for each GB i buy ,. id like to know why its gone missing on me ,. ?
Click to expand...

It's possible that the app counts 1GB as 1024MB (Windows does that and OS X did too before Snow Leopard). 1024MB would actually be 1GiB but Gibibyte and Gigabyte are often mixed up, which leads to confusion. For example a 128GB SSD would show up as a 119GB drive in Windows, due to the Gibi to Giga translation.

When you multiply 464 by 1024^3, you get ~498GB, which is the capacity of your SSD. So, you're not losing any space, it's just a difference in calculating 1GB.

Mac7 said:
Anyone have experience with OCZ Vertex 480gb ssd? Any opinions?

http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technolog...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B004QJM1IK
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy one. For example Crucial m4 is over $100 cheaper.

3dflyboy1 said:
I just purchased a macbook pro from a user here, and it came with an OWC mercury extreme pro 60GB SSD. I was thinking about upping the capacity with a new SSD, because I'd like to dual boot and have enough room for two OSs on the same drive. I did some looking around, but I can't find a solid price that this particular drive is selling for used. Any suggestions?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Just keep the drive. With the current SSD prices, you won't get much out of a 60GB SSD - it can still be useful as a backup drive if your main drive fails. Or use it in another machine if you have one.

E4tmonkieshyt said:
I ordered a new 2012 high end model 15" non-retina macbook pro and am looking for the best SSD to deal with uncompressed data as well as low power consumption. My job deals with large video files and will be needing my laptop on site. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

What capacity are you looking for? Samsung 830 is most likely your best choice, though the 512GB model is a bit overpriced.
 
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Hellhammer said:
Just keep the drive. With the current SSD prices, you won't get much out of a 60GB SSD - it can still be useful as a backup drive if your main drive fails. Or use it in another machine if you have one.
Click to expand...


Thanks, in that case I'll probably just put it in my custom desktop pc as a boot drive and buy a new one for the macbook. :D
 
I wouldn't buy one. For example Crucial m4 is over $100 cheaper.

[/QUOTE]

Where can I find a M4 that is $100 cheaper?? The OCZ is 480gb
 
Hellhammer said:
Where can I find a M4 that is $100 cheaper?? The OCZ is 480gb
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148531

The Plextor M3 I linked above is actually an even better deal

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249018[/QUOTE]


Oh nvm. I see that amazon raised the OCZ price. But when I posted it was down to $269

Screen Shot 2012-09-15 at 3.18.14 PM.png
 
Two months ago I was able to obtain four different SSDs, all for free. :D So I decided to do a quick roundup or "shoot out" on the disk speeds and firmware updates. Once completed I RMA'd each drive to see how each companies customer service handled my RMA and the time they did it in.

I did 5 speed tests on each of the following drives with Trim Enabled via Trim Enabler on a 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro in the MAIN hard drive bay. A $10 Optibay Hard Drive Caddy as also used to test firmware updating via Bootcamp.




EXPERIENCE:
Over all, my best experience was with OCZ, they handled my RMA case the most timely, especially with their advance RMA. They did not interrogate me with questions about my "defective" product and did not request and receipt or proof of purchase. It was a let me help you, ok lets get an advance RMA setup and send you a working product customer service which I found the most friendly and timely.

My least pleasant experience was a toss up/tie between Samsung and Crucial because they did not offer an advance RMA which is huge because if the drive is still functional this reduces down time which can be costly to some people.

During my time with each SSD, they all function and performance flawlessly. I did not have any issues with any of the SSDs at all. I did notice the Samsung and OCZ were the fastest upon more intensive tasks, such as editing 300MB PSD files that were 25 megapixels and also large data transfer. For day to day web browsing task, its near impossible to notice which drive is the fastest. While the Crucial M4 read speeds were the fastest, I find it over shadowed by its underwhelming, slower write speeds barely passing the mid 200s, especially since it has a SATA III interface.

I know OCZ has a less than stellar reputation for reliability but I've own every generation of Vertex SSDs, Vertex, Vertex 2, Vertex 3 Max IOPS, Vertex 4 and also the very cheap and slow Vertex Plus and NONE of them have ever failed. My original Vertex 60GB SSDs are over 2 years old and still running strong in a PC.

WRAP UP:
To wrap it up, if I had to pick just one, I would pick the OCZ Vertex 4 for more than just its blatant fast speeds, but for the great customer service experience I had with them and the ease of updating firmware via OSX. My next choice would be the Samsung 830 for its reputation for reliability and its second fastest speeds.

INTERESTING ARTICLES:
Samsung release two firmware updates in one week to 830 SSDs.
Crucial release firmware update to M4 due to SSDs stop working after 5000hrs of use.
OCZ Vertex 4 v1.4 and v1.5 firmware tests
 
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Hellhammer said:
It's possible that the app counts 1GB as 1024MB (Windows does that and OS X did too before Snow Leopard). 1024MB would actually be 1GiB but Gibibyte and Gigabyte are often mixed up, which leads to confusion. For example a 128GB SSD would show up as a 119GB drive in Windows, due to the Gibi to Giga translation.

When you multiply 464 by 1024^3, you get ~498GB, which is the capacity of your SSD. So, you're not losing any space, it's just a difference in calculating 1GB.


im not sure if thats the answer to the question ,. if you multiply the
1024 ×464=475,136GB and thats a far way off the 512 GiB SSD ÷ ,1024=500GB that was sold to me ,. and u only get 488+GB if u ÷it by 1024,. but that was done already to the 512 gib to get the 500 GB !?!?? and what size was calcalating in the the GIB into GB ,. it should be 512,000÷1024MB =500GB :-/ so u see ven if that was the case then the app im using is miles away from the GB that it should be calacalating and i had it with lion ,. ands it did calcalate the whole of the drive and was the same as the app ,. WHATSIZE,. but thanks for the input , but im going to contact the apple help line and try and find out .. its too big a gap in data not to add up properly
Click to expand...
 
alexstrider18 said:
im not sure if thats the answer to the question ,. if you multiply the
1024 ×464=475,136GB and thats a far way off the 512 GiB SSD ÷ ,1024=500GB that was sold to me ,. and u only get 488+GB if u ÷it by 1024,. but that was done already to the 512 gib to get the 500 GB !?!?? and what size was calcalating in the the GIB into GB ,. it should be 512,000÷1024MB =500GB :-/ so u see ven if that was the case then the app im using is miles away from the GB that it should be calacalating and i had it with lion ,. ands it did calcalate the whole of the drive and was the same as the app ,. WHATSIZE,. but thanks for the input , but im going to contact the apple help line and try and find out .. its too big a gap in data not to add up properly
Click to expand...

I didn't understand much of what you said but I'll try my best.

512GB is equal to 477GiB, not 500GiB. 500GB, on the other hand, is equal to 465GiB, which is on-par with the capacity reported by WHATSIZE.

While Apple markets the drive as 512GB, it's actually only 500GB because Apple is setting aside more space for over-provisioning (will guarantee stable performance). That's the case with all SSDs, my 128GB SSD in MBA shows up as ~121GB.
 
Hi all,

Now I admit I'm treading into an area I know nothing about apart from what I've been trying to read up on this thread and also through Google, so please be gentle with me!

I have the latest 13" MBP and would like to buy an SSD to run OSX and my applications. Hopefully for this purpose I won't need anything too fancy or expensive, so I have searched on Amazon and picked a few that have really good feedback and I'm hoping you may be kind enough to provide me with your expert opinion as to whether they would be suitable for my needs and which one you would recommend the most. Also, will I also need to buy an SSD adaptor bracket!?

OCZ AGT3-25SAT3-120G Agility 3 120GB SATA III 2.5 inch SSD - £64.99 http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004Z0S6SO/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

Crucial CT064M4SSD1 64GB M4 Slim 7mm SATA 6Gb/s Internal SSD - £56.39 OR Crucial CT064M4SSD2 64GB M4 SSD - £57 (unsure what the difference is between these 2?) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004W2JKWG/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

They have a 128GB version of the Crucial one for £79.19. Again, I don't know what the difference is between the SSD1 and SSD2 but there is no price difference between them. It's also the same price with the bracket. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005V1993W/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

Thank you all very much in advance.
 
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Burrel said:
They have a 128GB version of the Crucial one for £79.19. Again, I don't know what the difference is between the SSD1 and SSD2 but there is no price difference between them. It's also the same price with the bracket. http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005V1993W/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

Thank you all very much in advance.
Click to expand...

You don't need the adaptor for your MBP. Samsung does the same thing with all these model numbers and it is very confusing. Bottom line is they are all the same drive, just some come with the adaptor kit and others don't. All you need is the bare drive, so get whatever kit is cheapest.
 
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Weaselboy said:
You don't need the adaptor for your MBP. Samsung does the same thing with all these model numbers and it is very confusing. Bottom line is they are all the same drive, just some come with the adaptor kit and others don't. All you need is the bare drive, so get whatever kit is cheapest.
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your response.

Would my 13" MBP require either of the two sizes; so SSD1 being the 7mm version and SSD2 being the 9.5mm? Or must it have a specific one? If it can have either, and as they're pretty much the same price, is it better to go thinner?
 
Any good information on the Crucial v4? I have recently become aware of this drive and I have some interest in it due to its SATA II interface. I have a 2010 MBP and will be looking to install a SSD at some point in the future.

I found some great reviews online but I was hoping for some user insight or experience here. Would it be more efficient to just get a SATA III drive (m4) and just let it adapt to the SATA II interface?
 
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Dark Void said:
Any good information on the Crucial v4? I have recently become aware of this drive and I have some interest in it due to its SATA II interface. I have a 2010 MBP and will be looking to install a SSD at some point in the future.

I found some great reviews online but I was hoping for some user insight or experience here. Would it be more efficient to just get a SATA III drive (m4) and just let it adapt to the SATA II interface?
Click to expand...

I'm still in the middle of testing it but so far it's the slowest SSD I have ever seen. Sequential speeds are okay but random performance is just terrible, seriously. I would rather spend a bit more on m4.
 
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Hellhammer said:
I'm still in the middle of testing it but so far it's the slowest SSD I have ever seen. Sequential speeds are okay but random performance is just terrible, seriously. I would rather spend a bit more on m4.
Click to expand...

Are you testing the 256GB?

In any case that's rough. If I were to go with a SATA III drive I would most likely go with the m4, I will probably just go ahead and do that. I found a few reviews on the v4 like I said (as in articles) but not really any user feedback. I suppose I will stay away from it, perhaps there is a reason I have not heard of it until recently.
 
Hellhammer said:
I didn't understand much of what you said but I'll try my best.

512GB is equal to 477GiB, not 500GiB. 500GB, on the other hand, is equal to 465GiB, which is on-par with the capacity reported by WHATSIZE.

While Apple markets the drive as 512GB, it's actually only 500GB because Apple is setting aside more space for over-provisioning (will guarantee stable performance). That's the case with all SSDs, my 128GB SSD in MBA shows up as ~121GB.
Click to expand...

:) sorry just read it there myself ,. and it was all a bit pushed together ,. my maths are goingoff the fact that a GIB = 1000 MB and a GB = 1024,.MB ,. :-/ am i right ,. and only last night i got an update for WHATSIZE and all the numbers are the same now,. :) in disk utility and activity monitor . but thank you for helping,. it was doing my head in trying to get the numbers to match up!!
 
Burrel said:
Many thanks for your response.

Would my 13" MBP require either of the two sizes; so SSD1 being the 7mm version and SSD2 being the 9.5mm? Or must it have a specific one? If it can have either, and as they're pretty much the same price, is it better to go thinner?
Click to expand...

Just get whatever is cheapest. There is really nothing gained by it being thinner.
 
As per Orlandoech's advice, I just bought a Samsung 830 256 GB SSD (Amazon) for my early 2007 MBP

I just put an extra 2 GB RAM in today for a total of 3 GB RAM

The extra RAM has already made a big difference, the SSD should make my older MBP smokin' fast

Thanks to all of you for your help
 
Been away for a while, trying to catch up with SSD news as my 128 GB drive is slowly filling up.

I'm looking at 256 GB SSDs right now. It seems they have come down to about $200. Do you think there will be another significant price drop for the christmas season?

As far as recommended models/brands go: Is it still Samsung 830 and Crucial M4? I read a few posts above that the Plextor M3 is a good product, but the 256 GB model seems to be out of stock in many places already.

Any other suggestions?
 
does the use of a ssd increase the battery life at all? I was planning on using both a 128gb samsung 830 and the hard drive in my 13 inch pro.
 
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