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Honestly, the Crucial M4 and the Samsung 830 both have very good track records. The Crucial is slower than the Samsung. If you can get the Samsung for less, go with that one. I bought the M4 because it was cheaper and I knew that SATA II in my mid 2009 would be the limiting factor when it came to speed.

Another thing to consider is ease of firmware updates(admittedly, both drives have been out long enough that the current firmware version are pretty trouble free). The M4 can be updated from a bootable CD, while the 830 has to be updated from a windows installation on the drive.

So Samsung vs Crucial speed doesn't really matter in my case because I have SATA II. What about the above complaint about Crucial?

Also, where do I get the firmware CD? (Crucial)
 
So Samsung vs Crucial speed doesn't really matter in my case because I have SATA II. What about the above complaint about Crucial?

The problems were most likely due to an older firmware release. The current firmware, 010G, as well as the previous one, 000F, seem to work fine.
 
The problems were most likely due to an older firmware release. The current firmware, 010G, as well as the previous one, 000F, seem to work fine.

When I buy a new one, what firmware does it come with?
 
When I buy a new one, what firmware does it come with?

I bought mine a few months ago ant it had 000F, there is a good chance that's what most of them have at the moment. Any new drives Crucial is shipping should have 010G.

It really depends on how long stock has been sitting in shelves.
 
I bought mine a few months ago ant it had 000F, there is a good chance that's what most of them have at the moment. Any new drives Crucial is shipping should have 010G.

It really depends on how long stock has been sitting in shelves.
Thank you very much, I am going to buy a M4. After I'll get it, how can I check what firmware it's on?
 
Okay, narrowed my options again:

1. Crucial M4 128GB + eBay SuperSlim&HDD Caddy - 170$
2. Crucial M4 256GB - 250$
3. Intel 330 180GB + eBay SuperSlim&HDD Caddy - 190$

Notice the size differences between the three options.
If I can get #2 cheaper, I'll probably go for it.. But for now, what option would you choose?
 
I'd say go with the M4. The M4 is a great hard drive, been using mine for an year without a single issue.
 
Your question is about Mac Mini, will the speed slow down to 1G on my MBP too?

Anyway, now it's a question of SSD (128GB) + HDD (160GB) (cheaper & more space) vs. bigger SSD (256GB) (less hassle+no enclosures needed+easier to install?)

What would you choose?
 
I think I'll go with a 256GB M4. Do you know anywhere that ships to Israel and has it for cheap?
 
Isreal is pretty far I am sure a local seller is cheaper. Don't you have some price search engines in Israel?

Your question is about Mac Mini, will the speed slow down to 1G on my MBP too?
What does your system info tell you. Link speed 1.5G or 3G?
Google says there was some firmware upgrade to fix it to 3G which it physically is but it is not officially supported no idea what the uptodate stance is.
If there was an official upgrade fix you should have gotten it via a automatic upgrade and installed already. In which case it should already report 3G.
Even at 1.5G the random access time blows away an HDD. When I monitor activity monitor I don't really ever get any normal app workload that would really trigger be significantly bound by 1.5G. I do have 3G but usually the CPU isn't fast enough in my 2010 anyway to really push it. The short latency and fast random reads (20-50MB/s) is what make the difference and snappiness.
 
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