Bummer deal.
Yeah, I just edited my post after checking the site, figures there would be an update. 
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The Samsung 840/840 Pro SSD thread
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Bummer deal.
Yeah, I just edited my post after checking the site, figures there would be an update. 
Hi guys, I'm a noob to the whole upgrading mac thing and I need some advice on upgrading my MBP. Here's my specs and what I plan to do with it. I'm planning to to swap out my original HDD with the Samsung 840 500GB SSD and move the HDD to the optical bay. Then I'm also upgrading my RAM to 8GB. Pretty simple I know, but I'm getting the jitters thinking about opening up my Mac for the first time.
Specs
OSX 10.7.5 Lion
MacBook Pro mid 2009
Model no: (MC226LL/A)
Macbook serial W892********
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2
These are the items I'm planning to buy from Newegg:
SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147190
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=4#scrollFullInfo
Optical bay caddy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1KT0P47518
I've gone through as many pages as I can (but I'm only currently at page 15) and I just need to get confirmation that all the items I'm buying are gonna be compatible with my MBP model. Is Kingston the best brand to get for RAM? Thanks in advance!
ps. Also does anybody know if Newegg also sells those 'spudge' tools similar to OWC to pry open stuff? I can't seem to find them or know what else they're called.
Specs
OSX 10.7.5 Lion
MacBook Pro mid 2009
Model no: (MC226LL/A)
Macbook serial W892********
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2
These are the items I'm planning to buy from Newegg:
SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147190
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=4#scrollFullInfo
Optical bay caddy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1KT0P47518
I've gone through as many pages as I can (but I'm only currently at page 15) and I just need to get confirmation that all the items I'm buying are gonna be compatible with my MBP model. Is Kingston the best brand to get for RAM? Thanks in advance!
ps. Also does anybody know if Newegg also sells those 'spudge' tools similar to OWC to pry open stuff? I can't seem to find them or know what else they're called.
Hi guys, I'm a noob to the whole upgrading mac thing and I need some advice on upgrading my MBP. Here's my specs and what I plan to do with it. I'm planning to to swap out my original HDD with the Samsung 840 500GB SSD and move the HDD to the optical bay. Then I'm also upgrading my RAM to 8GB. Pretty simple I know, but I'm getting the jitters thinking about opening up my Mac for the first time.
Specs
OSX 10.7.5 Lion
MacBook Pro mid 2009
Model no: (MC226LL/A)
Macbook serial W892********
Processor 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9400M 256 MB
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2
These are the items I'm planning to buy from Newegg:
SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147190
RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ark=&IsFeedbackTab=true&Page=4#scrollFullInfo
Optical bay caddy
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1KT0P47518
I've gone through as many pages as I can (but I'm only currently at page 15) and I just need to get confirmation that all the items I'm buying are gonna be compatible with my MBP model. Is Kingston the best brand to get for RAM? Thanks in advance!
ps. Also does anybody know if Newegg also sells those 'spudge' tools similar to OWC to pry open stuff? I can't seem to find them or know what else they're called.
The Samsung 840 500GB SSD should be fine.
The RAM type needed for that model would be DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) 204 pin SODIMMs.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/app...-3.06-aluminum-17-mid-2009-unibody-specs.html
http://guides.macrumors.com/Understanding_Intel_Mac_RAM
http://guides.macrumors.com/Buying_RAM
There is probably nothing wrong with the Kingston RAM, but I wouldn't say it was the "best brand". I'd prefer OWC, Crucial or Corsair. OWC do a lot of testing with Macs, but can be a bit expensive. Crucial have a good Mac selection guide in their site:
http://www.crucial.com/apple/
If you search for the Crucial and Corsair RAM of that same specification (DDR3-1066 PC3-8500), on amazon or newegg, you can find a better deal than that Kingston in your link, or buying direct from Crucial.com would still be cheaper.
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=C8F94E70A5CA7304
The 'spudge' tools are available from various places. I get some of my RAM and SSDs from amazon, but haven't shopped with newegg, so I will let others answer that question.
I am looking into buying a Samsung 840 SSD but noticed that it's thickness is only 7mm. Does it come with a 9mm spacer included with the bare drive or do I have to buy the laptop migration kit to get it ?
You need to buy the KW model version to get the 3.5" to 2.5" adapter. Then you can mount it in a traditional HDD location.
If it's going into a 2012 13 inch macbook pro why would he/she need an adaptor? You basically put the 4 screws from the old hard drive into the SSD and then the screws sites in 4 holes. The SSD basically hoovers in place due to the screws.
there are tonnes of video's on youtube.
I was wondering the same thing, why would anyone need an adapter for a drive because it's thinner? The only issue that I know of is with the 12mm drives because they're too thick for certain models. No such thing as being too thin.
The adapter I have uses nylon screws and they slide under tabs in the adapter as the drive is pressed into the port. There is a foam insert that goes between the front of the drive and the end of the adapter to keep the drive from sliding forward and disconnecting from the port.
Thanks for the advice alex0002! I've manage to find a pair for Corsair RAM that looks compatible:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233179
The only thing I'm unsure about is the optibay caddy but it should be ok right? Since it does state on the details page that it's compatible with my MBP model.
Outboard enclosure for your HD is very EASY and works well.
I did the RAM & bootdrive on my 2009 MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz, both were very simple.
Optibay may or may not be easy for you depending on your experience & comfort level.
I used an OWC external drive enclosure for my original HD, and it's worked great for 3 years. I got a flush-mounted eSATA card that gives good speed for big dumps when I'm just letting the computer sit by itself (it's sensitive to being physically bumped).
Firewire or USB works well when I'm actively working at the computer, since they're more robust plug connections [and further from my left elbow ].
If you do an optibay job with a lot of screws, clips, etc, try this:
1. Read the directions and count the number of connectors.
2. Get a tackle box tray that will fit them all.
3. Each one you take out as you remove your OD goes into the tray in
order, left to right, top to bottom.
4. Enjoy not wondering which part gets used for which reassembly step.
Whatever you do, keep that wrist grounded!
Good Luck
I did the RAM & bootdrive on my 2009 MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz, both were very simple.
Optibay may or may not be easy for you depending on your experience & comfort level.
I used an OWC external drive enclosure for my original HD, and it's worked great for 3 years. I got a flush-mounted eSATA card that gives good speed for big dumps when I'm just letting the computer sit by itself (it's sensitive to being physically bumped).
Firewire or USB works well when I'm actively working at the computer, since they're more robust plug connections [and further from my left elbow
].If you do an optibay job with a lot of screws, clips, etc, try this:
1. Read the directions and count the number of connectors.
2. Get a tackle box tray that will fit them all.
3. Each one you take out as you remove your OD goes into the tray in
order, left to right, top to bottom.
4. Enjoy not wondering which part gets used for which reassembly step.
Whatever you do, keep that wrist grounded!
Good Luck
Have a 120GB Samsung 840 coming in tomorrow, go it for 90 bucks shipped from newegg, they were having a promo going on last week. Super excited, never had an SSD, my life is about to change haha.
Is a clean install os Moutain Lion recommended/necessary, or can I just ghost over my current install. It is not a very old install, did a clean one about 3 weeks ago when I upgraded to 10.8
Is a clean install os Moutain Lion recommended/necessary, or can I just ghost over my current install. It is not a very old install, did a clean one about 3 weeks ago when I upgraded to 10.8
It really isn' necessary to do a clean install unless you're experiencing problems with it. I migrated my whole OS and files over from Time Machine from the HDD to the SSD and it worked great.
I did the RAM & bootdrive on my 2009 MacBook Pro 2.66 GHz, both were very simple.
Optibay may or may not be easy for you depending on your experience & comfort level.
I used an OWC external drive enclosure for my original HD, and it's worked great for 3 years. I got a flush-mounted eSATA card that gives good speed for big dumps when I'm just letting the computer sit by itself (it's sensitive to being physically bumped).
Firewire or USB works well when I'm actively working at the computer, since they're more robust plug connections [and further from my left elbow
If you do an optibay job with a lot of screws, clips, etc, try this:
1. Read the directions and count the number of connectors.
2. Get a tackle box tray that will fit them all.
3. Each one you take out as you remove your OD goes into the tray in
order, left to right, top to bottom.
4. Enjoy not wondering which part gets used for which reassembly step.
Whatever you do, keep that wrist grounded!
Good Luck
Gah! My SSD dreams just got crushed! I tried buying my parts from Newegg, only to find out they didn't ship outside of the US. I then manage to checkout by having them ship to a forwarder I use. But just now I got an email saying that my purchases have been cancelled. An 'error during verification' it says.
Is there anywhere else that is similar to Newegg that ships outside the US?
It might depend on where you live and which seller you are dealing with. I believe that you can buy RAM and SSDs direct from Crucial and they will ship to Australia, New Zealand and most likely other countries.
I tried to get amazon.com to ship an SSD direct to New Zealand and they won't. However I do have a US address (using a forwarder) and amazon will ship the SSD there.
Some sellers won't let you pay for certain things with a non-US credit card, but amazon let me pay for an SSD with a non-US credit card. I'm told that they are far more strict when it comes to movies/music and other media - for those things you might need a US credit card, US shipping address and place the order using a US ip-address.
Hi,
i also have two of the 256GB 840 Pros and had really great speeds. In a setup with a 840 Pro and a normal HDD the SSD did 488MB/s write and 515 read speed. AS RAID 0 with 2 SSDs i even got 882MB/s write and 960MB/s read.
I have a 2012 15" MacBook Pro 2.6GHz.
Yesterday i installed two 1TB HDDs for some tests and when i reinstalled one 840 Pro in the hard drive bay of my MacBook i got horrible speeds.
Now the maximum i get is 100MB/s write and 220MB/s read.
Am i missing something? Why is the SSD so slow all of a sudden?
i also have two of the 256GB 840 Pros and had really great speeds. In a setup with a 840 Pro and a normal HDD the SSD did 488MB/s write and 515 read speed. AS RAID 0 with 2 SSDs i even got 882MB/s write and 960MB/s read.
I have a 2012 15" MacBook Pro 2.6GHz.
Yesterday i installed two 1TB HDDs for some tests and when i reinstalled one 840 Pro in the hard drive bay of my MacBook i got horrible speeds.
Now the maximum i get is 100MB/s write and 220MB/s read.
Am i missing something? Why is the SSD so slow all of a sudden?
Anyone else have issues?
Well, was stoked when my old HD had issues and purchased the 840. Curious if anyone else had this issue... Put the drive in my mid-2009 macbook pro, doesn't see the drive in disk utility. Put it in a usb external enclosure and connected to my sons older MBP. Sees the drive and lets me format. Put back in mine and still doesn't see it. Hooked it USB to a PC. Can see it and format it there too. I have tried everything at this point so set up an appt at the genius bar but not holding out much hope. Not sure if the sata controller is bad on my Macbook? Ideas, suggestions?
Thanks!
Well, was stoked when my old HD had issues and purchased the 840. Curious if anyone else had this issue... Put the drive in my mid-2009 macbook pro, doesn't see the drive in disk utility. Put it in a usb external enclosure and connected to my sons older MBP. Sees the drive and lets me format. Put back in mine and still doesn't see it. Hooked it USB to a PC. Can see it and format it there too. I have tried everything at this point so set up an appt at the genius bar but not holding out much hope. Not sure if the sata controller is bad on my Macbook? Ideas, suggestions?
Thanks!
Unfortunately no, I just put an 840 in a 2009 model and it worked without a hitch. You tried connecting it with the USB?
I think it might be an issue with your MacBook Pro - maybe the cable? Have you tried connecting the 840 to it via USB? I installed one a week ago in a friend's Mid-2009 13" MacBook Pro and installation went very smoothly. I have also used the dock portion of a Seagate backup drive (http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Backup-Desktop-External-STCB2000900/dp/B00965HKK8) to mount an 840 on another Mac - basically it's a powered SATA-to-USB 3 bridge.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Yeah, in the end, I just got everything I needed off Amazon and am having it shipped to a forwarder. Thanks!
Question for you guys,
Judging from this article: http://blog.macsales.com/11895-2011-macbook-pro-sata-problems-resolved, my early 2011 Macbook Pro is still not able to have a SATA 3.0 6Gb/s drive in the optibay. Currently, I have the 840 Pro in the original HDD spot, and the factory HDD in the Optibay.
I'm looking to upgrade the HDD now and really want another SSD with more storage. I love my 840 Pro so far, but realize it probably wouldn't end well if I placed another one in the Optibay. Do you guys have any recommendations for a reliable SATA 2.0 3Gb/s drive? Or has the issue been totally resolved since the article is some what dated, I haven't seen to much info on people doing this with my specific model MBP. Thanks!
Update on the 840 Pro, been a couple months since install and I couldn't be happier with the SSD, has completely changed my MBP experience.
Details on Optibay SATA:
Vendor: Intel
Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigab
Judging from this article: http://blog.macsales.com/11895-2011-macbook-pro-sata-problems-resolved, my early 2011 Macbook Pro is still not able to have a SATA 3.0 6Gb/s drive in the optibay. Currently, I have the 840 Pro in the original HDD spot, and the factory HDD in the Optibay.
I'm looking to upgrade the HDD now and really want another SSD with more storage. I love my 840 Pro so far, but realize it probably wouldn't end well if I placed another one in the Optibay. Do you guys have any recommendations for a reliable SATA 2.0 3Gb/s drive? Or has the issue been totally resolved since the article is some what dated, I haven't seen to much info on people doing this with my specific model MBP. Thanks!
Update on the 840 Pro, been a couple months since install and I couldn't be happier with the SSD, has completely changed my MBP experience.
Details on Optibay SATA:
Vendor: Intel
Product: 6 Series Chipset
Link Speed: 6 Gigabit
Negotiated Link Speed: 3 Gigab
As far as i know it is the cable between the SuperDrive and the Logicboard that causes the "downgrade". I heard about 3rd party manufacturers selling these cables which lets you benefit from the SATA3 (6gb/s) speed but I didn't check for myself...
Thanks for the response, I tried googling around for replacement cables but no luck. I guess I'm stuck using SATA 2.0, I just have no clue which drive to get for my laptop that would benefit it the most.