SSD 256 vs HD 7200 rpm

Hi, I'm thinking of buying the new 2011 MBP 15. I usually handle amounts of data and I'm looking for a fast laptop, so I'll go for the 2.2 Ghz and 8Gb RAM. But, despite having read something about SSD, I'm not clear about the difference between a SSD and a HD 7200 in terms of speed. The only thing clear to me is that a SSD is really expensive. I'd be grateful for some advice about what is the best choice.
(I don`t game. I use parallels, word, excel, etc. and several other statistical packages for mac, all open at the same time).

 

Do some more research?
SSD are so much faster I don't know how you have not understood this?

Anyone suggesting otherwise must not have tried one as I now have trouble going back!

I notice you have a Lifebook maybe like mine?
I have a 4220 that took so long to boot into Windows it was unbearable.
I stuck an SSD in it and now I can sit and wait without going crazy when rebooting and it speeds up everything else that machine does too.
Now I would like to find an optical bay mount to stick the old 7200 rpm drive I used to boot it from to get more space.

Fast, Very Fast!

Ed

 

Yes, SSD's are very fast. You can look up MBP SSD boot videos to show just how much faster they are.

 

For these tasks, an SSD will suit you perfectly. Apple's price for the 256 GB SSD upgrade is not unreasonable, though you could probably do a bit better if you bought one on your own and installed it yourself.

 

I did, but the more I read the more baffled... I understand that SSD will give you great boot times and fast app. launch, I've also heard that Windows seems to like SSD. But my question is whether it is worth going from fast (standard 7.200 rpm) to very fast (SSD) given the price of SSD. I'll appreciate opinions from mac users of SSD coming from standard HD.

 

Only you can answer that. To some people having everything start instantly with no noise or vibration is worth it, so some people they would rather have the storage space and pay less. It all depends on where you stand. With my old Asus G60JX the hard drive in there was a 500GB 7200 and worked great but I could hear it spinning and it had a little vibration. I put in a Vertex 2 and the laptop was absolutely silent with no vibration. Was it worth it to get rid of the sound and vibration but lose space? to me no, I put back in the spinner and sold the SSD. Now my 2010 13 MBP I cannot hear or feel the hard drive spinning, do I wish it was faster? yes, so I will get an SSD and already have a DVD bay adapter for a HD, so I'll have the best of both worlds.

But you need to look at it and decide if you will use the extra space on a standard HD vs a SSD, if you use a lot of space and can stand a little lag then go for a spinner, if you don't use a lot of space and want instant app opening and fast startup get an SSD.

 

Maybe I was not succinct enough somehow.
I took the 7200rpm drive out of my MBP and put in a 256 SSD. It smokes the HD in every way,doing anything.
Whether it is worth the price is up to you?

I use a software package that was taking 25 to 30 minutes to re-compile a configuration for me with the SSD.
Now it takes approx. 1/2 that time.
If time is money then I am happy and just not waiting around is also nice.

So I just got the new 13" MBP and put the spinning drive in the normal spot and the SSD in the optical bay and now I have speed and space.

I am thrilled.

Ed

 

We all have to make the decision and the variables are cost, size, performance, and running two drives. SSDs are expensive but you could get a small one if you can live with less local storage. You can go Optibay but that's a little more hassle and then you can get a small SSD with a large HDD and get fast boot and app launch with large storage space.

I went with a small ExpressCard SSD that holds the OS/Apps and it has worked out extremely well but Apple removed the ExpressCard on all but their 17 inch models. I plan to go for an SSD on my next MacBook Pro - for me, the performance difference is well worth the extra cost.

I bought an SSD for my recent home desktop build too and am very pleased with the performance. It also has an HDD for high-capacity storage where performance isn't an issue.

 

It's not just about speed, though IMO speed is reason enough to convert to SSD in most instances.

SSDs are safer, especially if you're prone to dropping your laptop while it's on or if you happen to place your laptop between giant eletromagnetic coils for some completely unknown reason. You can also save yourself the cost of a defragmenter on the Windows side if you go with SSD, assuming you would have paid for a commercial one in the first place. (Diskeeper actually sells some sort of defragmenting tool for SSDs--but it costs $120+ and I'm not sure if it actually even makes a noticeable difference in performance, not to mention potential longevity issues...but I defer to those with more knowledge in these areas).

SSDs do have some negatives--e.g. harder to securely erase files, and other performance issues with non-TRIM ssds.

 

If you are truly obsessed with performance per dollar, don't buy the Apple supplied SSD. You're going to be able to find faster SSDs for the same amount of money fairly easily. This is especially true with the forthcoming SSDs from both Intel and the new Sandforce 2000 series drives. The Apple SSD will work, it just won't be the fastest drive for your money.

 

the Main difference between a 7200RPM and an SSD is that the 7200 and 5400 HDD have spinning disks in them so if you drop it or misuse the laptop there is a good chance you can loose your data, or have it corrupt. With SSD, its like a USB flash drive but the in the size of a HDD no matter how many times you drop your USB it wont get corrupted or you wont loose your data.

 

no, the main difference is the gratuitous amounts of speed SSD provides.

having no moving parts is a big bonus, but it's the speed that converts. you can't appreciate the speed until you own one. everything else begins to feel uncivilized.

 

I recently switched back to an HDD setup, so I can attest to this. It's slow as hell in comparison to my SSD.

 

it really is painful for me to go back to using my desktop (7200rpm HDDs) when using my laptop. my MBP can go from cold boot to desktop in about 12 seconds. My desktop will darn near still have the Dell logo on the screen at that point. When I got that Dell, I thought it was fast. Amazing how we get used to speed and just can't live without it anymore.

I look forward to buying an SSD for my desktop one day soon.

 

Once you go SSD, it's hard to go back. All that other stuff is nice but it's the speed that hooks you. I have SSD and HDD setups and even the two seconds that it takes to the HDD to spin up and get recognized is annoying.

 

I am in the same boat as you are. I did research on SSDs and the most reliable ssd, in my opinion, is intel x25-m, however the size they offer is too low, 160gb. They released the new 510 series and word is that they are going to release g3 soon (a few months) which will have a 300gb version.

ocz is also coming out with vertex 3 which apparently is very fast. For what I could see based on users feedback, oczs are not as reliable as intel.

You have a few options:

1. If you need a lot of disk space you could get rid of the dvd drive and buy a caddy to install a second hdd. You can buy two ssds or you could use an ssd and a hdd as a secondary

2. Wait longer until the SSDs come down in price/gb and they offer bigger sizes for less money

3. Go with seagate momentus xt - hybrid. I had used one without problems on my old laptop and I decided to buy another one for my mbp. When the SSDs come down in price I will make the jump to an SSD.

Cheers

 

Many thanks all of you for your replies.

What do you mean with realiable, any security issue?
I'll go for the second option (I plan to purchase a new mac, so I think it's not a good idea to make changes under warranty).
Thanks for your comments.

 

Check out the user reviews for various oczs on newegg.com.

For instance this one:
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTXE90G 2.5" 90GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

I usually check out the reviews that give a score of 1/5 and see what problems they had. If they experience crashes and so on then that's not good.

Then compare these reviews with the ones for intel.

Of course we assume that these people didn't lie.

 

Its kind of funny to me the perception of what is more important or even rational when talking about all this.

The difference between any hard drive and all SSD in performance is huge while the difference in performance between SSD's is minuscule.

I have had 4 SSD so far and have paid less than 1/2 of retail for each of them by shopping "aggressively" and I couldn't be happier with any of them.
I shot for longevity as my measure of performance and as a technician I asked other techs which drives were the least trouble.
Overwhelmingly they said Samsungs were the most bulletproof.
It turns out the Samsung are also almost always panned for speed.
Which should I prefer?
Once it is installed how can I tell the difference?
They are all so much fater than any spinning drive why does it really matter?
The quickest drives seem to have certain problems.

I would rather have no problems and pay less for blistering speed compared to any spinning drive.

Ed

 

I recommend buying it with a stock drive, and then throwing in a Vertex 2, or a Patriot Inferno. As far as speeds go, the SSD will smoke any spinner, 10k, 7200, 5400 or otherwise. If you're looking for space and a moderate increase in speed, try the Momentus XT as others have advised. It's 500gb for ~110CDN and I use it in my old Lenovo T61 just fine. SSD draws less energy as well, so that is something to consider. If you do need to send in your computer for warranty work, just swap the old drive back in and you're good to go. But in all honesty, for rendering, loading, booting, everything, go with the SSD if you can afford it.

 

The optical bay is SATA II, the hdd bay is SATA III.

 

SSD is probably the best performance upgrade you can do for ANY notebook.
Most of the time it will even outperform faster processor and such.

Only thing that is holding me back atm is that i cant afford big enough SSD (i mean 256gb isnt enough for me) and i am still in the process of getting that thingie that lets you replace optical drive with SSD.

 

Yes I understand this is the case.
I am fairly certain though that most SSD currently available on the market and certainly mine are II anyway.
Is this the case as far as you know?
Ed

 

There are third gen SSDs at Newegg right now including the Intel 510.

 

all i can say is i will never use a machine that has HDD after my SSD experience...

 

I'd appreciate your input. What kind of SSD? in what particular aspect have you perceived the change?

 

you can really feel the speed difference in read/write access x amount of times.. i believe Sony uses samsung in my 2 Vaio Z..

 

Mine is an Intel X25 (160GB) Gen 2.

Startup times for the OS, speed of opening/closing programs and opening/saving large files. Difference is silly good.