500gb 7200 RPM or 160 gb SSD?

i am thinking of buying a lenovo t420, but i cant decide witch drive to get. i do have an external hard drive, so technically speaking i dont need the extra space, but is the SSD really that fast? i want to use the laptop mainly for software development, hw with word/excel, and streaming online.

Also, i may be using itunes on this laptop which is a concern for me, but i believe i can store all the songs on my external instead of on the SSD. i only want to get the SSD if it is going to make a very large difference in terms of speed.

 

Yes, a system is far more responsive in many tasks with an SSD (ie, boot, application launching, etc). In addition, during heavy IO tasks, a system will stay responsive whereas a conventional-HDD laptop would be bogged down (during an AV scan, for example).

For music, I recommend storing your songs on a 16-32GB SSD card that you can just leave in your computer as a secondary drive.

The real question is price: what's the upgrade cost between the two?

 

If you can afford it, SSD is a great performance booster. The difference is spectacular.

An option for your consideration is this: Order a T420 with the Intel 160GB SSD, then replace the optical drive with a NewmodeUS hard-drive caddy (12.5mm high, designed specifically for ThinkPad) and place a 500/750GB HDD in there as your second drive.



You can keep your development project files, data files, virtual machines, documents, photos, songs, movies... on your second drive.

Also, adapter cable is available to connect the SATA of your optical drive to one of the USB port on your T420.

 

ssd. i just a 7200rpm out of my 520 and replaced it w an ssd. the performance difference is way worth the price.

 

k thanks so with the coupons and stuff the ssd and the 500 gb lenovo both cost 1100 so i guess i will be getting the SSD, thanks!

 

The mSATA drive is another option if you don't need wwan.

 

Man, are you getting a kickback on mSATA drives or what?

 

I should be, but sadly am not. I just think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread because you get speed and storage, the best of both worlds. If you limit yourself to the main bay, you're forced to choose. You can do the modular drive, but that's an imperfect solution.

 

Imperfect? WWAN users would find that view ridiculous.

 

I 2nd Zaz, mSATA is an excellent choice since you don't need to swap or replace anything. It's light, fast and 128GB is enough for majority of users for OS and programs.

 

Ridiculous seems a bit of a stretch. I didn't say it was unworkable. It's an imperfect solution because you loose the use of the optical drive. Though Lenovo has switched to 12.7mm optical drives, they've not updated their caddies to reflect that so when you use the caddy, there's a gap between the caddy and the top of the bay. You'll hear the hard drive more. That was my experience with the R60 and modular caddy. You can go with an aftermarket caddy, but those tend to have more problems.

 

There is at least one 12.7mm caddy that fits ThinkPad UltraBay beautifully and is sold for less than what Lenovo charges for its caddy that leaves a gap. And it is made in the USA, is and of excellent quality.

On the other hand, one does not "lose" the use of the optical drive.

Speaking of "losing," the mSATA solution takes away permanently the use of the WWAN adapter.

There are no "perfect" solutions. Every solution is an attempt at finding an practical balance among constraints.

 

In my experience the after market caddies tend to be more flaky, but I'm all for more American jobs.

You can't use the optical drive and large hard drive together if it's in the modular caddy, say if you kept your data on the drive and wanted to burn a backup.

The mSATA is indeed a perfect solution for me as I have no need for WWAN. It would sit empty otherwise.

 

That's not an impossible situation. Perfectly or not, one can always burn backup discs with this:



The optical drive is not lost.

 

I never said it was, but can tell you when I had my T42 with external burner because they were so expensive, I disliked having it hanging off the side.

 

Hanging off the side? T42? That was then.

This is now: Plug drive in, burn discs, unplug it, put it in drawer. Some SATA/USB cable (shown above) come with a nice pouch, too.

But then, why burn stacks and stacks of DVDs? These days, there are better ways to do backups.

 

FYI,

Lenovo sells a 12.7mm hard drive adaptor for the UltraBay now. It's $60 but at least it would be considered officially supported.

See Find accessories for your laptop and desktop - Storage - 0A65623

Credit to harrisb for the discovery.

 

What brand of caddy do you recommend for T530? Could you provide a link?

 

I've purchased from newmodeus and from this ebay seller. ( This video may be helpful.)

 

I miss the days when Lenovo/IBM offered ODD/Ultrabay Batteries.

 

I also sometimes wonder if ZaZ gets kick backs from mSATA drive manufacturers .

There is nothing imperfect about using a caddy if you don't need a optical drive. Many notebooks these days are coming without optical drives or offer the option to replace the optical drive with a factory caddy. I see it no different to being given the option to choose a WWAN card, internal color calibrator, additional RAM etc it's just another option for those who want/need it.

I am all for the solution put forward by Kaso, it's the very setup I use, NewmodeUS (great quality) UltraBay caddy and optional SATA > USB adapter with rubber case for the rare occasions when I need to use the optical drive.

To answer the OPs question, yes the speed difference is night and day between conventional HDD and SSD.

 

Well, if you've installed a second drive in an X220i that has no optical drive, the only thing you praise is mSATA SSD.

 

Haha so true. Different strokes for different folks.

 

definitely get a SSD. Your system will be useable much longer. I can never go back to HDD for main OS.