$100 - $150 SSD for the GE60: which do you recommend?

Hey all,

Never owned an SSD, don't know anything about them, so total newbie here. I just ordered a GE60 (the GTX 660m model) from Newegg (the free Xbox 360 kinda sealed the deal for me since I'm moving back to a proper apartment after a two-year stint in Haiti and don't have anything in terms of a media center setup, which the Xbox could be great for) and I want to drop an SSD into it.

Three questions:

1. Which SSD would you recommend in the $100 - $150 range? I'd like at least 100GB. This would obviously be used for OS install.

2. Is installing an SSD into the GE60 going to be difficult?

3. I don't think the GE60 ships with a OS disc does it? If not, how do you actually go about installing the OS to the SSD?

Appreciate the help. Apologize if some of these questions are ridiculous, like I said, total SSD newbie.

EDIT - actually, while I'm asking questions about upgrades, is it feasible / easy to upgrade the network card as well? I've been told the stock one isn't that great, and going for something like the Intel® Advanced-N 6235 would be a good call at very little cost.

 

Hello qnine-

The Intel 520 series has a 120GB around this price range, and this I would suggest. Great performance, speeds, and boot times.

It isn't too awfully hard to install if you are savvy, I would consult some online videos if you can.

Typically the OS does come in these models, but you may want to confirm with your reseller. If that is the case, you'll need a recovery disc to reinstall the OS.

The Network Cards are simple to upgrade as well.

 

Crucial M4 or Samsung 830 128GB drives can be had around $100 recently. Both are excellent drives and have great track records unlike every SandForce based drive, including the Intel 520 which still suffers from the infamous SF BSODs.

 

I'm really liking my 256GB MyDigitalSSD BulletProof3. The 128G model is $149.99. And sorry to contradict Mike, but I don't see any mSATA 520s, 120GB or otherwise. I might be looking in the wrong places, though.

EDIT: D'oh. Realized he's looking for SSDs in general, not just mSATA. In that case, the ones Xonar and Mike mentioned should work just fine.

Not difficult at all. The only niggle you have to worry about is one of the wires is in the direct path of the mSATA slot, but you just nudge it into a new position and it'll work fine. Look in the GE60 Optimization thread for some pictures. If you really need it, let me know and I'll try to shoot a video.

EDIT: Ditto above. Didn't realize you were looking for regular SSDs as well.

Unless there's an OS disc in there that's an absolute ninja in the box, you're right, it doesn't ship with an OS disc. However, it's quite easy to clean install windows. All you have to do is download the (completely free and legal) Windows 7 .iso and burn it onto a disc or make a bootable USB stick with it. After that just install to you shiny new SSD and use your Win7 license code on the bottom of your machine.

Very easy. All you have to do is open the laptop, unhook the antennae, unscrew the screw (haha) and remove the stock card. Reverse directions to install the 6235.

I'm using the 6235, but I had the reseller do it for me. (Didn't want to deal with having to sell off the stock card). I wanted dual-band support.

 

I own a Vertex 3 MI about a year and a SanDisk Extreme for a few months both with the SandForce 2281 and have never had a BSOD caused by the controller.

The SanDisk Extreme is the TOP customer rated SSD over any other SSD on Amazon.com
SandDisk Extreme Top Customer Rated SSD With Prices Under $1/GB and Up To 50% Off - The SSD Review

 

SF problems have been documented for years. If the SanDisk really doesn't exhibit BSODs that'd mean it's the first SF-2281 based SSD in 1.5 years not to. Quite an achievement for a product out for so long. Intel 520 was supposed to be that one, but guess what, idle your drive and it BSODs. V3 MI are no different than their regular V3 counterparts, they exhibit the same exact issues, even with different NAND.

Personally, I wouldn't risk my data being on one of these drives. But hey, that's just my opinion.