Thoughts on an SSD?

J-blk

Hey everyone,

Not specifically a Mac-oriented question, but I'd be interested hearing opinions from anyone using an SSD with their Mac. I'm thinking of getting one as a Christmas pressie for my MacBook and I'm looking at either an Indilinx-based Crucial model or a Samsung-based Corsair model. Anyone using any of these or have any other input? Thanks in advance.

Dorsanty

I run a OCZ Vertex 128GB SSD. OS X boots up in 12 seconds, shuts down in about 2->4. Applications like Firefox load in something like 2 seconds. iPhoto loads in 2.5 seconds about. My MBP is only a 2.33GHz C2D with 2GB DDR2 667Mhz RAM too.

When the next MBP refresh happens i.e. mobile i5/i7, I'll be sorting myself out for one and transferring my ssd into it. I'd never go back to a normal hard drive. If you have the cash they are more than worth it.

Though not everything warrants the expense of SSD. Desktop machines or machines which are left on a lot with programs kept in RAM wouldn't need an SSD as much.

john__long

I'd wait for SSD's with proper TRIM support.

J-blk

Dorsanty wrote: »

I run a OCZ Vertex 128GB SSD. OS X boots up in 12 seconds, shuts down in about 2->4. Applications like Firefox load in something like 2 seconds. iPhoto loads in 2.5 seconds about.

Thanks. The Vertex uses an Indilinx controller as well, which I have heard good things about, even though they are pricier.

john__long wrote: »

I'd wait for SSD's with proper TRIM support.

Indilinx-based SSDs get regular firmware updates - the latest ones do offer much better TRIM support (but Mac OS X doesn't yet, so that's another issue) though a lot of the maintenance tools are still Windows only, but that's not a huge issue. I'm also looking to only get a 64/128GB SSD now and will probably upgrade it before long anyway as prices drop.

The lack of support from Samsung though for their controller is what is putting me off the Corsair more though again, it may take more time for any problems to occur than I actually have the drive...

dubmick

what sort of prices are these drives going for these days?

J-blk

The Corsair is cheaper at around €320 for a 128GB, whereas the Crucial is closer to €360 (again for a 128GB). I'm also considering one of the new Intel X25 ones, but I'd probably go for an 80GB in that case (which is around the €200 mark) as the next size up is a 160GB at > €400.

conchubhar1

To be honest they don't sound to much faster on loading.

Don't know much on them but i hear they are smaller, less noise and heat and sound.
Apparently snappier - but not much from the above posters example.

Dorsanty

conchubhar1 wrote: »

Apparently snappier - but not much from the above posters example.

I should point out that before hand OS X was taking 40+ seconds to load. Firefox would take 10+ and iphoto 10+ also or more. I don't know what system you are rocking be it laptop or desktop but the improvement was dramatic over the HDD. So much so the GF wants one in hers but of course I'm not made of $$$ so she can wait. I don't think she'd be impressed if I made it her Christmas or Birthday present.

conchubhar1

macbook same as you except i have 2ghz.

leopard

takes about 20 secs to turn on - firefox about 10 secs but safari and chrome in about 3 secs.

J-blk

conchubhar1 wrote: »

To be honest they don't sound to much faster on loading.

TBH, it's harder to understand how much faster they are in "real" life by just reading spec sheets - I recently was using a MacBook Air (which doesn't have the best SSD to begin with) and everything was amazingly snappy, compared to even my 7200RPM HDD.

On the other hand, SSDs are definitely not for everyone yet and the cost is pretty high for the capacity you get. We're probably around a year or two away from them becoming a lot more mainstream for a decent size (128GB minimum) and even then, HDDs will still be dominant in the higher storage capacities.

For me though, I'm pretty sure I want to go with an SSD now, even if I have to live with 80GB for awhile...

KTRIC

I have a new MBP 2.5ghz, 4gb Ram and a normal HDD and those figures are the same for me.


I couldn't see the advantage of upgrading to an SSD at the moment for those prices. Maybe in a years time.

Elessar

I have an OCZ Vertex 120Gb in my MBP. Honestly, it's like a new machine. So much faster for everyday things. Boot up is in seconds (the progress indicator on startup rotates once, maybe twice, and I'm on the desktop) and everything loads so much faster. I do a lot of intensive I/O stuff (like decompressing large files, unpacking 12GB files from usenet etc.) and the SSD has been a godsend. The MBP would crawl to a halt unpacking these before, now it's a breeze.

I'll never go back to a mechanical HDD. If you have the cash, go for it. You won't look back.

who_ru

isn't it all just a matter of having some patience?