Choosing an SSD ?

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stevewestern

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Over the last couple of weeks I have had a lot of help from this part of the forum with doing a clean install of Vista, and now I am waiting for a copy (not a copy copy, but a fully legal copy !) of W7 so will be doing it all again...
However, it seems that it might be worth getting an SSD so I am back, looking for any suggestions...

My laptop is a Dell Inspiron, 4gb RAM, my HD is 250GB with about 140gb used.
I doubt I'll need to put a lot more onto it as everything is stored on my NAS and on the main pc, so I assume a 256gb SSD is the way to go.
I don't need the faster most cutting edge drive, but do want reliability, and would be happy not to spend too much.

So, anyone got any knowledge, ideally from personal experience as to what might be worth looking at ?
Thanks as always for any replies !
 
Didn't take you long did it Neil..!

Thanks for the suggestion - there is also a cashback deal on them too right now...!
 
Speed, under normal use, is almost not worth bothering about.

Samsung, Intel and Crucial M4 are the super reliable options. Check out Mushkin Chronos for value for money and lightening fast speeds. I personally use Aria.co.uk for my PC parts, where you will find the Mushkin Chronos and Crucial M4 at good prices. I have owned both drives.
 
..and thanks to you Chris too !

So far the Samsung seems to be looking good as it is only £145 from ebuyer but has a £20 cashback deal making it only £125...!
 
The e-tailers have put the price up on the Samsung 830 by £10 over the last few days.
Most are £155, when I was able to get one @ £145 last week.
If you do get a Samsung then you can get £20 cash back
http://www.samsung.com/uk/student/cashback.html

The Kingston 256GB V200 SSD have also been on special offer recently with ebuyer @ £99
These drives are not as quick as the Crucial, Samsung & Intel versions but in the real world you will see very little difference.

Also you can clone your existing drive onto a new SSD & save the hassle of have to do a full new instal of windows ;)
 
Been using an OCZ Vertex 3 for the past year or so, highly impressed with it. I only have 120gb as the o/s and apps take up about 40gb and everything else is on my NAS.

Pretty amazing how much prices have fallen over the past year too.
 
For some reason Ebuyer were not able to process the order I have just tried to place so I went to Dabs who had the Samsung 830 for £149 - order now placed !
A new install is on the cards anyway as I have already backed everything up and actually want to keep it simple and only install a few programs.
 
neil_g said:
just make sure you repartition your drive first. alot of cloning programs dont like reducing volume size.
Click to expand...

Agreed, the original windows drive has to be smaller than the new drive you are copying onto. (defrag & shrink drive)

OP, a fresh install is always a good idea & you will love using an SSD
I swapped out my HD on my Dell lappy for a Crucial SSD, massive difference in speed :)
May also be a good time to increase your RAM to 8Gb (makes photo editing that much quicker) ;)
 
I ordered a 256Gb Samsung 830 from ebuyer yesterday :)

I had an error on the cart processing too. Logged in and then tried the checkout again and it worked.

My 128Gb crucial drive is getting full so will image it and put the 256 in. The 128 can go in my netbook.
 
OK, to display my utter ignorance about these things can anyone please explain why and how to make a partition ?
I know it is a good idea to have the OS in one in case of problems like a virus or whatever but have no idea how to go about making one, especially if installing a new drive as I will be doing.
 
stevewestern said:
OK, to display my utter ignorance about these things can anyone please explain why and how to make a partition ?
I know it is a good idea to have the OS in one in case of problems like a virus or whatever but have no idea how to go about making one, especially if installing a new drive as I will be doing.
Click to expand...

you can do it at install when you select which drive to install on
 
What's the largest SSD available for a laptop and is it worth doing a full swap of a single laptop drive over 500GB?
 
Yeah, SSD prices are probably at their lowest right now. With tech, you never know.
 
Ive got 2 Sandisk drives in my machine, a 240 for data and programs and a 120 for scratch disk.

Fast isnt in it. If the machine goes into hibernate it takes about 4 seconds to be online again.
 
Well, what a disappointment..
My SSd has arrived but seems to be dead - it is not detected when installed or when put into a caddy.
Nothing happens at all.
So, its back in its box and will be posted off later.
I've been sat by the door like KIPAX for the last 2 days just for this to happen...
Just another week to wait then for another to come - damn.
 
RobertP said:
I ordered a 256Gb Samsung 830 from ebuyer yesterday :)

................

My 128Gb crucial drive is getting full so will image it and put the 256 in. The 128 can go in my netbook.
Click to expand...


I knew if I waited long enough:lol::lol::lol:



"....I've been running on a 128 Gb SSD for nearly a year now and have not done anything to save space apart from not using 'My whatever' folders much.

Last time I checked a couple of months ago I had over 50Gb free... and I still do, so being careful isn't that important...."
 
stevewestern said:
Well, what a disappointment..
My SSd has arrived but seems to be dead - it is not detected when installed or when put into a caddy.
Nothing happens at all.
So, its back in its box and will be posted off later.
I've been sat by the door like KIPAX for the last 2 days just for this to happen...
Just another week to wait then for another to come - damn.
Click to expand...

Maybe better try that windows experience index doodah before you bung it back.

I think you need to run it to get the SSD to work.
 
neil_g said:
you dont need to run WEI to get it to work.

when you say its not detected, at what point? windows install?
Click to expand...

Well, I followed your advice when I built mine :thinking:..........

"....just remember to run a WEI once chipset drivers are on to activate the SSD settings in W7 ..."
 
neil_g said:
you dont need to run WEI to get it to work.

when you say its not detected, at what point? windows install?
Click to expand...

As soon as I turned on the laptop I was told that no hard drive was found and to try to remount is or something. Then again at windows install.
I also tried it in an external caddy plugged into my main pc but nothing was found.

Just the luck or otherwise of the draw...:'(
 
Mikesphotaes said:
Well, I followed your advice when I built mine :thinking:..........

"....just remember to run a WEI once chipset drivers are on to activate the SSD settings in W7 ..."
Click to expand...

yeah that only changes a few settings in windows (turning off defrag for example) it wont stop it working :)

stevewestern said:
As soon as I turned on the laptop I was told that no hard drive was found and to try to remount is or something. Then again at windows install.
I also tried it in an external caddy plugged into my main pc but nothing was found.

Just the luck or otherwise of the draw...:'(
Click to expand...

change the sata mode to achi in the bios?
 
neil_g said:
change the sata mode to achi in the bios?
Click to expand...


Its a bit late to try anything as I have already sent it off, but what does that mean, and how do you do it ?

Part of the reason I have gone for an SSD was that from what I had read it was just a case of removing the old HD and inserting the new one..


As always, many thanks for all the help !

EDIT - surely in a caddy it should have shown up as a drive ?
 
stevewestern said:
Its a bit late to try anything as I have already sent it off, but what does that mean, and how do you do it ?

Part of the reason I have gone for an SSD was that from what I had read it was just a case of removing the old HD and inserting the new one..

As always, many thanks for all the help !

EDIT - surely in a caddy it should have shown up as a drive ?
Click to expand...

Don't know where you heard that but it'll need some configuration. Normally to get into the bios you press a key when you first switch on like delete, f1 etc
 
Oh....
I went into bios, changed the start up from HDD to the DVD drive, but thought that was all that was needed to allow me to install windows...

Does this mean I may have messed up then - It might still be possible for me to go and collect the parcel as I left it at a Collect+ shop..

So what sort of configuration is needed ?
 
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Being the brave man that I am I have just been peeking into the bios settings and it appears that achi IS enabled by default, so I am hoping that my dead SSD is indeed dead and it has not been me being the fool that I so often seem to be !
 
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