Considering Upgrading Macbook With Ssd

[4evermaat]

Will be going to Bangkok soon. I want to try the SSD. I have a Macbook late 2007 edition core2duo 2.2ghz.

I wanted to confirm that I could upgrade to SSD and also which drive I should get. I could get by with 80gb, but over 120gb is preferred. Anything to look out for? Should I have it installed in-store if possible?

I was wondering if it is worth it to just buy a new laptop ifthe price of these SSDs are expensive enough to justify about purchasing a new one.

Edited May 24, 2011 by 4evermaat

[negreanu]

It is a 10 minute job to change a HD to SSD.

You will notice much more "Real life" performance with upgrading to a SSD than you will with a new laptop with a standard HD. A new laptop with a SSD is the best option

However I would future proof yourself buying a SSD with Sata3 compatible drive either the Vertex 3 or the OWC 6G (macsales.com)

You will only benefit from sata 2 speeds on that laptop but your next laptop might be sata3 which means you will get double performance from it. The new macbook pro's are sata 3 for example you will get read/write speeds of 500mb/s as opposed to 250 or so on sata 2.

[Crushdepth]

I just got a Vertex 3 for my desktop, love it.

[sambosoul]

how much is a vertex 3? 120GB? or anything in this area...maybe 160GB?

[Crushdepth]

I got the 120 gig model, it was about 10,500 baht in Fortune, the shop is Memory Today. Call ahead to check they have them in stock, because they sell out pretty fast.

Edited May 24, 2011 by Crushdepth

[negreanu]

That's actually a decent price for the vertex 3 drive surprising for rip-off Thailand

[dominique355]

I have a MacBookPro 15" with a 500 MB SSD, replacing my previous MacBookPro 15" with 320 GB HD. But frankly I don't see much of a difference in my daily applications. Battery life also isn't better. The price, however, was hefty.

[negreanu]

I have a MacBookPro 15" with a 500 MB SSD, replacing my previous MacBookPro 15" with 320 GB HD. But frankly I don't see much of a difference in my daily applications. Battery life also isn't better. The price, however, was hefty.

First I EVER heard anyone say that!

which brand and mdoel is it?

[nikster]

I have a MacBookPro 15" with a 500 MB SSD, replacing my previous MacBookPro 15" with 320 GB HD. But frankly I don't see much of a difference in my daily applications. Battery life also isn't better. The price, however, was hefty.

Very strange.

I see a HUGE difference with the SSD. It doesn't compare. Application startup for example - all start in a single bounce or less.

Either you're an extremely light user (web/email only) - or there's something wrong with your SSD. While the Apple supplied SSDs are not the fastest on the market they're still faster by a factor of 10 than a HD in small random read.

[4evermaat]

I got the 120 gig model, it was about 10,500 baht in Fortune, the shop is Memory Today. Call ahead to check they have them in stock, because they sell out pretty fast.

Thanks for all the replies.

I take it you are referring to OCz SSD. Surprised no one has mentioned Intel. So OCz has surpassed Intel SSD in?

I am considering going to the Mobile Expo at Queen Sirikit convention center, then hit this mall right after. A couple of the vendors do sell memory and computer stuff; i might get lucky with price Or is it better to go with Memory Today?

How long is it taking for the macbook to boot up? I hear about 4-7 seconds from cold boot?

Edited May 29, 2011 by 4evermaat

[negreanu]

Intel are quality SSD's and good performance but OCZ and OWC are exceeding intel performance on their 510

[Crushdepth]

I take it you are referring to OCz SSD. Surprised no one has mentioned Intel. So OCz has surpassed Intel SSD in?

For the new generation of SSDs, yes, but you need SATA 6 to take advantage of the speed. If your machine is a bit older it probably won't have that, so you might as well save some $$$ and pick up a cheaper last gen SSD (Intel) which are still hugely faster than a hard disk.

[cheeryble]

I've also got the older Macbook think it's 2007 intel core duo it's still a good machine if you don't run too many apps and too many tabs open, but seems to me the RAM which is maxxed at 2gb, is the main limiting factor, it needs 4gb these days. I have upped to a 320gb HD. Would there be any advantage for me with the SSD given the RAM thing?

Haha maybe i should recognize it as a bit of a crock the second battery is swollen and pushes up under the trackpad if i type on a hard surface.

[4evermaat]

I got the 120 gig model, it was about 10,500 baht in Fortune, the shop is Memory Today. Call ahead to check they have them in stock, because they sell out pretty fast.

Thanks for the tip. I ended up going with 120 gb model V-II. The 3rd generation wasn't worth it as both laptops I have are just old enough to not be able to handle the extra speed. It was 7700 baht, and they swapped it out of the macbook at no charge. And they gave me external enclosure for the old hard drive. FREE. They also offered to clone the old hard drive, but we later decided it was better to install a fresh copy of OSX 10.6, which I forgot to bring my disk, but I'm booting from old hard drive via usb until i get OSX. So I'll update when I finish installling.

MemoryToday is excellent shop; took good care of me. They seem to have good stock, but not too many SSDs. Best to go early, especially if you intend on cloning the hard drive.

I've also got the older Macbook think it's 2007 intel core duo it's still a good machine if you don't run too many apps and too many tabs open, but seems to me the RAM which is maxxed at 2gb, is the main limiting factor, it needs 4gb these days. I have upped to a 320gb HD. Would there be any advantage for me with the SSD given the RAM thing?

Haha maybe i should recognize it as a bit of a crock the second battery is swollen and pushes up under the trackpad if i type on a hard surface.

The first thing I did when I purchased my macbook was max out ram at 4gb. at that time I was able to get it for $109 or so on ebay. But nowadays, memory should be much cheaper. maybe $50-60 for the same 4gb now? But I recommend that and/or using "ifree mem"

[4evermaat]

Yes, the SSD is indeed a speed improvement. Total cold boot time is 39 seconds. But the quick application loading and ability to open. It basically does what a bunch of ram would do, but better. This makes multi-tasking a breeze.

Works great with insomniaX and also iFreeMem to keep the laptop running continuously without reboot. Runs much cooler, and when you put it to sleep, it wakes up in about 2 seconds. I might not use insomnia as much anymore. I cannot wait to test it out with VMWare fusion Windows 7. BTW, anyone dual-booting using bootcamp with windows on their SSD? Is partitioning any problem on SSD?

I did a fresh install of OSX vs cloning my old hard drive.