SSD Dilemma

kg648 · 21 Jul 2013 at 10:00

All,

I will be getting a MBP today, I have already ordered some more RAM but at the same time I am going to replace the mechanical drive with a SSD.

I have been looking and saw on the forum the Kingston 128gb on offer but I don't think this will be enough to hold everything I wish to keep on the laptop. After the past 3 hours of searching around I think I have come to the conclusion of the Samsung Pro 256gb as after reading they are more reliable than the basic 250gb version of the 840 pro due to the type of memory.. but is it really worth the £50 price difference for reliability and speed or is there any reason why I should choose anything cheaper?

Thanks.

On Holiday · 21 Jul 2013 at 10:32

Not worth going for pro over basic just based on reliability imo. Are you likely to do anything that would utilize the extra 200Mb/s write?

kg648 · 21 Jul 2013 at 10:33

YarwoodUK said:
Not worth going for pro over basic just based on reliability imo. Are you likely to do anything that would utilize the extra 200Mb/s write?

Honestly - no just general day to day web browsing/e-mails and a spot of video editing really.

wazza300 · 21 Jul 2013 at 11:02

go for the cheaper drive,it will still last you years

Dervious · 21 Jul 2013 at 14:48

wazza300 said:
go for the cheaper drive,it will still last you years

Yes, there doesn't seem to be any issues with the cheaper memory. I think there were a few doubts when these SSDs were launched. Although it's still fairly early days, there are enough of them out there to indicate that the "cheap" TLC memory is not unreliable. Yes, it may wear out faster then the MLC stuff, but the expected lifespan shouldn't cause any "normal" user to worry.

http://uk.hardware.info/reviews/417...-with-final-conclusion-final-update-20-6-2013

As far a speed is concerned, I have just returned a laptop (Intel Pentium CPU, not a fast one either) to it's owner, having installed an 840 120GB (non pro). That model has a write speed of "just" 130MB/s. I don't think the customer is too worried about that, as it takes just 21 seconds from power on to google homepage, and apps load very quickly compared to the old HDD. I`ve just "done battle" with HP printer drivers on the laptop, and having reinstalled the driver software several times, I can't say that the "slow" write speed was a major concern.