Re: [Refresh Austin: 5397] Anyone using an SSD Drive (MacBook Pro)

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:44:37 -0700 

SSD drive owner here ... Totally worth it with one major caveat.
SSD drives don't actually delete stuff when you 'delete' them, it just tells your OS that that it can write to that space. Normal hard drives do this too, the problem comes when you actually go to write stuff to the space that is 'marked for deletion'. Unlike normal hard drives that just overwrite the disk space, SSD drives can only write to disk in groups called 'blocks'. So when the drive is filled up with stuff (or you've been using it for some time), it has to corral the block, make sure its safe to write to, if it isn't it wipes it, before finally writing to it ... which is really slow. This manifests itself in your system basically freezing on you from time to time after you've been using it. 
Its fully explained here http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738/8
It can be REALLY frustrating, but even with that ... I would NEVER NEVER go back to a normal hard drive. 
Why?
My photoshop opens in 7 seconds, Netbeans (bloated Java IDE) in 10, Windows XP boots in bootcamp in 2 minutes, and OS X is fully loaded in 30 seconds. 
So yeah ... you can pry my ssd from my cold, dead, mutilated fingers.
There is a TRIM OS command that allows your OS to basically wipe out space on your hard drive that is marked for deletion while you're not using the computer, so that this problem does not occur, but OS X does not support it ... Windows 7 and Linux are the only OS's I know that do. 
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738/10
The other thing to consider is that SSDs are very fast on sustained writes ... you know ... copying a 1GB file from one location to another (eats that stuff for lunch and burps). However, modern OS'es employ many small writes in their operation ... and certain drives that look good on paper stink up the joint in this department (things have changed recently though, since anandtech called them out on it).
What you want to do when you're looking at specs is find out what the throughput is (MB/s) for writes on 1KB, 4KB pieces of data, and compare it to the sustained write speeds, to see how big the difference is. 

If you want a shortcut ... buy an intel SSD ... and thank me later.
Hope this helps.



Brandtley McMinn wrote:
Something I've heard regarding SSD's is that they're incredibly fast for boot drives, however their not a 'long-term' storage medium. Simply put, it is High Capacity flash memory. Flash memory only has a certain number of writes before the medium eventually fails. Granted the number of writes you can do on an SSD is estimated to be in the 10's of thousand times over; yet the number of reads you can perform is virtually unlimited.
Just something you should consider. Honestly flash memory may never be a server grade data storage solution, but this article makes a good argument that for the average to above-average user, flash memory proves a stable medium. 

http://www.cfgear.com/how-long-does-a-flash-drive-last/
For a Mac Book Pro, you could go with an 80Gb or a 120Gb as your boot drive and main app drive to cut cost, and if you had space for another HDD then you could just upgrade the capacity of that for cheap as your main data disk. 

But let us know how it goes.

-- Brandtley McMinn - Creative Director
Gigglebox Studios
[email protected]
512.406.1666

On 6/30/2010 3:07 PM, Ryan Crumley wrote:
I have been looking into this recently too. Make sure you do your research when you buy a SSD as their performance characteristics can vary A LOT. From what I have read many of the non Intel models have some "quirks" which may result in a complete "lock" of your system from time to time. AnandTech has had some good information on the subject: 

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2829
(there may be more recent guides on his site)
I am probably going with a 80gb model and converting my superdrive in my macbook pro to a second drive bay and putting my original 320gb hd in it. Here are some resources: 

http://thingsthatmademegowtf.blogspot.com/2009/08/adventure-in-voiding-my-macbook-pros.html?zx=3ed62e147fe25656
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=757885
http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=220 <http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=220> 

Ryan
On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 2:45 PM, Kevin Koym <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: 

    I went traditional on my MacBook, and replaced the old skool 160
    G hard drive with a 500 G hard drive for $87 bucks from Fry's.

    I used Carbon Copy Cloner (free) to build the new drive out.  The
    process was so painless that I gave CCC's developer a donation of
    $15.

    I borrowed an USB enabled external drive adaptor (don't remember
    name) to set it up.

    Of course, I backed up everything with Time Machine before doing
    any of the work.

    Total time to 500 G spent: about 30 minutes, excluding the drive
    to Fry's.  CCC took about 45 minutes in the background to build
    out the drive.

    Take care,
    Kevin


    On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 2:42 PM, Mark Phillip
    <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        I haven't checked all the specs, but could you make do with a
        120GB for $219?

        http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2103668
        <http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=2103668>



        Thanks,
        Mark
        http://markphillip.com




        On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 2:38 PM, Paul <[email protected]
        <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

            Ryan,

            Yeah same here. For $700 I can by an iPad or flight to
            somewhere nice. Or a but the new Crucial 256G drive
            
http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartspecs.aspx?mtbpoid=2159DD6AA5CA7304

            decisions, decisions.

            P-




            On Jun 30, 2010, at 3:35 PM, Ryan Joy wrote:

            > A few of my coworkers have SSDs in their MBPs. Startup
            was insanely fast. Apps like Eclipse and iTunes pop open
            after only a few seconds.
            >
            > Now, is it worth $700? I'm still struggling with that
            one myself.
            >
            > -RYAN JOY
            >
            >
            > On Jun 30, 2010, at 2:31 PM, Paul wrote:
            >
            >> All,
            >>
            >> I've been looking at an 256G Crucial SSD drive to
            replace the 200G drive currently on my 2008 MacBook Pro.
            Anyone on the list have a laptop/system using SSD?
            Wondering is the speed is all that is advertised. Really
            wanting to know if the $700 price is worth it. Or should
            I stick with a 'traditional' drive.
            >>
            >> P-
            >>
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    [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
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