best bet MSATA or standard SSD?

I recently purchased a used M17x R3 from my wife's coworker who buys a new laptop every year. I was wondering what my best choice would be in a SSD. Should I go with a MSATA solution or just a standard 2.5" model? The prices for a 128GB Crucial M4 of either variety are about the same and I do have an empty 2.5" slot so that's not a concern. I do have a Killer 1103 card in there and I've read that with certain laptops that can eliminate the ability to use the MSATA card. I know much more about desktops having built quite a few having worked for a computer shop in the past than I do laptops and any help in this area is appreciated.

 

I personally would go for the SSD route, its cheaper and if its in the right slot then it should run at the SATA III speeds. Depending on your location, in the UK £130 get you a samsung 256gb 830.

 

Most machines have both a wireless and msata slot, and they are hard wired that way though the slot itself looks the same.

The advantages of an mSATA is that it allows you to pair it with a standard 2.5" HDD to get a good combination of space and speed.

 

What are your thoughts on the following MSATA model?

Newegg.com - Mushkin Enhanced Atlas Series MKNSSDAT120GB-DX mSATA 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

Never heard of that brand before, what about this one

Amazon.com: Crucial 128GB m4 mSATA Internal Solid State Drive (CT128M4SSD3): Computers & Accessories

Only 2 dollars more but at least its made by a manufacturer I've heard of.

 

I don't think the m17x r3 has an mSATA slot? It was a new feature on the M17x r4 and replaced the wireless HD slot that the r3 had if I'm not mistaken.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 running Resurrection Remix

 

OK, I haven't been able to find any info on whether the R3 had one or not but I have seen where other HM67 chipset laptops did have one. Since you also have the same base laptop I'll go with your word on this.

@DDDenniZZZ, Mushkin is a good memory manufacturer here in the States. I don't know if they sell in the UK or not and I've no experience with their SSDs. We used to use Mushkin in some of the desktops we'd build where I used to work. I do like Crucial's M4 SSDs and have used them in various desktops and have a 256GB in my desktop.

 

Thanks for the heads up, might consider them if they sell them in the UK since they are cheaper. Good luck getting a new hard drive anyways. Prices are constantly dropping these days. The samsung 830 and crucial m4 256gb are both at a reasonable price these days. Probably cheaper in the US compared to the UK. Just stick with a normal SSD you can't go wrong then, plus the mSATA only runs at SATA II speeds vs SATA III in the normal 2.5" bay. So your faster SATA III SSD will be able to saturate the bandwidth of the bay ~500mb/s vs SATA II which is around ~250mbs

 

The 256GB versions are running around $170-$200 over here depending on the vendor. I don't have the funds for that right now which is why I've been looking at the 128GB. I may hold off for a while and just stick with the 750GB HDD I currently have.

 

Both of them are cool. The mSATA port is SATA III also. The SSD is easier to access physically though.

 

There isn't an mSATA on the r3 though is there?

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 running Resurrection Remix

 

nope, just for the R4. I thought we were talking 'bout that one since you guys mentioned the mSata

 

That brings up another question, does adding an SSD void the warranty that's still on the laptop until next October? I know with some brands any modifications would do so but not sure with Dell/Alienware.

 

Shouldn't void the warranty, it just wont be covered under the dell/alienware warranty will be the suppliers warranty only. Alienware allow you to open up your laptop to do modifcations without voiding the warranty as long as you don't damage anything when adding a hard drive.

 

As stated in my previous post and signature. Opening or changing components does not void the warranty but you gotta keep the original components for us to service the machine.

 

OK, thanks guys. I appreciate all the help.