256GB mSATA Recommendations?

I'm looking to buy a 256GB mSATA. Ideally I'd like to spend as little as possible, but I still want it to be reliable. I was looking at the M4's, but anybody have any better recommendations? This is going in a Thinkpad W530, which runs at SATAII/3Gbps speed.

 

Crucial m4 is the best bang for the buck mSATA especially for 256GB.

 

I'm also looking for a new SSD. While I was originally looking at the M4, I'm leaning toward Plextore M5M now.

 

They are 5 usd apart from each other price wise. I'd lean with Plextor's M5M for it's higher speed and DEVSLP support. Unless Samsung comes up with something better than the 840 based PM841
A 840 Pro mSATA would rock!!

 

I'm also looking for one, but I'm more interested in speed/long term performance. Hit me with the best you can find!

 

If you need speed and sustained performance you'd have to look for 2.5" drives. The Sandisk Extreme II is what you're looking for

 

Yeah the current mSATA's are not 'performance orientated' at this point in time.

We need the NGFF format to not only catch up with 2.5" SSD's, but to finally surpass them.

See:
LSI SandForce Codename Griffin NGFF Ultrabook Version ADATA SSD Piks & Specs - Computex 2013 Update | The SSD Review



The problem with mSATA is that there is simply not enough room on them to fully populate the controller's channels and/or fully optimize the interleaving of the nand chips within each channel; thus, we get okay, but not class leading performance.


Many lament the fact that almost each new advance in (mostly Intel) computing platforms comes at the cost of physical incompatibility to the previous gen - I love this very fact though as this is what brings us to continuously higher levels of performance in all aspects of computing (including power, heat and cost...).


In short: for normal/light/medium usage it doesn't matter what mSATA SSD you buy today (I love the M4 256GB model - but if significantly cheaper, would consider another brand).

If you want an SSD for performance today: replace the 2.5" drive you have now (SanDisk Extreme II is where I would place my money right now too...).


Good luck.

 

If you want reliability the m4 is probably the most proven model out there. It may not be the fastest but it's sheer time on the market means we have a very good idea already about how it ages.

 

In my situation, speed won't matter much, I assume, as I'm limited by SATA II speeds anyway.

At SATA II, will the speed difference even be applicable? And what's DEVSLP?

 

From my experience, at SATA2 speeds you will not notice the difference, unless you look for that 1sec faster windows boot or that 2sec faster software startup.
So go with the cheaper drive

DEVSLP it's a new standard for low power operation supported by SSDs.
It's supported by the Haswell platform. Basically a SSD's data can be updated even when the drive is in a low power state. Just like it happens with smartphones today. You don't turn off the device. You only put it in a low power state and in the mean time information gets updated through your data/wifi connection. The SSD can be at, lets say 3mw of power. An email arrives and outlook downloads it. When you wake the pc from that low power state, you get your mail waiting to be read.
I hope my explaination was good enough

 

Indeed it is. Thanks.

 

My advice would be the exact opposite! If you're still in the market for an SSD, and the price difference is negligible, like it was between the 256GB Crucial M4 and Plextor M5M, I'd go for the better drive. (Got my M5M a few days ago, so far so good!)

While you may not notice much of a difference in day to day usage, you would notice the difference if / when you put the drive in a new computer / laptop that supports the new features.

 

You are right but only if he plans to get a new pc. If he wants to do so in the future, consider that M.2 NGFF (SATA Express) will be the new standard, so he will want to go with that. He wants reliability too. Plextor's M5M was around 5$ more than Crucial's M4. Now they are 20-30$ apart and the M4 is the most reliable from the two. I'm not saying that the M5M is unreliable, just that is new and only time will tell how it behaves. At first I reccomended the M5M because I thought he had a SATA3 port but if you're limited to SATA2 (so speeds are almost identical) then the cheaper one (but equally good) makes more sense. That's me however

 

do yourself a favor and spend the extra few bucks to get a 480GB drive....the added space is a god send plus you can put a 12.5-25% unallocated space to speed it up....or really keep it consistent. It isn't a lot more money to buy a 480/512GB over a 240/256GB. 500GB drives are the new value/bang for your buck

 

I don't know where you see that "extra few bucks", but I've noticed it's anywhere from an extra $100 to over $200 extra for a 480+.

Well depending on a price difference at the time of purchase(probably closer to September at this point) I might just get the M5M. You can always find adaptors to put older hardware into newer computers. We'll have to wait and see.