Choosing a budget SSD drive

I have just now bought a Lenovo X220 and I intend to replace the hd with an SSD drive.

I'd like to know which are the more interesting products in terms of quality/price ratio.

I think that a size of 120/160 Gb could be ok, considering that the notebook will not be used for gaming or to store music/video but only to have a dual boot (win 8 + debian) to make a moderate software programming.

thks

 

Samsung 830 or a Crucial M4 will be fine.

 

Octave by OCZ could be an alternative or it has any drawbacks ?

 

Yeah, it's made by OCZ, crappy customer support included if you get what i mean.

 

I am running an ocz agility for a month now with no major issues.

Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2

 

OCZ is a hit or miss, and for a lot of people it turns out to be a miss. If the customer support doesn't get you, then the drive failing will likely get you. I'd avoid buying from them, even if some people have a good experience with their drives. Crucial's M4 is a safe, inexpensive option.

 

I've had lots of OCZ SSDs. They've never given me a single reason to buy anything else and they're among the least expensive you can find. Do keep in mind hte X220 uses a 7mm bay, which will limit your choices.

 

It's really hard to beat this price. Amazon M4

 

In particular to which models ?

 

budget SSD = whichever come on sale (last gen only)

M4, Hyper X 3k/intel 330 and other sandforces, 830. Sanforce typically do not carry 7mm version though, and pretty much limited you to m4/830/Plextor.

There is not much previous gen that carry 7mm.

 

What is your budget (since it hasn't been mentioned)?

 

For a 128 Gb I'd like to spend no more 60/65 euro.

 

Samsung 830 is 7mm. Crucial m4's come in both 9mm and 7mm variants so you have to be careful about getting the correct SKU. Intel 330 is 9mm. Intel 520 is 9mm but has a spacer you can remove to convert it to 7mm. The Vertex 3 has a 7mm model (again, same caveat as the Crucial m4). Best bet is probably the Samsung 830 since that only comes in 7mm package and the 840/840 Pro is getting released soon so there's bound to be sales on the older model. Not sure what sales are like in Europe but I was able to buy a Samsung 830 128GB for $69 from Amazon in the US.

 

I'm trying a 512gb ocz, mounted in an Archos 80g9 tablet. Should have plenty of storage then.

Sent from my ARCHOS 80G9 using Tapatalk 2

 

Sorry, my OCD kicked in.

 

The 5400 rpm hard disk seems a bottleneck for m lenovo and I've definitely decided to buy an ssd.
I'm wondering if the 5400 rpm hard disk could be used without problems on a old hp 6510b, too.

 

You would need to format and re-install the O/S, but physically, yes the HDD will work without issues (well, except speed... ), in the HP.

 

My unique problem was a possibile issue about the format of the disk.
At this point I'll put it on the HP buying an ssd fot the x220.

thks

 

Keep us posted...

(You do know that the x220 needs a 7mm SSD right...).

(In the HP - you should be able to get away with putting a couple of homemade 'spacers' in to keep it from flopping around).



Good luck.

 

Thanks.
Is it diffuicult to "build" these homemade spacers ?

 

It's as easy as folding a few pieces of paper/foam/etc. to get the right thickness needed (~2.5mm).

 

This is good.

thks
:thumbsup:

 

In case you haven't noticed there are some excellent deals on the usually expensivish Samsung 830s at many of the online retailers at the moment. The 840s have just been released so these deals may not last much longer. I expect that prices will continue to fall tho'.

 

I know.
But for now the price seems to be again a little too high (For my budget).

 

Could Crucial V4 be a valid alternative to Samsung 830 ?

 

I don't think so. Firstly I don't think the v4 is only available as a 9.5mm drive and the X220 takes 7mm. If so; showstopper. Also, isn't the X220 SATA III? The v4 is a SATA II drive and would never give the the speed that the m4 or 830 would.

The v4 would probably be a good choice for your 6510.

 

The Crucial v4 is a bad choice period. Why the heck would you get it when the much faster Crucial m4 or Samsung 830 often go on sale for less?

 

I was waiting for a reduction of 830 price bur for now... it seems to be an hopeless situation.

So I've to decide among samsung 830 and crucial m4.

 

Just for now I've only the old 5400 rpm 320 gb hard disk.

Do You suggest a "complete" replacement of this disk with an ssd unity (128/256 gb) or could it be better to use the msata slot and continuing to keep the slow hard disk to storage "simple" data (audio, video, images) ?