Looking for 256GB M.2 SATA SSD

So, my new Sager NP8651 is scheduled to arrive in a few days, and the first upgrade I intend to make is to add an SSD. I intend to keep the 1TB HDD for the time being, as the 1TB SSD offerings are a little out of my price range at the moment, so 2.5" SSDs aren't an option (as I won't be able to move completely to an SSD). The NP8651 comes with two 2280 M.2 slots, one SATA interface and one PCIe. The PCIe drives are rather expensive, and the technology doesn't seem mature enough at this point, so I am looking at the SATA options. I am looking for 256GB models, since that should give me enough space for the OS, a couple games, and a few school-related programs that would benefit from the reduced loading time, while keeping sufficient overhead. I'm looking to keep the price under $200.

I was looking at the Crucial M550 256GB M.2 variant, which was on sale for ~$150, but it seems to be out of stock everywhere. It looks like the new Micron M600 256GB is on Amazon, but it's $190. That one is the 2260 form factor, but I'm pretty sure it will work in the NP8651.

The other one I've looked at is the Transcend MTS800 M.2 256GB at the very attractive price of $130, but I'm not sure about Transcend's reputation in the SSD field or the performance of this drive in particular.

Does anyone else have any suggestions?

 

Yes. Avoid Transcend SSDs like the plague.

 

I would add to avoid M.2 SSD's too at this point in time.


See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...-crucial-m550-vs-plextor-m6e.html#post9829650

 

Could you substantiate this advice? I haven't read of any problems with the Transcend M.2 SSDs.

John

 

I've played with Transcend drives many a times, going back to PATA SSD days.

The QC is spotty, and the customer service is worthless.

While I haven't personally tested any of their M2 offerings, based on my previous experiences I can't recommend the aforementioned manufacturer in good faith.

 

I would suggest taking the Crucial one or if you have money to blow.. I believe even Plextor has a M2 SSD option and of course there is Samdung's XP941 which is an overheating champ!

 

I saw that thread, but it looks like all the heating issues reported were with the PCI-e x4 and x2 drives. I was under the impression that the SATA interface M.2 drives shouldn't have that issue since they're not any faster than mSATA. Are there known issues with the SATA interface M.2 drives as well?

 

M.2 drives are M.2 drives. Doesn't matter what they interface with.

What I know is that a SATA3 2.5" SSD is superior at this point (namely; SanDisk Extreme Pro and possibly (I haven't spent my money to test them myself yet) Samsung 850 Pro both at the highest capacity you can afford and certainly no smaller than 480/512GB capacities).

 

Sorry, but that just doesn't make much sense to me. Wouldn't the higher performing drives (PCI-e interface) naturally produce more heat and be more likely to have heating issues? The only ones I've seen reports of heating issues with are the brand-new drives designed to be blazing fast to take advantage of PCI-e. Something like the Crucial M550 M.2, on the other hand, uses the same components as the mSATA version of that drive, but repackaged in a new form factor. If those components didn't have heating issues in the mSATA version, what would cause heating issues in the M.2 version?

And those look like great drives, but the 480GB SanDisk is $270, while the 512GB 850 Pro is $340, both of which are outside of my price range. The only 2.5" drive that would fit in my budget at a reasonable capacity is the 512GB Crucial MX100. But 512GB would barely be enough capacity, which is why I was looking to keep the 1TB HDD in my laptop and add a smaller SSD along side it.

 

Just as FYI: do bear in mind that both M500 and M550 in the mSATA format were reported to run on the warm side of the spectrum.

The problem with the M2 format - even if we were to disregard all other potential issues - is that the current offerings are quite slim, generally speaking. For that reason alone I'd be compelled to recommend going with a 2.5" unit, even if you had to save a few more bucks in order to get the size that you need.

My $0.02 only...

 

Main problem is space is limited inside the NP8651... You can either have 1 9.5mm height HDD or 2 7mm HDD/SSDs... Since his 1TB HDD is probably 9.5mm height, only choice OP has is to use a M2 SSD if he's keeping the HDD...

 

The limited space is what I'm worried about. Doesn't matter what we want or makes logical sense. There are other factors at work (i.e. real world).

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...r-256gb-m-2-vs-samsung-xp941.html#post9865270


The choice is to use a storage subsystem that allows for the capacity needed and doesn't compromise the performance of the rest of the system (or itself) either.

Sure, more $$$. But good things have never come cheap.