Which SSD for my Alienware M11x?

Hi, I am buying Alienware M11x from an online store called HIDevolution (which offers alot more customizable stuff). I cannot choose which SSD to install (cuz I have NO idea what these mean...), so can anyone help me which one offers the BEST performance?

Also, plz tell me if anything is "over-priced"

• 256GB SSD SATA 3Gb/s ($600)
• Seagate Momentus XT 500GB SSHD ($100)
• Crucial C300 SATA3 256GB SSD ($450)
• Crucial M4 (C400) SATA3 6Gb/s 256GB SSD ($535)
• Crucial M4 (C400) SATA3 6Gb/s 512GB SSD ($1025)
• Intel 510 Series SATA3 250GB SSD SATA III ($675)
• OCZ Vertex 2 SATA2 240GB SSD ($410)
• OCZ Vertex 3 SATA3 6Gb/s 240GB SSD ($575)

Thanks for helping a noob

Btw, does different SSD affect battery life?

 

Hey, first off, are you buying a R2 or R3...?

If R2:

Go with Crucial C300. Apparently they are very reliable and effective drives.

If R3:

Go with either the Crucial M4 (either capacity, depending on what you can afford and what space you need) or the Intel 510. Intel drives are considered the most reliable, while Crucial is considered great and quite reliable value.

In regards to the prices, I'm not necessarily the best to comment as I live in Australia not the US, but it usually works out cheaper if you buy and install the drive yourself. Of course, I can understand if you're hesitant to do that. It's quite straight forward and easy, but I guess getting them to install it will mean you don't have to worry. I personally, at those prices (compare very closely with Australian ones, but again, don't know the US pricing for buying them yourself) would get them to install it for me, but up to you

In regards to the SSD affecting the battery life... some people say it improves it, others don't. I for one haven't noticed much of a difference at all since I installed mine. All I can say is, don't count on any spectacular battery life gains

Hope I've been able to help!

 

You cant go wrong with the Intel 510 or Crucial M4. Vertex 3 will also work with a registry fix.

Isnt it cheaper to get the SSD elswhere? Make the original HDD external for extra storage.

Also think about the warrenty, aftermarket SSD's aren't covered by Dell.

 

You need to ask yourself, do you need an SSD? What do you do, game? Then an SSD will NOT increase gaming performance, only decrease load times. Also you will have to live with limited space as well as pay an arm and a leg for a 256 GB+.

Also please do not cross post in other forums. If you need something moved, use the report function.

 

Are you sure that you actually want a SSD?

The SATA3 6Gb/s ones.

SSD in general is "over-priced", or at the very least "very-pricy".

The only thing resembling a bargain in that list is the Seagate Momentus XT. It however only has 4GB of SSD which it uses as a cache for the 500GB 7200RPM HD. Its faster than a normal 7200RPM drive but slower than every other SSD you have listed there.

Question becomes basically: How much space do you need and how much are you willing to spend?

I believe SSDs improve battery life a bit.

 

Well, I have an alienware and actually... they don't support sata iii ( 6gb/s) so, you will pay for performance you won't get with sata iii(6gb/s) ssd, the intel 320 are some cheap SSD, easy to install and some of the most reliable , so it would be a nice choice for your m11x

 

Intel, Crucial, Samsung are my recommendations if you go SSD. I recommend staying away from all OCZ SSDs at the moment, there are a number of outstanding issues with them. Like how they tend to die a couple months in (not all do, but there is a large enough sampling that I'd stay away for the time being. Plus their customer support is atrocious).

Intel 320 is a nicely priced (for an SSD) drive that offers good performance, though it is not SATA 3. The best fast+reliable drive is the Crucial M4.