reputable/reliable brand

I'm looking into getting a 240gb ssd which brand should I go with?

I already have a 64gb crucial, but would like to try something else that's NOT too expensive.

 

If you're looking for reputable and reliable your choices are Samsung or Intel. Crucial has a pretty good track record in SSDs too but you've already ruled them out.

 

What about OCZ??

 

Try one of the worse reliability and customer support track record so far.

 

wow, is it that bad? I thought it was the most common, guru ssds

 

guru as in someone who want to deal with their SSD(like finding out what is wrong with them) than the real work ;-)

 

That's a pretty poor analogy. McDonald's sells the most hamburgers in the world, does that make them the best? Heck no, it only means they are cheap. Same goes with OCZ, except you are buying from a company that has ripped people off before (34nm vs 25nm SSDs) and generally has a poor track record for reliability.

If you are looking for a reliable SSD and not want to spend too much, consider Samsung. Intel is pricey for the space. You can get a 256 GB Samsung 470 last generation SSD on eBay for under 280 dollars. A PM830 256 GB is a little over 300, if you need SATA 3 speeds.

 

I never it would come to that with OCZ. and I would love something below $280 for 200+ gb. I'll look: into Samsung...intels are expensive as hell!

 

Samsung 830.

Reliable and excellent RMA process.

 

I always camp eBay for cheap Intel SSDs. I have never spent more than 200 for any SSD (my first Intel 320 series 160 GB was 200 brand new, my 2nd one was 165 for another 160 GB). Typically you can find 80 GB Intel for 100 brand new.

 

How about this intel?

I'm currently using 50gb out of the 60gb, so I think a 160gb or 128gb would suffice? I don't think a 240gb ssd necessary...

 

I like Samsungs and Crucials. I've never been adventurous about brands though.

off ebay? have you ever needed to RMA one of those? Or are they not picky about receipts?

 

I ended up buying a samsung 830 128gb, i hope the size will suffice....

 

128GB IMO is kinda pushing it. Windows 7 Home Premium is like 15-20 GB, depending on the image. I've pretty much limited myself to 160GB or larger for OS drive.

No, I've never had one issue with an Intel SSD, I've owned, 3 x G1 80 GB, 1 x G2 120GB, 2 x G2 80 GB, 1 x G2 160GB, 1 x G3 80 GB, 1 x G3 120 GB, 3 x G3 160GB).

 

I looked into the 256gb but it was way too expensive for me.
I'm using almost 50gb out of my 60gb space, with almost all heavy apps I need, so I thought when I double the space things would be smoother.

 

I believe Intel has the lowest failure rates among SSDs, but failure rates are low for all SSDs. The fact you can get OCZ less expensively means they'll offer better value as the chance they'll fail is low. I have three OCZ drives in my desktops. None has given me any trouble.

 

Even though I've owned 3 OCZ SSDs without trouble (Vertex 1 30 GB, Vertex 2 80 GB, Agility 2 60 GB), the fact they scammed customers is strong enough reason not to purchase their products anymore. I've even sold all my OCZ SSDs, I only own Intel for now. Also they are notorious for removing customer from their forums.

 

I don't know anything about the OCZ forums, but I think you can make a pretty good argument that since the failure rates are so low the chances you'll ever need OCZ support are small. It's probably one of those things were there a few bad incidents that get blown out of proportion since the affected users were vocal. That happens here with some regularity.

 

I think 128 will be fine, Since you have 500 GIG in the ultra bay the page file for instance can be moved there as well as installing little used programs if the 128 fills up over time.

 

There is definitely a bit of that, put in perspective though, there is no reason to go with OCZ if you have an option for a drive from a manufacturer with better support and reliability track records for the same price.

 

The problem of OCZ(and SF in general sans-Intel version) is that it is not a lemon issue(which all brands have and is easy to fix, just replace it) but incompatability issue.

So if it hits, first you need to deal with their 'think they are experts but actually know very little' support team via their support forum and after all those, you may get a new replacement which based on my limited experience with them usually cannot fix the problem(it was usually a deadly combination of BIOS+driver+SSD so replacing the SSD ends up with the exact same issue).

So why risk yourself for such treatment when we are talking about less than 100 bucks different ?

 

That right there is the issue, people don't want to spend alot on an SSD, often with fatal consequences. I've learned buy Intel, and if you want to spend less, buy older Intel.

 

or samsung...

 

Samsung or Mushkin (If you want Sandforce based drive)

 

Even though he sells all brands, the dealer who sold me my laptop told me that from his own experience Samsung and Intel were the most reliable manufacturers. I specifically told him at the time that I was looking for reliability, not speed.

He did complain about the number of OCZ drives that he had to return to the manufacturer. It reached a point where he started to order OCZ by customer request only. He uses Intel and Samsung and only fits something else by customer request.

 

One more vote for Intel. Got an X25-V on the desktop rig, never had any problems at all. Granted, 40GB is tiny for a system drive for most people, though, and I bought it purely as an experiment...it ended up becoming a permanent part of that rig.

The Samsung 830 looks pretty great, though.