How to install SSD onto Envy 14 and which SSD to buy

Hey, I was planning to manually install a SSD into my Envy 14, but I do not know exactly how to and which company to buy the SSD from. Could anyone tell me and would this void my warranty if I do so?

 

Intel. I just got an Ocz and I am not completely happy. Its easy, open the bottom panel, remove the 4 screws and switch the drives and it back.

 

But which SSD is the fastest and most reliable?

 

intel SSD's are known to be reliable, sandforce-based SSD's are known to be fast, and the Samsung 470's (my favorite) kinda have the best of both worlds

 

You can't go wrong with most SSDs, but look out for really cheap ones. Right now Kingston is getting rid of a lot of their SSDs for cheap, they are slow and are power hungry.

OCZ is a good brand, they are one the largest SSD manufactures, I've been running a vertex for a year and a half with no issues. Intel, Crucial, GSkill all make good SSDS as well.

For 128GB expect to spend about $200
60gb $100

Oh and SSDs require tweaking to make them work well. You will have to change a setting in your BIOS and multiple settings in Windows. Google "OCZ windows 7 guide"; very helpful. These steps arent hard, but they will get you all the performance out of your pricey investment.

 

I was wondering this myself. Thanks for the replies!

I would also like to know when we might expect 512gig SSD at a 300 dollar price point? Achievable in two years?

Thank you!

 

512gb SSD's are over $1000 right now so I doubt it.that would be less than $1/GB, and right now its at about $2/GB..I think we can expect 256GB SSD's for around $300 by the end of the year

 

I have a 240Gig Muskin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe and i couldn't be happier.

 

Don't get the new ocz vertex 2s. They cheated us by making the new nands slowee

 

I really want to upgrade mine to ssd as well. I don't think I'd be able to function with anything less than a 256GB though and those are still way over my budget unfortunately >.<

 

Very happy so far with the OEM version of the 256GB Crucial RealSSD C300 in mine.

 

Well if your laptop is your only computer it would be hard for anything less than 256. Remember though no matter what you get its highly recommended to not use more than 80% of your drive otherwise you'll get performance degradation. I got a 120 which actually reads 107gb. I have windows, wow, sc2 and I still have about 55gb free. Everything of importance though stays on my desktop.

 

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Very happy with the OCZ Agility 2. Upgraded the firmware to the latest (1.28) and everything seems to be working very well. OCZ firmware update tool is a pain though.

 

Sorry, I should have been more clear; the Kingston V+ series is fine in terms of speed, but most of the other Kingston SSDs are average to sub-average in terms of speed. However, I have seen multiple reports about increased power consumption and overall longevity issues on the V+ due to aggressive garbage collection.

I would completely disagree with your statement "even a cheap ssd is way better than hd". A cheap SSD you will see marginal increases in exchange for paying a price premium. It makes no economic or logical sense to pay so much more for a minor bump over your existing HD.

 

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These guys know more and will help you out.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...thread-benchmarks-brands-news-advice-855.html

 

Kingston SSDNow V+100 Review - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News

"the second issue is the overly aggressive garbage collection. Sequential performance on the V+100 just doesn't change regardless of how much fragmentation you throw at the drive. The drive is quick to clean and keeps performance high as long as it has the free space to do so. This is great for delivering consistent performance, however it doesn't come for free. I am curious to see how the aggressive garbage collection impacts drive lifespan. Kingston ships the V+100 with a 3-year warranty and to Kingston's credit I haven't had any other drives die as a result of wearing out the NAND. Even if the V+100 has higher effective write amplification than the competition, your usage model will determine whether or not you bump into it."

This argument isnt really important or going anywhere.

There is no need to make three separate posts to respond....

Buy a SSD, it will change your computing experience forever.

 

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I also wondered though..why are 128gb kingston SSD's going for like $180 and other brands like Samsung go for more than $250?

 

Everything samsung and intel is expensive. lol.

Theres different models. kingston has lots of differently priced models with different features. Some of the kingston models are expensive and some are not. Some are even just rebranded intels and samsung ssd. The v+100 also mimics apples ssd drives firmware because mac os doesnt have trim support and a normal ssd will degrade. The prices vary. Kingston is more like ocz in that they have many different drives many sizes and many prices. Intel and samsung dont offer many different options to people. Kingston and ocz will still sell you last years model for cheaper... I have an v+ but the new one is a V+100 i think. I have had no problems with my kingston or ocz drive. I notice no speed difference between them and the price was about the same. Right now im running the kingston and I put the ocz in my sisters computer for her but only because it was easyier to remove from the laptop. I did notice a big difference going from hdd to sdd though. Everything loads up faster. Seriously everything. It makes for a snappier laptop.

 

I don't know about 3rd party SSDs, but I'm posting this from the Envy wth SSD that HP sent to make up for the radiane debacle. And let me tell you, the SSD is fast and cool. Though it's kind of weird that there isn't a vibration from the HDD.

 

I love not hearing HDs any more....so nice

 

Really? Not in mine they didn't

 

OCZ Vertex 2 60gb seems slow... - AnandTech Forums

When did you buy it? Its only the ones that have the new 25mm NANDs.

 

You honestly won't notice a difference between many of the models unless you are benchmarking. People will argue back and force one is more reliable than the other or TRIM, garbage collection is better.

I prefer the sandforce due to thier speed and cost. 120GB drives are under 200 with rebates or coupons. I've been running a 120GB callisto deluxe for 6 months now. Before that I had an 80GB X-25M intel Gen 2. Games load slightly faster with the callisto, but that's not that big of a deal, just moving to an SSD is the night and day difference.

 

Such as? Inquiring minds wish to know!

 

Guide SSD Tweak Utility

Above link is for OCZ's SSD tweak utility, I am fairly certain it works regardless of SSD model because it is tweaking windows settings (but I could be wrong).

Guide THE BASIC GUIDE & FAQ - ABC for OCZ SSD

This includes tons of useful information, including settings to speed up boot times, increase performance and power management.

 

He's right. You wont notice a difference between them.

 

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Well with the tweaks my windows boot time is about 20 seconds give or take. I am 100% positive windows 7 won't automatically improve your boot speeds when you add a SSD.

The guide also tells you how to enable settings in your BIOS to get the most out of your SSD, does windows 7 somehow change your BIOS settings for you?

Does Windows 7 warn you not to defrag your SSD?

I posted the link to help people out and understand the differences b/w HDs and SSDs, there is no need for you to crap on everything I say.

 

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I don't even know where to begin with your response, I'm speechless...I give up.

 

So in that case, the least expensive gen +2 SSD, from OCZ, Intel, or Samsung will do? If so, that saves me a whole lot of time I would have spent doing research.

I hope those hybrid HDs will take off. I would hate to buy a SSD and fill it all up with my 80 gig music collection. Even a 256 gigs is not enough. With just my music, essential programs, WoW, SC2 installed, I'm already at almost 200 gigs used.

 

Im just responding to you saying ssd require tweaks to work well. They work perfectly without tweaks. They did have problems back in the day but are supported by windows now. You also said an ssd without tweaks wont boot your computer any faster and you are flat out wrong. I am done with the convo it never happend. latr.

 

you can always get an ssd and put your hdd in a cheap external encloser for you music and media.

 

November - it is a 2e. Also, rans a speed test last night and it hasn't lost any speed at all since new.

 

Then you got it before the 25 NAND refresh.

 

I have two envy 14's on the way. One has a 160gb intel ssd and i450m. The other an i580 and an hdd. I will put some video up to show you guys the speeds of them booting and stuff. Also one has a 1600x900 screen so you will get to see that too! AND for the final test I may swap in my kingston ssd and compare it to the 160gb ssd. The kingston ssd is only 64gb but we will see if there is a huge difference in boot up speeds and application load etc.

 

Hello, guys. I am looking for a SSD for my Envy 14. I read a lot of review and benchmark of SSD. And I fix my choice on 3 manufacturer:

1. Crucial RealSSD C300 256GB 448$
2. OCZ Vertex 2 or Agility 2 240GB 429$
3. Intel X-25M G2 313$

My main daily tasks are:
1.High quality image processing.
2.Music composition
3.Programmation. Compilation
4.3D modeling. 3ds
5.Intense gaming session.

The intel one seemed to have the best random read/write stat and is very stable. But it has too less capacity...if they have 256 GB one, I will take it for sure.
And the 2 other are really faster than intel X-25M and have better capacity. But they are a little expensive.

So I am really confused right now and I don't which one I should take. Any ideas please? Thank you very much

 

Go Intel or Crucial. IMO I'd personally get the Intel.

Im sending my Vertex 2 back to OCZ.

 

Is there any point to waiting for the new Intel 510 series SSD if you have an Envy? As these machines don't have SATA 3...I believe.

 

One thing I noticed about the Crucial C300 reviews is they all mention how power hungry the C300 is vs. other SSDs. Probably wont make a huge difference, but just throwing it out there.

 

Hello guys. I now am considering finally 2 SSD for my Envy 14.

1. OCZ vertex 2 240 GB
2. Crucial RealSSD C300 256 GB

My Envy 14 is limited by SATA II, so I won't consider coming out Intel 510 or vertex 3 or C400. I have a lot of question about these 2 SSD:

1. I see on a review that TRIM helps a lot to keep the SSD performance stable. This is the case for C300. And about the TRIM for OCZ one? Does it play an important role in performance for the Sandforce based SSD?

2.Why on some review, people said that Crucial C300 is for windows users, and OCZ VTX2 is for MAC users? I use mainly Windows 7.

3. I read some negatif sides on both SSD:
-about C300, people talk about freeze or latency after a little days of usage even the new firmware. Is this problem common to many users? Is there a fix for that?
-about OCZ VTX2, people talk about some lying advertiser from OCZ. What about that? Why they said that OCZ is lying about the performance of the new SSD? Besides this, do you guy notice other major problems? Does the Vertex 2 suffer from performance dropping after some normal usage?


Personnally I would go with the OCZ because it has faster read/write speed, less power consumption and has a longer life. What do you think? Please help me decideing with your experience? I　really don't want to searching more and make the right decision. Thank you in advance.

 

I installed the Intel x25-m and love it. It's on sale on newegg for 177 today (120 gb).

 

I ended up buying the OCZ vertex 2 SATA II drive... When I installed it though it was too big to use with the hard drive enclosure but it fits like a charm on it's own, it works but something does not feel right because I can't securely install it with screws....