My Thinkpad flies with an SSD!

Admittedly, the fresh install of Windows 7 and removal of a lot of the Lenovo bloatware (I kept the power manager, hotkeys, trackpoint software, and system update, but canned most of the rest since I feel it slows the system down and makes it less stable, despite what Lenovo says) helps, but damn...this thing flies with the SSD.

Bootup is practically instantaneous, and everything just feels immediate....none of that mushy feeling you often get.

It ain't cheap but it's worth it, and if you do what I did and get a relatively smaller SSD paired with a large spinning disk, your total cost can be under $150 (I spent a bit more, but 60GB OCZ Indilinx-based SSDs + an Ultrabay adapter off eBay will cost you less than $150 if you shop wisely).

 

I have to agree with you. SSDs are probably the most important upgrade to boost performance!

 

I don't know too much about SSDs - all I've heard about is the performance upgrade they carry.

How exactly is the SSD set up within the system? Does the HDD just act as an extra drive, with all the Windows files on the SSD? What other performance increases do you see aside from boot times?

 

Well, it's basically the same as a normal hard drive, so you can install Windows and programs on it. Since they're expensive per GB, however, it can be beneficial to have a traditional hard drive, which is big and cheap, to store movies and stuff that takes a lot of space. Then you can buy a small and relatively inexpensive SSD.

Boot times are faster, but everything just feels snappier. Opening files, doing searches, listing directories, running programs, etc.

 

Simply put, just install your OS (all of it) on the SSD and everything will improve apart from boot times, like programs opening and etc...

 

My laptop boots up in 35 seconds with a SSD.. Is this normal speeds?

 

How are you measuring it? From power button press to idle? That would be very good.

 

From the time my finger hits the power button.

 

Why do you care about boot times? STR and STD broken?

 

Cool, sounds like a pretty worthwhile improvement. Do you notice any significant decreases in battery life opposed to just having the DVD drive in there?

Also, let's say you did need to replace the Ultrabay with something (eg. the DVD rom). That would mean removing the SSD with the Windows files on it, meaning it wouldn't be able to boot, correct? So setting up this kind of system wouldn't allow you to swap anything in/out of the Ultrabay anymore?

 

If you do want to do an SDD + HDD setup, you should put the SSD in the primary drive bay and the HDD in the UltraBay.

 

Yeah, i was wondering if that was a solution. Both SSD/HDD are 2.5" drives, right? And they're easily interchangeable (without any adapters or anything)?

 

My thinkpad x200 already flies after a fresh install. Virtually every program I use is launched within a second. And my computer boots in a second from sleep. So I actually consider an ssd a waste of money.

It just doesnt give you that bang for buck. What would a ssd for example improve for me?

 

Has anyone heard of these ExpressCard SSD's? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208292

Could one of these be used to load Windows? And would give the performance upgrade like a regular SSD?

 

my 7200rpm t61 boots in 45 seconds.

 

Not necessarily, if necessary system operation files are on the Ultrabay drive, then yes it wouldn't start, but if you install all your programs on the Ultrabay drive or use it for storage, everything would still function as normal, however you wouldn't not be able to use the programs you installed on the Ultrabay drive. You do not need to remove the SSD to take out the Ultrabay drive.

 

In general, ExpressCard SSD's are not good. Run hot and are not that fast. The one you linked doesn't even beat a regular hard drive.

@varman, A SSD will only improve your file i/o needs. If you don't feel like you need to open programs any faster, boot faster, eliminate moving hard drive parts, reduce heat and reduce noise, there are no other benefits to having an SSD.

But these days, processors have come far enough that getting the blazing fast processor does not give as much performance gain as getting an SSD. So to me, a CULV+SSD>C2D+HDD for anyone who is not heavily CPU dependent (most consumers IMO).

Edit: My SSD boots in ~35 seconds from button press.

 

What are your boot up times after the SSD instal?

 

SSDs are faster, but it didn't wow me enough to consider giving up the space a platter based drive offers. I'd like to see a hybrid drive with a small flash partition mated to a conventional hard drive for storage.

 

You have never used an SSD then. It might not be worth it for those who want cost/benefit for storage space. But an SSD is worlds faster than traditional hard drives.