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    New x220. Make sense to buy new mSATA or just use my current SSD?

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by isnice23, Aug 2, 2011.

  1. isnice23

    isnice23 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi all, I should be getting my new x220 in a couple weeks and currently have a Samsung 470 128GB SS in my x120E.

    As far as raw overall speed goes, does it make more sense to try and use the Samsung SSD (don't think there is height issues) paired with the stock 320GB 7200 RPM drive, OR, pair an mSATA drive with the stock 320GB HDD?

    Already have the RAM upgrade taken care of, just wanted to ask for opinions on the HDD.

    Thanks in advance!
     
    isnice23, Aug 2, 2011
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  2. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    use the samsung if you dont need alot of space, add an mSATA if you do. height isnt an issue as most ssds can go on a diet to make them thinner, or you can do a small modification to use full 9mm drives in the x220 ( dremmel the little bumps off )
     
    KCETech1, Aug 2, 2011
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  3. khtse

    khtse Notebook Consultant

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    The Samsung 470 series are pretty good SSD drives. They are not the fastest compared to the latest SSDs on the market, but they are not slow either. Given the limited choices and prices of the mSATA SSDs right now, you probably won't see a lot of improvement in speed (if at all).

    If 128GB is enough for you, stick with your Samsung. If you need more space, get a mSATA to use with the 320GB harddrive. Alternatively, get a 32GB SDHC card (cost less than $50) to use with your Samsung, and put most of your media files on the SDHC card. The speed of SDHC card is good enough to handle music/video files. Yet another alternative... get an express card CF-card reader, and get a large CF card to store your media files (CF cards are slightly cheaper than SDHC card, and given the same price, faster). Of course you can utilize both SDHC & CF cards to store your media files...

    Right now there not many choices of mSATA SSD available. Beside Intel, I don't see any of the major SSD players have released mSATA products yet. This is going to change soon, since most laptop manufacturers are releasing all these so-called "ultrabook" (macbook air sized laptop) which utilize mSATA drives, there will be increased supply of mSATA SSD to meet these demand.
     
    khtse, Aug 2, 2011
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  4. isnice23

    isnice23 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Perfect, thanks for the replies guys.
     
    isnice23, Aug 2, 2011
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