SSD troubles (x220)

Ok, so i'm considering buying a ssd. My choice nr#1 would be Crucial M4 64GB if not the somehow risky modding it needs...
I know it requires removing the plastic spacer and using shorter screws, but then again it will contact with the metal casing. so i need to open the ssd and stick some duck tape inside to isolate it, correct? does it void warranty? tbh it overall seems kinda risky :/

or should i consider intel 320 80gb? it fits without any mods? it has more capacity, although it is slower, more expensive. also, i've heard it has some frequent freezing (8mb?) issues?

 

I'm just a curious fellow, but why wouldn't you consider a mSATA drive?

 

because it's even slower than intel 320 and much more expensive. i would consider it if it had similliar price

and how about power consumption? hdd + msata drive combo will kill my battery faster, right? does it support trim?

 

There will be little practical difference between the drives unless you copy and paste files all day. The real benefit of a SSD is the near instantaneous seek times, which doesn't vary much between SSDs. Typical notebook usage doesn't place much load on the controller.

I have the six-cell. With the screen set to 10/15, I get six plus hours of battery life.

Kingston and OCZ make mSATA drives too. You can probably get a 60GB for $100. When you add that to 320GB 5400RPM drive, you're getting almost 400GB of space. How much is a 400GB SSD going to cost you and you probably don't need speed for storage.

To me that seems like a better deal to me than jury rigging a SSD. I had a X200 and X200t with Intel SSDs. I hated having to keep everything on the external, but that's me. The choice is as always yours. Good Luck.

 

Seems like the thing to do if one wanted to go with an SSD is use that for the C drive, and then use the 2.5 hard drive for all storage (My Documents on the E drive)...then, use Acronis to back up your C drive only so restoration is quick

 

You can set the HDD to stop spinning after a short idle period to save battery. For the majority of the time, the HDD should not be spinning, since you're using it only to store data.

Yes, generally mSATA SSDs do support TRIM in operating systems that have that command.

 

hei buy that samsung that has 7mm height! Don't risk your x220 like i did

 

x25-v fits perfectly after removing plastic spacer, correct? and there is no need to isolate with duck tape or something?

 

Go for the new 7mm Samsung 830 SSD. Took me less than a minute to fit in my X220 and its super fast Check out these results:

 

atm im considering to options:

a) buying intel 310 40gb msata for x220
b) going for crucial m4 64gb for desktop and transfering my current desktop ssd (x25-v) to the laptop

 

+1 for the Samsung 830 series.

I don't like the idea of mSATA:

a) It occupies the WWAN card slot;

b) HDD is prone to fall damages and risk more of data loss in laptops if you move the laptop around a lot.

 

WWAN only has value if you plan to use it.

 

If I get the Intel 310 mSATA 40gb, can I simply install in my X220 tablet, reinstall the OS and off to the races? Any quirks I should be aware of?

Is 40gb really enough? It's hard to justify $189 for the 80gb if 40 is sufficient for the OS...

 

a) WWAN is worthless for a good majority of users.

b) If my HDD died... I'd have my mSata If your SSD dies... you have nothing. Although I've never had a HDD die so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

No quirks I've experienced. Installed onto intel 310 then just cloned it onto my HDD. Simple.

Is 40gb enough? Not for me, but I also have the entire MS office and Adobe suite. My partition is 41.3 gb total after I put on all my programs and cleaned the install. I wanted to run every program off my mSata, so the 40gb was never really an option.

 

To be honest, if your HDD died then you still lose data, so I recommend keeping a backup of the HDD just in case

40GB is good for the bare minimum Windows install with Microsoft Office and a few essential programs. If the laptop is your main computer, I'd recommend the 80GB mSATA.

 

Thanks for the replies re: mSATA. I think I'll just spring for the 80 gig mSATA.

Not that I have one, but I'm curious: does the mSATA work on the i7 model of the X220 tablet? I have an i5 and am just wondering...

 

Perhaps you want to look at a Kingston mSATA SSD? For the same price as the Intel you get an extra 24GB of space and better throughput.

 

Lol, well obviously I'd lose the data on that drive. But I do daily backups so no worries for me. And frankly it wouldn't be anything I'd miss. My HDD is simply a clone of my mSata with the addition of movies, music, etc.

Definitely, which is why I always say 80gb... then you don't have to pick and choose. I thought I remembered also seeing the 80gb was faster than the 40, no? May be another reason to pick it. Me personally, I wanted all programs to run off the mSata but others may be different.


I'd recommend anyone looking, trim down your install on the HDD and see where you're at. If you're only a few gigs short of 40 then jump up. I believe you'll regret it down the line if you ever had additional programs, etc.

Can't see why not.

 

Which Intel 160GB SSD is in the X220? Is it slower than the 128GB SSD that Lenovo is offering? It's a $70 upgrade going from 128GB to 160GB. Is it worth it?

 

@ckthepilot

According to posts on Lenovo's forum, it's the Intel 320 model (SSDSA2M160)
Intel® Solid-State Drive 320 Series

 

any idea if it is on sf-2281? id rather avoid this controller. hope this ssd is available in poland :/ msata drives are hard to find here. i cant find any review of this ssd and i have this feeling that random write/read speed is very slow in kingston drives :<


also, with the combination of ssd + hdd should i expect shorter battery life? assuming i wouldnt use hdd a single time during the battery cycle

 

Don't have a clue. You might want to post over in the SSD forum. I'd guess someone over there knows.

I get about six hours of battery life with the 80GB Intel and Hitachi Z5K500.