Thinkpad Edge E525 & Optical Bay second HDD (SSD)

Hello everyone,
I'm planning to buy the Thinkpad Edge E525 with the cheapest hardware configuration (AMD Fusion A4-3300M 1.9GHz) and upgrade it with additional RAM and SSD hdd. The plan is to put the DVD drive into external USB enclosure and have two disks in the notebook: SSD for Windows and programs, the default HDD for data storage.

If you don't know what the Optical Bay HDD Caddy is check this review. Thanks to this review I learned that the SSD should be in the default HDD position on Edge E420 (because of SATA port speed), I assume that it's the same for E525 model.

The Newmodeus caddy looks nice, but it's too expansive for me, so I found a cheap universal caddy on ebay.

I have several questions:

1) Do you think that the speed boost is worth the price? The SSD and caddy will cost additional 30% of the E525 price. The notebook will be used just for Office and browsing.

2) Do you think that there will be any issues with the noname china caddy?

3) Do you think that it's possible to attach the DVD face-plate to the cheap universal caddy? (as it's possible with the Newmodeus caddy)

4) What's your experience with DVD drive in USB external box? Any issues?

5) What SSD (60-80GB) do you recommend for the OS & programms?
I've found recommendation for those: Intel 320, Crucial m4, Samsung 830. I briefly checked the Anandtech reviews, but I have no experience with SSD disks.
What SSD would you recommned?

 

ad 5)
I've found this comparison of 64GB Crucial m4 and Samsung 830, the performance of both looks similar, they recommend the Samsung 830 (and it has better results from the real life part of the test).
So I'm going to buy the Samsung 830 64GB.

 

1. In my opinion, SSDs are worth the money. Prices are falling fast even for the reliable drives. NBR members commonly recommend the Samsung 830 and Crucial M4 series SSDs for their reliability record, price and speed.

2. I've used 2 no name China caddys and never experienced any problems. I'd recommend buying one from a US seller with a 14-30 day return policy (or 1-2 year warranty if it exists). They are cheap and if it fails then it won't be costly to replace it anyways.

3. Yes. Most caddys accept the faceplate of the original cd-rom. However, in my E425 my already loose-fitting faceplate fits even more loose now that its on the caddy. It was a little annoying at first because it had so much play in the fit, but you can learn to live with it. Another extreme option to get rid of the gap/play would be to glue or silicone the faceplate to the caddy.

4. I have a no name China-made external USB cd/dvd enclosure and so far it hasn't failed me. They're very basic in design and sometimes the fit and finish isn't as good as say a factory pre-assembled unit. There are many brands (Samsung, Asus) that make them but honestly why waste the money when these solutions work for those few jobs. Again, look for a US seller with a return policy or warranty just in case its not Dead-On-Arrival.

5. Both the Crucial M4 and Samsung 830 are the most recommended SSDs amongst NBR members. Personally, I use the 256GB 830 as I have had a great problem-free experience with Samsung's 470 series SSD. Samsung SSDs cost a little more than comparable sized Crucials but I know I can trust Samsung and their 99.9% reliable SSDs.