What's Lenovo's problem with a decent sized SSD on the new T410/T510/W510

I need a new computer soon and I am keen looking at the new release. I want to transit to SSD drive from my old 7200 RPM on the T43p, but I'd like a decent sized drive too, hoping 256GB but something more than 128GB is plausible.

However, their main spec page on the T-series and W-series all say storage up to 160GB SSD. But when you really go into the config page, they are maxed out (or as the only option) at the 128GB SSD drive. Are they still updating? I am confused how there can be so many discrepancies in different parts of the site.

 

You didn't even mention it's a $350 upgrade. You look at the 410s and the upgrade to an 80GB SSD is only $110, and the 128 is $210. I guess the 1.8" is cheaper. Still, wish they had more economical SSD options.

To address your issue, there are still all kinds of part options that should be listed and aren't yet, so it appears they don't have all their ducks lined up quite yet. And with everything (save the Edge) having a 4+ week lead time, there's not much reason to hurry.

 

Where did see "160G SSd" on their spec? I mean Ws

 

If the options are 80 and 160GB, this is Intel's fault since those are the only two sizes available from Intel for SSDs, plus the cost is due to Intel's pricing.

 

are you incapable of buying the machine you want with a cheap 5400rpm drive and putting in the ssd you want yourself?

 

I believe it's actually cheaper to upgrade (intel 80G for 110) if you don't want to do anything with the original one (resell it).

I also saw somewhere mentioning lenovo did some tweaks to make their laptop boost and shutdown faster. Anyone know it's the hardware part or software? Meaning, if I buy a SSD later and do a clean install, will I miss any of these tweaks?

 

I'm sure he is, but I'm looking at deploying a couple dozen of these this year, and I'd just as soon not go through that hassle each time.

 

"I'm sure he is, but I'm looking at deploying a couple dozen of these this year, and I'd just as soon not go through that hassle each time."

Consider a backup or file driven installation.

Renee

 

Of course I am. I have also considered getting a 5400 rpm and get a 256GB SSD in, since swapping the drive is just plain easy.

However, my main concern lies with the whole Windows 7 Enhanced Experience. I don't know how their system level tweaks carry over to a user upgrade. I asked Lenovo support and they don't have a solid answer yet (one claims reloading the new drive with the restore disc would work; and he confirmed a simple drive image won't work). I don't want to lose a feature (the Win 7 EE) that I paid for just for a user upgrade that may have worked otherwise through a default config.

And of course, while being a geek myself, I'd like to buy a laptop and get setup and working asap. I don't prefer having to worry about too much about user upgrades on a brand new laptop, and selling an unused 5400rpm separately.

 

Lenovo has decided at some level to use only Intel SSD's. Therefore, for better or worse, they are limited to Intel sizes of disks.
Renee

 

Have they decided to switch to Intel's SSD already? I'd be glad to see this. In this case, I wouldn't mind to wait until the clear out some stocks of the 128GB Samsung by making it the only option for a while.

 

Dream on. As long as Samsung continues to manufacture SSD, all laptop OEMs will continue to use them, as even though they're not fast, they're relatively trouble-free and they offer deep discount for bulk order.

 

lenovo has not decided at any level to use only intel drives.   the T410, T410s, T510, T510i, and W510 are currently being configured with intel, samsung, and toshiba SSDs in various capacities ranging from 80GB to 256GB, all of which are 1.8" micro-SATA size with 1.8"-2.5" storage adapters.

please see the current system service parts page and hardware maintenance manual for reference:
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-74345.html
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-74250.html

not all of these drives are available through the current CTO system due to low stock.   any time a component's stock is low or out, it is pulled from the CTO database to prevent an even larger backorder and delay system shipments.

 

I bet they won't exclusively use Intel, as that's the less cost effective option in corporate sense. But I would be thrilled already if they offer the intel option at the CTO. Does anyone have any insight on how long Lenovo's restock cycle is?

 

In any case, intel MLC SSDs basically come in multiples of 80 GB. So I think it's likely to get an intel hard drive if you order a 80 or 160 GB SSD. I wonder why lenovo would buy 1.8 inch drives and converters when they could use 2.5 inch drives wherever they can. Well, I don't know what's cheaper for lenovo.

 

There's really nothing wrong with Samsung SSDs. A lot of benchmark shows the Intel is the best, and while that's true, the others, Samsung included, is not far behind at all. In most day to day activities, I bet you won't notice much difference if at all.

 

except samsung doesn't have TRIM
pretty big difference there

 

OCZ Samsungs now have TRIM enabled thorugh a recent firmware update. So the Samsung official firmware upgrade surely can't be far off, can it? For other brave or impatient souls there was even a post on this forum showing a work-around, using the OCZ fix - ! http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5654331&postcount=1

I have found the whole issue a bit over-done. I ran my Samsung-driver OCZ SSD for 6 months without TRIM and didn't notice any performance drop -nor did tests indicate a drop (in that time, at least!). I recently updated through firmware to TRIM. Though I found that the same tests showed that write-performance had improved significantly, in practice i still didn't notice a change.

Before TRIM it was almost instantaneous - and test showed no change in performance over 6 months; after TRIM it was almost instantaneous - and I have to do a test to find it is "quicker". Both experiences are excellent

 

I have a 256GB Samsung SSD in my T60p and it definitely supports the TRIM command.