X200s 128GB SSD or 250GB 5400 HDD

I'm thinking of getting an X200s elite. The only option I'm not sure about is the SDD upgrade. It's an extra £250 ($373) compared to a 250GB 5400 HDD.

How much difference in terms of performance and battery life will the HDD make? My rationale is that I could always retrofit a SDD later.

 

i think with SSD u will get longger battery life and better hd performance

the question is
do u need that much battery life ?

if i were u i will go for the 250gb 5400rpm

 

retrofit the SSD later. For $373, you could put in an Intel 80GB X25-M or OCZ Vertex 120GB.

 

The SSD over the hard drive will have much better results as far as performance is concerned.

Also drop the 5400 rpm drive. They are slow.

 

Read the SSD effects link in my sig. It will give you an idea of the difference to expect between an SSD and a 5400RPM HDD.

In my opinion the upgrade is worth it, but you will have to make the decision on your own.

 

Great info - thanks. The benchmark results are particularly useful. I have an extra 8 cell battery in my cart - but with such good performance and the SSD upgrade I might trash that. That will offset some of the cost of the SSD.

Now, where is that credit card......

 

Thats a bit overpriced...

There is a 128GB samsuing MLC going for £170 here:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAM-SD128G

From a quite reliable UK reseller.

 

I think you need a fitting kit too. Is it easy to do?

 

"Slow" for a 5400rpm drive really depends on platter density. Some 5400rpm drives are quite fast now-a-days. Of course 7200rpm seek will be faster though.

 

If you buy a 1.8" SSD you will need an adapter to convert from Micro-SATA to SATA and pad the extra 0.7".

I use FRU 42W8019 from the IBM Maintenance parts site.

Once you have the appropriate adapter it is very easy to add a 1.8" SSD yourself (all you need is to remove 1 Philips screw from the bay cover, and then transfer your OS).

 

I doubt it. Take a drive just past data and ask for the data. Platter density makes a difference but you will not find any 5400 rpm disks with the same seek latency as you will find on recent 7200 rpm disks.
-Renee

 

Did you even read what I said? I said 7200rpm will have faster seeks. Seek time is not the only metric of hard drive performance. But that is not to say if you are on a budget that a 5400rpm drive cannot be fast. Although granted it is sometimes confusing/tough to find single platter laptop drives easily.

 

Got the adapter - it's only £16 ($24) from IBM UK.

But I can't find any reasonably priced SLC 128GB SSDs in the UK. Does this mean that the SSD on the lenovo website is MLC? I guess at that price it must be.

 

Yes, haven't heard anything otherwise as of yet.

 

yeah. i've heard the exact same thing.
my friend says his 160gb 5400 is the fastest PATA/IDE drive there is because its all on one platter.

 

One platter drives are not inherently the fastest drives. They will certainly outpace a 2 platter drive of identical capacity (due to superior density), but will generally be identical and speed, albeit quieter and more efficient, than a 2 platter drive with double the capacity (identical density).

 

So I guess we are back to the original question! Is £250 worth it for a 128GB MLC SSD? Is the 250GB lenovo HDD a single platter? Are there any comparative stats between an MLC SSD and a single platter 250GB HDD?

 

I am 99% certain that the 250GB lenovo HDD is a dual platter design from a 250GB series (likely the Hitachi 5k250). This will in fact perform worse than the 160GB 5400 RPM drive (assuming you get the single platter Hitachi 5k320).

Look at the SSD effects link in my signature. This outlines a 64GB SLC Samsung and a 320GB 2 platter Hitachi 5k320. A 128GB MLC Samsung and a 250GB 2 platter Hitachi 5k250 should each score about 5-10MB/s slower across the board for sequential transfers. However, random access, energy usage, and general performance difference will be very similar to the drives I tested.

As far as 128GB SLC drives, I don't think they exist (most are 32-64GB). At present MLC is mandatory for high capacity SSDs because they offer more bits per cell (thus a higher density at a moderate performance/life penalty).

 

My fully loaded X200s elite cart now comes to £1,933.40 ($2,898.14). I'm not compromising on anything here, including an ultrabase with DVDR, extra battery, extended warranty and SSD. Just got to decide to take the plunge now or wait and see what the next UK Lenovo promotion is (current 20% off ends May 19th and I'm saving £197). Anyone know if a summer UK promotion is in the pipeline?