Sony Z SSD Options aftermarket

I'm planning to replace the HDD in my new Z with a SSD and wonder if anyone has any recommendations ?

This Samsung caught my eye :-

NEW Samsung 256GB SSD SATA MMDPE56G5DXP TRIM WIN7 - eBay (item 280508380550 end time May-24-10 08:07:56 PDT)

 

I'm assuming that this is for the VGN Z and not the VPC Z as the VPC Z doesn't take a standard drive.

That is an ok drive it is getting a bit on now. I have the 128GB version of it. If you're looking for a drive with 256GB storage space it might be a good option for you. Other decent drives will most likely cost more or you cannot get them up to 256GB. Where power consumption is concerned this drive is very good.

It is a very low power consumption drive but it doesn't have the best 4k write speeds but it depends really what you want it for. It is more than ok for my purposes. 27s boot time in Vista and 24-25 in W7 from pressing the power button and without disabling nearly my entire apps from starting up is good enough for me. My computer also feels very responsive to me.

The Intel G2 drive is a good drive. It does have very good 4k write speeds.

Drives with a Sandforce controller give better performance now. They also are lower power drives than the Intel drive.
Newegg.com - OCZ Vertex 2 OCZSSD2-2VTX100G 2.5" 100GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
OCZ's Vertex 2 Pro Preview: The Fastest MLC SSD We've Ever Tested - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News


Edited to add:

I also forgot for a moment there that some notebooks will come with a 2.5 drive in place of the optical drive. If this is the case and what you want to use it for it will be fine.

 

The VPC-Z does take a standard HDD but it replaces the optical drive.
I think that configuration is just not available in every country.

 

It's a Japanese VPCZ11 which I have opted for a HDD instead of a SSD + DVD

 

Out of curiousity why didn't you just buy the ssd model to begin with, if 256GB is enough storage for you? You are going to lose the HDD you paid for and still have no optical drive. Why would you do that?

 

If speed and reliability are the main concerns, nothing beats the Intel X25-E, but at $600 for 64 GB, it isn't exactly cheap. (It's slightly better than it looks, though -- 64 GB means 64 GB usable out of 80 GB total -- the same capacity as the 80 GB X25-M).

If you need more space than that and don't mind MLC instead of SLC, I'd recommend going with a Sandforce based solution like the OCZ Vertex series.

 

I've had the same idea as JoeDarkness.

Why no DVD/BluRay drive: because I don't need one, simple as that - the laptop is lighter, and the HDD is taking that space instead.
Maybe a little economy on the battery life without DVD though I wouldn't be 100% affirmative on that - but truly i really don't need any optical drive

Why not the Sony raid SSD?:
- VPCZ1 without optical drive was only available with HDD in my region
- The price - I can add a SSD later at my convenience, and by the time I decide to go to SSD, the ratio $/GB will hopefully decrease
- The Trim/SSD issue:
I have no doubt that Intel will fix it in their driver in the future - if they want to sell raid SSD solutions to IT (arrays, filers, etc...), then they'll have to fix it (lots of $$$ to make in that business by replacing HDD with SSD).

Anyhow, I can understand that some people disagree with the choice, but that's my logic behind

 

I'm rather curious whether Samsung has any SLC-based drives out on the market at the moment. I'm finding it darn hard sourcing the 1.8' uSATA SLC drives, let alone MLC in Korea as it is (not trusting eBay; will be trying out some Korean-based factories before considering).