# SSD On Sale



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

Just saw this on Canada Computers site as I've been trolling around looking for deals on Solid States. 

128 GB SSD for $149.99

Just over $1/GB which is amazing considering the going rate is $2+/GB depending on capacity. 

I just can't get over the small sizes. But still, maybe as a bootable w/ a 2nd optibay HD?? That's still something I'm in the process of doing/considering. 

IN FACT, here's a q?:

if I have a SSD bootable and a HDD for data on the same lap, is there a weakest link theory in this case? As in, am I losing the gains made w/ a SSD by keeping a HDD data drive?


----------



## simon (Nov 2, 2002)

HenriHelvetica said:


> if I have a SSD bootable and a HDD for data on the same lap, is there a weakest link theory in this case? As in, am I losing the gains made w/ a SSD by keeping a HDD data drive?


I can't say for a laptop but I did exactly that on my MacPro - best move I ever made. I have the SSD as my boot and application drive only. I always had my data on a second HDD to begin with so I just moved my Photo Music Libraries there as well. 

Surprisingly, I was concerned on the smaller drive issue as well - going from a 2TB Boot drive to a 160GB SDD - after moving ALL data files to my other HDD I am actually only using 66GB of the 160GB I have. Anytime the computer does something disk related, like booting, shutting down, opening apps - it's just a fraction of the time it used to take before and it makes my aging MacPro seem like a spring chicken. Actually, I am so happy with the results that I am in the process of adding an SSD to all my computers.

As for installing an SSD in a laptop - there is a couple of methods to install this in your Optical bay which would leave the original HDD as your data drive.


----------



## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

HenriHelvetica said:


> Just saw this on Canada Computers site as I've been trolling around looking for deals on Solid States.
> 
> 128 GB SSD for $149.99
> 
> ...


stay away from kingston SSD....
go with this one .. you will be glad you did.
Canada Computers | Hard Drives | Patriot Wildfire 120GB SATA3 Solid State Drive, Read: 555MB/s, Write: 520MB/s (PW120GS25SSDR)
you can not compare kingston and patriot the patriot will run circles around it..
believe me when it comes SSDs you do not want to budget.
I have the SSD in the HD bay and I would put the old HD in the optical bay


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Really slow for an SSD... it doesn't matter how "cheap" it is it is still a waste of money .


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

screature said:


> Really slow for an SSD... it doesn't matter how "cheap" it is it is still a waste of money .


Not so much about being cheap, but more seeing a sale and maybe a clearance as the new ones are rolling out. 

@ macintosh doctor, yea. I've seen all the SSDs now are pushing new speeds etc. WIll do on the warnings.


----------



## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

HenriHelvetica said:


> Not so much about being cheap, but more seeing a sale and maybe a clearance as the new ones are rolling out.
> 
> @ macintosh doctor, yea. I've seen all the SSDs now are pushing new speeds etc. WIll do on the warnings.


not about speeds that is just one thing. but more about the built in optimization of space and failure rate.. after all it is your data we are speaking about.


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

yep. I read a few bits about the failure rate as well. Seemed like it was tied to old firmware. But many thanks.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

We've had nothing but problems with Kingston SSD's here at work. Stick to Intel, OCZ, OWC and other top names.


----------



## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

I've read way too many horror stories with OCZ to ever consider buying one of those. Just look at the Feedback on Newegg.ca... failed drive after failed drive.

Does read/write speed matter _that_ much? How does it compare to the drives that are in the Macbook Airs? The 11" MBA I had seemed pretty darn quick, and I doubt Apple went all out with the speed of that SSD.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

OCZ has had issues but I've liked my vertex and agility models. They sell tons if them so will have more reviews then most and mos that are happy never review. Anyway apple uses Samsung drives I believe which tend to be slower but are very reliable.


----------



## johnnydee (Feb 10, 2004)

I have that drive and haven't had any issues with it!
You won't get the speeds that the other drives offer unless your machine supports SATA III and you'll find that even the SSD drive like the one you are thinking about is 10 times faster than a HDD.


----------



## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

I can only speak for OWC SSD's and they are fast and so far reliable. I bought mine second hand but it was unused. What an insane difference in speed on my original aluminum Macbook. Took me 12 min to install Lion. My mini has twice the RAM and a 500GB HD and is slugish and super slow compared to the MB. 

I would not hesiatate to spend the exra few $ for a higher quiality SSD over something that is on sale IMHO. Not that I'm an expert on the subject, just a very satisfied user.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

We've been pleased with OWC SSDs - they are a bit smaller for redundancy purposes and in our view that's a good thing.

120s at $199 in a Macbook or an iMac are transformative for everyday use....period.
You get one of those :yikes:  grins plastered.

Even with as little as 2 gigs of RAM the SSD makes the machine very sweet ( I work on an Air with 2 gigs just to see how it fares over time versus machines with more RAM and an SSD ).

Yes it takes some managing of files - music and photos are space hogs.
But it's worth it. 

That said the 500XT hybrid offer a bit of both worlds - space and snappy and less money. But once on SSD your hooked big time.


----------



## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

MacDoc said:


> You get one of those :yikes:  grins plastered


LOL Yup! I had one for a solid week after install  . I'm so used to it now that my mini just ticks me off because it's so slow.


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

kloan said:


> I've read way too many horror stories with OCZ to ever consider buying one of those. Just look at the Feedback on Newegg.ca... failed drive after failed drive.
> 
> Does read/write speed matter _that_ much? How does it compare to the drives that are in the Macbook Airs? The 11" MBA I had seemed pretty darn quick, and I doubt Apple went all out with the speed of that SSD.


Same here, nothing but DOAs. Will try an OWC next.


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

MacDoc said:


> Yes it takes some managing of files - music and photos are space hogs.
> But it's worth it.
> 
> That said the 500XT hybrid offer a bit of both worlds - space and snappy and less money. But once on SSD your hooked big time.


Managing files, the Cloud, my friend, the Cloud 

the 500XT is great, but not so much in a laptop, the high rpm and the noise are a bit annoying.


----------



## kevkwas (Feb 24, 2004)

*256GB flash storage bring$*

Got a brand new 256GB flash storage out a a 2011 MBA air, what would it be worth$?


----------



## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

kevkwas said:


> Got a brand new 256GB flash storage out a a 2011 MBA air, what would it be worth$?


Hard to sell, because it will fit only the MBA and a very few Netbooks.


----------



## kevkwas (Feb 24, 2004)

CanadaRAM said:


> Hard to sell, because it will fit only the MBA and a very few Netbooks.


Thanks for the info, I guess anyone who a MBA with 64GB or 128GB would want it. Will this flash fit in any MBA??? 2009,2010,2011???


----------



## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

kevkwas said:


> Thanks for the info, I guess anyone who a MBA with 64GB or 128GB would want it. Will this flash fit in any MBA??? 2009,2010,2011???


Will not fit in 2009's. The 2010 and 2011 have the same size mSATA socket but only the 2011 machines are compatible with SATA 6.0 GB/s. I don't know if the 2011 drive is backwards compatible with the SATA 3.0 GB/s 2010 machine

Is yours a Toshiba or a Samsung?
2011 MacBook Air shipping with (fast) Samsung and (slow) Toshiba SSDs | ZDNet


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

equisol said:


> Same here, nothing but DOAs. Will try an OWC next.


Go for it... I am well pleased with my SSD from OWC... Zoom zoom and no problems. 

Just remember MacDoc will match OWC prices... so why not buy from a Canadian and an ehMac member.... just a thought.


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

yes he recommended the OWC, so I'll get one from him once I decide to pull that trigger. From what I read, the OWC is indeed worth the few extra pennies.


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

screature said:


> Go for it... I am well pleased with my SSD from OWC... Zoom zoom and no problems.
> 
> Just remember MacDoc will match OWC prices... so why not buy from a Canadian and an ehMac member.... just a thought.


Screature;

thanks, I sent a PM to MacDoc. I am 100% for buying North American products, and from Canadians if possible.


----------



## johnnydee (Feb 10, 2004)

I'm not so sure it's a NA product but it's great you're buying from an ehMac supporter!
Enjoy!


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

johnnydee said:


> I'm not so sure it's a NA product but it's great you're buying from an ehMac supporter!
> Enjoy!


It is assembled in the US... undoubtedly with Asian parts.


----------



## Guest (Oct 15, 2011)

I've had a Kingston SSDNow 128G SSD for almost 2 years without issues and it's still nice and fast in my 2011 MBP 13" i7, almost 200MB/second read and write.


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

Great thread, I *will* keep my eye out on all suggested SSDs. BTOs form Apple come a 500G SSD unit from Intel. Anyone w/ experience w/ them?? Really thinking about adding a 64-128G SSD as a bootable and using the current HD as a data drive (and have them installed on same lap w/ optibay unit).


----------



## kelman (Sep 25, 2010)

equisol said:


> Managing files, the Cloud, my friend, the Cloud
> 
> the 500XT is great, but not so much in a laptop, the high rpm and the noise are a bit annoying.


Quite satisfied with mine, bought it shortly after release and have never had an issue. Moved it from last years MBP to my 2011 MBP. This hybrid is spunky, quiet and only heats up when I am doing constant reading and writing for a while.


----------



## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

kelman said:


> Quite satisfied with mine, bought it shortly after release and have never had an issue. Moved it from last years MBP to my 2011 MBP. This hybrid is spunky, quiet and only heats up when I am doing constant reading and writing for a while.



agreed. i have had numerous 7200 RPM drives in my laptop and none were as quiet and vibration/noise free as the momentus XT. if you didnt know it was a 7200rpm drive you wouldnt be able to tell. i am basing this opinion on 3 unique drives ive had ( 1 x 320GB, 2 x 500GB (one was RMAed) and numerous ones ive installed for others.


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

I loved the idea and also thought of going hybrid way (Momentus XTs) but read so many poor stories online that i decided to holdback. + Did you find that the little but if SSD (4G right?) were enough?


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

HenriHelvetica said:


> I loved the idea and also thought of going hybrid way (Momentus XTs) but read so many poor stories online that i decided to holdback. + Did you find that the little but if SSD (4G right?) were enough?


Nothing wrong with the hybrid drive, very fast and snappy, but being a 7200 RPM drive, it vibrates a bit, and emits noise. OK if you are in a working environment, but annoying when you work from home in silence. This is why I am going SSD. The hybrid will end up in attached as an external drive.
Still looking for a good rj45 to usb hub to add a bunch of drives, have not found one compatible with Mac.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

FYI OCZ released a new firmware today that is based on some bug fixes done by Sandforce so I'd expect other SSD's that use that controller will also have updates coming if they aren't already available.


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

it seems that many of the complaints with the OCZ SSDs were with the Vertex *Plus* models.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

FYI for those sitting on the fence the price of the drives is pretty stable and for those getting ram DDR3 8 gig for MacBook Pros has plunged ( 16 gigs total ).


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

i-rui said:


> it seems that many of the complaints with the OCZ SSDs were with the Vertex *Plus* models.


Just returned the Vertex 3 that was DOA. Was never recognized by OSX, or Windows. Am going to try the OWC from MacDoc. And from what I read, should have done so in the forst place.


----------



## Guest (Oct 18, 2011)

equisol said:


> Still looking for a good rj45 to usb hub to add a bunch of drives, have not found one compatible with Mac.


RJ45 to USB hub? Not sure what you're looking for here ... do you mean an ethernet connectable unit that you can attach a bunch of USB drives to for network storage (NAS)?


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Well they are not always perfect but we vet them for clients before sending.


----------



## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

Anybody had any experience with this one? 120GB Sata3 550/510 at $149 seems like a real good deal!

Canada Computers | Hard Drives | Adata S510 120GB 2.5" SATA III Solid Sate Drive (SSD), Read: 550MB/s Write: 510MB/s (AS510S3-120GM-C)


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

MacDoc said:


> Well they are not always perfect but we vet them for clients before sending.


That is called SERVICE in big letters.


----------



## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

screature said:


> It is assembled in the US... undoubtedly with Asian parts.


Damn, Americans are terrible at assembling!


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

mguertin said:


> RJ45 to USB hub? Not sure what you're looking for here ... do you mean an ethernet connectable unit that you can attach a bunch of USB drives to for network storage (NAS)?


Mgertin, 'kinda', i.e. a NAS with a twist. I have 4 external drives of different capacity, and have them for different purposes, such as one for media, the other for my customer information, a third for my personal information, etc. The Media is pretty much always connected, the others are backup information (using Synch). I take them on and off the network randomly, and therefore a NAS may not work. Although I may leave them permanently if there is a good solution, I can always un-mount them. Bare in mind I only use 2.5" drives. And Idealy I would like 2 as they would be connected to two different devices, so 2 ports per unit are fine. My present problem is that I am running out of USB connections, only one on the Airport extreme, and two on the Mac Mini (older model)


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

> My present problem is that I am running out of USB connections, only one on the Airport extreme, and two on the Mac Mini (older model)


so why not just buy a USB hub?


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

Andrew Pratt said:


> so why not just buy a USB hub?


because I would like it to have addressable via an IP address.


----------



## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Your NAS solution is a MacMini refurb


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Adrian. said:


> Damn, Americans are terrible at assembling!


I thought you were in favour of the "Occupy" movement.


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

CanadaRAM said:


> Your NAS solution is a MacMini refurb


Thanks CanadaRam, agree, this may be the best solution, and it could run unattended jobs as well.


----------



## Guest (Oct 19, 2011)

equisol said:


> because I would like it to have addressable via an IP address.


I don't think you would get what you expect out of that sort of thing, not to mention that a lot of them have issues with file sharing with Lion (they need a fairly up-to-date version of netatalk which many do not have).

I'll second the mac mini suggestion.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

can a G5 be used for this ? dirt cheap towers can hold up to 4 TB'
Just wonder if Leopard is adequate??


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

Have an older power PC based mac Mini, will give it a whirl. The only problem is that there are only 2 usb ports, but will add a usb hub to it. Will see how mounting drives and shares will work.


----------



## kevkwas (Feb 24, 2004)

CanadaRAM said:


> Will not fit in 2009's. The 2010 and 2011 have the same size mSATA socket but only the 2011 machines are compatible with SATA 6.0 GB/s. I don't know if the 2011 drive is backwards compatible with the SATA 3.0 GB/s 2010 machine
> 
> Is yours a Toshiba or a Samsung?
> 2011 MacBook Air shipping with (fast) Samsung and (slow) Toshiba SSDs | ZDNet


it is a samsung Drive.Think i'll keep it. love this MBA


----------



## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

screature said:


> I thought you were in favour of the "Occupy" movement.


Stuff assembled in the US is notorious for being absolute crap.


----------



## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Adrian. said:


> Stuff assembled in the US is notorious for being absolute crap.


Pretty broad statement there Adrian.

Ever owned a John Deere or Harley-Davidson product? Obviously not.

And there are likely thousands more.


----------



## l84toff (Jul 27, 2008)

SINC said:


> Pretty broad statement there Adrian.
> 
> Ever owned a John Deere or Harley-Davidson product? Obviously not.
> 
> And there are likely thousands more.


Not sure if you were trying to narrow it down for him or...mind you I did meet a HD rider once that didn't have anything wrong with his bike. I think crap is made everywhere these days.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

SINC said:


> *Pretty broad statement there Adrian.*
> 
> Ever owned a John Deere or Harley-Davidson product? Obviously not.
> 
> And there are likely thousands more.


+1 Agreed.


----------



## lewdvig (Nov 20, 2003)

simon said:


> I can't say for a laptop but I did exactly that on my MacPro - best move I ever made. I have the SSD as my boot and application drive only. I always had my data on a second HDD to begin with so I just moved my Photo Music Libraries there as well.
> 
> Surprisingly, I was concerned on the smaller drive issue as well - going from a 2TB Boot drive to a 160GB SDD - after moving ALL data files to my other HDD I am actually only using 66GB of the 160GB I have. Anytime the computer does something disk related, like booting, shutting down, opening apps - it's just a fraction of the time it used to take before and it makes my aging MacPro seem like a spring chicken. Actually, I am so happy with the results that I am in the process of adding an SSD to all my computers.
> 
> As for installing an SSD in a laptop - there is a couple of methods to install this in your Optical bay which would leave the original HDD as your data drive.


I agree, my Mac Pro restarts in seconds now. Mine has a Corsair Force 3 120 very reliable so far. Home folders are on a 1 TB drive with a 2 TB Time Machine just in case.


----------



## CubaMark (Feb 16, 2001)

*OCZ releases world's first terabyte 2.5-inch SSD*





> OCZ has now removed the capacity hurdle for laptops with the release of the world's first 2.5-inch SSD that is available in capacities up to 1 TB.
> 
> OCZ's new Octane SATA 3.0 and SATA 2.0 SSD series is based on the Indilinx Everest controller and feature a rapid boot feature that is claimed to reduce boot times by 50 percent over previous OCZ SSDs. The SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps) Octane model offering 560 MB/s read and 400 MB/s write and up to 45,000 random read IOPS (Input/Output Per Second) using 4K blocks, while the Octane-S2 SATA 2.0 (3 Gbps) model offers 275 MB/s read and 265 MB/s write and up to 30,000 IOPS (Input/Output Per Second).


(Gizmag)


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

CubaMark said:


> *OCZ releases world's first terabyte 2.5-inch SSD* )



Dear Santa,

I've been really really good, so could you please deliver one of those new 1TB SSD that I could really really use...

Worth a shot??


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

<insert smeagol voice>I wants it...I needs it....itz minezzz</voice>


----------



## andreww (Nov 20, 2002)

Although most of us will never put out the cash for a 1TB SSD, hopefully the availability of them will cause the price of the smaller drives to drop. Personally I won't move to an SSD until I can pick up at least 160GB for a decent price. 160GB is small but I've become used to it and its pretty manageable. I have been toying with the idea of putting in a Momentus XT hybrid drive though.

Question. I've seen plenty of Youtube vids extoling the virtues of SSD, most showing a demo of startup and a series of apps opening. Pretty impressive stuff, but I rarely restart my MBP, and since I've maxed out the ram the apps seem to open very quickly. Is there any noticeable difference in performance beyond loading the system or apps?


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

> Is there any noticeable difference in performance beyond loading the system or apps?


YES! but it also depends on your work...if most of what you do is processor bound then you won't notice as much as someone that does a lot of IO intensive work. Still IMO SSD's are worth every penny and when coupled with a traditional drive for storage make so much sense. Move the optical drive to an external shell and add an SSD.


----------



## Guest (Oct 25, 2011)

andreww said:


> Although most of us will never put out the cash for a 1TB SSD, hopefully the availability of them will cause the price of the smaller drives to drop. Personally I won't move to an SSD until I can pick up at least 160GB for a decent price. 160GB is small but I've become used to it and its pretty manageable. I have been toying with the idea of putting in a Momentus XT hybrid drive though.


I'll certainly be buying one of those 1TB SSD drives, right about the time they come out with the 3TB models which would make these 1TB ones old news and affordable


----------



## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

Andrew Pratt said:


> YES! but it also depends on your work...if most of what you do is processor bound then you won't notice as much as someone that does a lot of IO intensive work. Still IMO SSD's are worth every penny and when coupled with a traditional drive for storage make so much sense. Move the optical drive to an external shell and add an SSD.


Hit the nail on the head right there. When my OCZ crapped out on me last week, I was forced to reinstall Lion on my HDD, and it was a huge difference going back to a regular hard drive. My MacBook Air was faster than my iMac for real world usage (non-processor intensive).

It's clear an SSD is faster in many ways, installation of Lion from USB key to HDD took around 40 minutes... vs Lion install on SSD which took less then 10 minutes for me. In 40 minutes I had installed, and restored from a Time Machine backup (about 40GB through Firewire). 

I do have to thank Macdoc for sending me an OWC drive extremely quickly last week. And I'm hitting myself for not just getting an OWC drive in the first place. I find it's actually a little faster than the OCZ Agility 3, and now my iMac actually shows the correct temperature for the OWC drive, while the OCZ reported 128C. These little details make it worth the price.

Don't cheap out on an SSD!


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

Andrew Pratt said:


> OCZ has had issues but I've liked my vertex and agility models. They sell tons if them so will have more reviews then most and mos that are happy never review.


Have you (or anyone else reading) used an OCZ Agility (the original version, not the 2 or 3)??

Any comments on it? I can get a used one off a friend for cheap, but i don't think the original Agility SSDs used sandforce controllers, which from what i understand is a big plus for mac users.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I used an original Vertex in a Mac but not the Agility 1 or 2. Depending on the price it may be worthwhile


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

did the original vertex have the sandforce controller? any problems using an ssd that doesn't have one? or am I placing too much emphasis on the controller?


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

well i installed the agility in my optical bay, and then installed Lion. things seem snappier, but i am a bit shocked at how fast my battery is depleting. I'm not sure about that trade off....

The reason i installed Lion is because it's supposed to offer TRIM support, and i thought that might make up for the agility not using a sand force controller.

Is TRIM enabled by default in Lion, or do i have to change some settings?


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

I do notice that i can't run SMART tests on the SSD. Is this normal? Whats the best way to monitor the health of the drive?


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

i-rui said:


> well i installed the agility in my optical bay, and then installed Lion. things seem snappier, but i am a bit shocked at how fast my battery is depleting. I'm not sure about that trade off....
> ...



I guess this is why I posted the question about sleeping the HD when running off the SSD which got no replies.

http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-ipod-help-troubleshooting/97344-spindown-mb-mbp-hd-second-ssd-installed.html


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

i-rui said:


> well i installed the agility in my optical bay, and then installed Lion. things seem snappier, *but i am a bit shocked at how fast my battery is depleting*. I'm not sure about that trade off....
> 
> The reason i installed Lion is because it's supposed to offer TRIM support, and i thought that might make up for the agility not using a sand force controller.
> 
> Is TRIM enabled by default in Lion, or do i have to change some settings?


This absolutely should not be the case... An SSD has no moving parts and thus by that very nature should require less overall power consumption. Your power consumption should be expected to go up overall because you have two drives in the MBP, but it shouldn't be dramatic.

You should be able to set the HD (as opposed to the SSD) to go to sleep when it isn't in use so that it will effectively be off until it is being written to, you can do this in the System Preferences Pane.

Things should also seem more than just "snappier" it should be a "rock your world" experience, relatively speaking.

Not sure why you went for a drive without sand force *and *over-provisioning a la the OWC drives as they are well worth the added cost for these features alone, but whatever... I haven't been following the thread that closely and thus your reasons for doing so. 

Don't know about the Lion question as I have been holding off and will continue holding off on Lion.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

pm-r said:


> I guess this is why I posted the question about sleeping the HD when running off the SSD which got no replies.
> 
> http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-ipod-help-troubleshooting/97344-spindown-mb-mbp-hd-second-ssd-installed.html


Ah... I should read to the end of the thread before posting I guess. 

There really should be no reason that I can think of as to why you can't put the HD to sleep when it isn't in use just from the System Preferences Pane.... If it requires a Terminal hack then that is just stupid...


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Apparently the System Prefs Energy Saving take too long to spin down the HHD — *IF* it even does work.

As I mentioned in that post, some were using the HD spin down utility from the CHUD developer tools to save using any Terminal type command, which I agree seems to be a stupid method.

BTW: Wouldn't it be better and faster with the SSD installed in place of the faster HD bus speed on some recent portable Macs??

See: MacBook Pro Early 2011 Upgrades & Benchmark Results | Other World Computing Blog for some bus speed remarks.


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

pm-r said:


> I guess this is why I posted the question about sleeping the HD when running off the SSD which got no replies.
> 
> http://www.ehmac.ca/mac-ipod-help-troubleshooting/97344-spindown-mb-mbp-hd-second-ssd-installed.html


yes i think this is exactly the problem. i ejected the internal HDD and i immediately heard it spin down and battery life improved. it seems that the internal hdd is always spinning. very annoying.

i downloaded CHUD to see if that would help, but the apple link didn't work. found a softpedia link to try, but it fails on installation. Not sure if CHUD is not compatible with Lion (and to be honest i'm not sure if CHUD can spin down internal drives as from the description i read it just said external drives can be spun down).

I'll have to investigate further into the terminal command, but i'm curious why others who've installed an SSD in the optical bay aren't having the same issue with the internal hdd?



screature said:


> Not sure why you went for a drive without sand force *and *over-provisioning a la the OWC drives as they are well worth the added cost for these features alone, but whatever... I haven't been following the thread that closely and thus your reasons for doing so.


because this SSD is from a friend and i can get it for a song, plus he's letting me try it out first. for my macbook pro i didn't want to splurge on the best SSD i could get. i'll probably get an OWC for my mac pro.


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

The "SpindownHD" I have (10.6.8) came with the 'Developer Tools' install I got from Apple's developer site.

And when installed, it's available in: HD/Developer/Applications/Performance\ Tools/CHUD/Hardware\ Tools/SpindownHD.app

You should be able to get the 10.7 version from there as well or maybe the you can use the tool "SpindownHD" that is distributed with Apple's XCode developer tools (if you have that installed). But I don't know if it's included with the XTools at the App Store.

But from some of the comments of download and install at the App Store, I think I'd go with the Developer access and download route.

I wonder if Apple supplies a better battery/energy saving pref control with their BTO option for their portables with the HDD and SSD build option???


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

i-rui said:


> ...because this SSD is from a friend and i can get it for a song, plus he's letting me try it out first. for my macbook pro i didn't want to splurge on the best SSD i could get. i'll probably get an OWC for my mac pro.


I see, makes sense. The OWC drives are terrific.


----------



## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

screature said:


> I see, makes sense. The OWC drives are terrific.


The OWC drives are great, but so is pretty much anything with a SandForce controller. The numbers are all pretty much the same, when you compare apples to apples.

I see no sense in paying extra for a brand - I've bought OCZ the past few times, because of price. That said, if OWC was the same price, I'm not sure which I'd get.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

John Clay said:


> The OWC drives are great, but so is pretty much anything with a SandForce controller. The numbers are all pretty much the same, when you compare apples to apples.
> 
> I see no sense in paying extra for a brand - I've bought OCZ the past few times, because of price. That said, if OWC was the same price, I'm not sure which I'd get.


Overprovisioning is another added benefit when it comes to maintaining performance. OCZ does not implement this and the OWC drives do so it is not a direct apples to apples comparison.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Screature...the OCZ Agility3 does have provisioning built in...



> The OCZ Agility 3 keeps 16 GB of storage space in reserve for over-provisioning and the SandForce’s on-board error correction system. So this Agility3 has 120GB but really it has 136GB


----------



## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

screature said:


> Overprovisioning is another added benefit when it comes to maintaining performance. OCZ does not implement this and the OWC drives do so it is not a direct apples to apples comparison.


All OCZ SandForce drives overprovision about 7%, the same as OWC.

A 128GB SSD becomes 120GB with overprovisioning, 256GB becomes 240GB, etc.


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

i-rui said:


> yes i think this is exactly the problem. i ejected the internal HDD and i immediately heard it spin down and battery life improved. it seems that the internal hdd is always spinning. very annoying.
> 
> i downloaded CHUD to see if that would help, but the apple link didn't work. found a softpedia link to try, but it fails on installation. Not sure if CHUD is not compatible with Lion (and to be honest i'm not sure if CHUD can spin down internal drives as from the description i read it just said external drives can be spun down).
> 
> I'll have to investigate further into the terminal command, but i'm curious why others who've installed an SSD in the optical bay aren't having the same issue with the internal hdd?


I seemed to have cured the problem. Found this page which greatly helped :

How to keep your opti-bay hard drive in sleep until accessed. - MacRumors Forums

(note : my SSD is in the optibay, and my original HDD is still in the hard drive bay since someone mentioned that the Apple Sudden Motion sensor detector only works on HDDs installed there).

Anyways, I uninstalled the iStats widget (as that spins up all hard drives when ever dashboard is on screen) and i installed 'cocktail' and set the HDD to sleep after 1 min.

The HDD now spins down and battery life is once again good.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Andrew Pratt said:


> Screature...the OCZ Agility3 does have provisioning built in...





John Clay said:


> All OCZ SandForce drives overprovision about 7%, the same as OWC.
> 
> A 128GB SSD becomes 120GB with overprovisioning, 256GB becomes 240GB, etc.


Hmm ok... seems to me they didn't used to as they were 128 GB and 256 etc. in size. Ever since OWC has been making SSD's I have stopped looking at OCZ drives.

I stand corrected.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

i-rui said:


> I seemed to have cured the problem. Found this page which greatly helped :
> 
> How to keep your opti-bay hard drive in sleep until accessed. - MacRumors Forums
> 
> ...


Congrats, glad you got it all sorted out.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

> Ever since OWC has been making SSD's I have stopped looking at OCZ drives.


Then why continue to comment on products you haven't kept up with?

Thanks i-rui for the link...I'll be looking into that for my laptop as my hard drive is in the optical bay


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Andrew Pratt said:


> *Then why continue to comment on products you haven't kept up with?*
> 
> Thanks i-rui for the link...I'll be looking into that for my laptop as my hard drive is in the optical bay


One comment? I said I stand corrected... that's not good enough for you?

Being that the Agility 3 seems every bit as competent as OWC's Pro 6G SSD on paper, right now there is a heck of a savings to be had at Canada Computers. With a $30 Mail in Rebate you can get a 120GB Agility 3 for $159.

That's a great deal, makes me wish I needed another SSD... although at that price maybe one of my Minis could use an upgrade... things that make you go Hmmm.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Sorry I shouldn't post BC (before coffee) 

The rebates on OCZ's are quite good and was certainly once reason I choose them for my MacBook. 

OWC does have much better OSX support though as the firmware updates for OCZ are a bit of a challenge to do without a few hoops to jump though. Personally i just pull my drive and drop it in a spare PC on our test bench at work but that's not a great solution for most.


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

i-rui said:


> I seemed to have cured the problem. Found this page which greatly helped :
> 
> How to keep your opti-bay hard drive in sleep until accessed. - MacRumors Forums
> 
> ...


i also forgot to mention that i went into the spotlight preferences and turned the privacy setting on for the HDD so it wouldn't spin up for indexing.

having said that the system does still randomly spin up the HDD for no apparent reason, but it's rare and cocktail puts it to sleep after a minute.


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

Andrew Pratt said:


> OWC does have much better OSX support though as the firmware updates for OCZ are a bit of a challenge to do without a few hoops to jump though. Personally i just pull my drive and drop it in a spare PC on our test bench at work but that's not a great solution for most.


i'll have to check the firmware on the agility I installed. If it's not the latest would you recommend updating it? should the data on the drive be safe during the update? If it's easier to do through a windows pc i can do that, but can i use a usb enclosure for the SSD?


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Yes get the Agility up to the latest firmware that is available and they are normally not destructive...still you should always have a backup prior to firmware updates. Firmware updates require direct access to the drive so no you can't just put it in a USB case.


----------



## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

i-rui said:


> i'll have to check the firmware on the agility I installed. If it's not the latest would you recommend updating it? should the data on the drive be safe during the update? If it's easier to do through a windows pc i can do that, but can i use a usb enclosure for the SSD?


OCZ (finally) has a live-boot disc that you can download to do the updates. I used this last night, and it worked (after 3 attempts).

Bootable Tools for OCZ Vertex/2/3, Agility2/3, Solid3, Revo, and Ibis SSD's

They have a specific thread for 2011 Macs, but I can't find it at the moment.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

Those live boot discs don't always work depending on which chipset you have. I

Here's the Mac OCZ forum
OCZ SSD Support for Linux and Apple OSX


----------



## i-rui (Sep 13, 2006)

John Clay said:


> OCZ (finally) has a live-boot disc that you can download to do the updates. I used this last night, and it worked (after 3 attempts).
> 
> Bootable Tools for OCZ Vertex/2/3, Agility2/3, Solid3, Revo, and Ibis SSD's
> 
> They have a specific thread for 2011 Macs, but I can't find it at the moment.


my drive is the original agility (not 2 or 3). I'll probably have to dig up the firmware with a search.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Seems from the last few posts, depending on ones technical ability, these are good reasons to go with OWC drives if you just want to plug and play on a Mac.

Correct me if I am wrong, but that seems to be my interpretation based on what I am reading...


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

If I were putting it in an iMac that would certainly be a factor.


----------



## Silv (Mar 28, 2008)

This thread has me interested in putting in an SSD.. MacDoc suggested a 240G OWC for $480. Hefty.

I guess I could go with a 120G'er.. but I've got some games on the Windows side that's taking up a bit of room.. 

OZC is about the same price.. I think this discussion about the two is awesome.


----------



## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Thanks for some of the interesting posts that made me Google for more information, and it seems like a zoo out there as to what one actually gets for ones $$$ spent on any SSD drive, the various features etc., speed and/or if it's a "consumer" or "enterprise" model with full advertised capacity and on and on.

And then add all the load-levelling, over-provisioning, garbage collection stuff, etc. etc. - All quite confusing to this old Mac user. 

Then I thought I'd try and check and see if either "OWC" or "OZC" were trying to infringe on the other's name that seem to be rather uncannily close IMO.

So a Google on 'OZC or OWC' got me to a OCZ thread:
Technical Discussion OWC Takes a shot at OCZ - Chip Quality Concerns?
that was in response to an article from OWC:
Not All SSD?s Are Created Equal: The Story Continues | Other World Computing Blog

Talk about confusion for any Mac user as to what one actually buys and what actual chips may be installed...

I think I'll pass for a bit, if not forever, as this old retired senior fart doesn't need any of the SSD advantages for now at least. 

Interesting thread posts and comments — and my thanks for those.

So much to learn and so little time!!


----------



## equisol (Jan 12, 2008)

pm-r said:


> So much to learn and so little time!!


To soon old, to late smart. With a Newfie accent please


----------



## Rounder (Aug 9, 2008)

Given that I had an OCZ drive, and now use an OWC (both used in same 2011 iMac). The comparison is a bit easier since I've used both, here's my experiences with them. 

Support from OCZ if you use a Mac is basically non-existant, it's more from users on their forums. I'm in the process of RMA'ing my Agility 3 and they seem pretty reluctant to help me out.

I went with OWC because they seem a bit more non-biased to Mac users and do provide firmwares for our machines, which is a plus for me. Sometimes the updates can be crucial. 

In terms of performance, when the OCZ worked, it was incredibly fast. However, that's not to say that it was perfect, apart from the temperature always showing 128C, sometimes I would get the random beachball for 15+ seconds for no reason at all(this is what made me update the firmware on it, bad idea cause it killed it). What I've noticed already with the OWC is that it's crisp, same speed as OCZ, and most of all, I have not encountered any beachballs or errors of any kind with this drive, and the temperature gauge actually works. 

I would never hesitate to recommend an OWC drive.


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

wow. this thread will not stop...  NIce. 

I'm still looking as I feel like making WHOLESALE changes to my set up in my home. But that would include 1 or 2 SSDs (2 laps), so i keep looking around. But it is quite the investment.


----------



## johnnydee (Feb 10, 2004)

equisol said:


> To soon old, to late smart. With a Newfie accent please


That's what me like to here by!

(insert correct accent me son!)


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

> I'm still looking as I feel like making WHOLESALE changes to my set up in my home. But that would include 1 or 2 SSDs (2 laps), so i keep looking around. But it is quite the investment.


SSD's are not cheap...but they are typically the biggest bang for the buck with regard to over all system speed and improving the responsiveness of the computer. Basically an SSD and some RAM can bring a whole new life to an aging computer so its a cheaper upgrade then buying a new machine.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Andrew Pratt said:


> SSD's are not cheap..*.but they are typically the biggest bang for the buck with regard to over all system speed and improving the responsiveness of the computer. Basically an SSD and some RAM can bring a whole new life to an aging computer so its a cheaper upgrade then buying a new machine.*


+1 Agreed. This combination is the biggest bang for the buck right now. I did it and with the addition of an upgrade to my Mac Pro's CPU I feel like I am good until Apple stops supporting what I own...

When that day comes, well... I will have to see first what is available in the used market and then if that is not good enough I may actually have to break down and buy a new Mac.

BTW this was not my mindset when owning a PC and I felt the *need* to get on board with every upgrade and or "future proof" (a losing gambit) as much as possible.

With new (to me... actually used CPUs), an OWC SSD boot drive and added RAM (5GBs) I feel have no *need* for a new machine (especially with the introduction of Tbolt) I am perfectly happy now...

Sure if I had unlimited funds and felt the need and/or have no respect for money vs. what I make, I would have updated to the latest and greatest just because it would be fun... but as I said, relative to my PC days this is the first time I have felt no need because of the upgrades that I have made/are available to me as a Mac Pro 1.1 owner... going on 5 years now... before that as a PC owner 2 years going on 3 was tops before I felt the need to upgrade.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

> I'm still looking as I feel like making WHOLESALE changes to my set up in my home. But that would include 1 or 2 SSDs (2 laps), so i keep looking around. But it is quite the investment.


Depends on your lappie but being able to manage your files to stay wiithin a 120 or 240 space is critical.....as the Sub $200 120 transforms an earlier portable or iMac.

We set a 20" up on the back desk which is our admin and general use Mac and it's just a treat compared to the MacMini with the standard drive.

Putting existing drive in a bootable case for $20 and then pruning to get within the SSD workspace is good practice - 

Many of us including me have GBs of old or unused apps, duplicates of photos which now have gotten larger and larger and even the .mov files 

I used GraphicConverter to identify duplicate files on my Air and it found 12 GB just in my travel photos. !!

The effort is big time worthwhile and while RAM is always nice I was astonished when a client opened a size large PS file ( 2345x 1800 ) on the 2.26 MacBook ( not the world's processing champ ) and was playing around with the image perfectly smoothly ....only 4 gigs of RAM.

Plus he was running a 1600x1200 screen as well as the lappie screen.

Knew it was quick for day to day but was surprised for PS which he uses on occasion.

He's thrilled of course and I was impressed with the gain in performance on a Pro app.


----------



## HenriHelvetica (Oct 4, 2011)

screature said:


> +1 Agreed. This combination is the biggest bang for the buck right now. I did it and with the addition of an upgrade to my Mac Pro's CPU I feel like I am good until Apple stops supporting what I own...
> 
> When that day comes, well... I will have to see first what is available in the used market and then if that is not good enough I may actually have to break down and buy a new Mac.
> 
> ...


+1 there. 

Until a few months ago, I was running (as my full time lap), a Gen 1 Black MacBook w/ a 80G drive + 2G of ram, which was an apple care replacement for a 12" G4 PB. That MB was pushing a Dell screen in 1600x1200 (or bigger I think). This lap is still working. - If you want to talk about saving funds! . This is 2003-4 money that is still kicking along. 

I also had a Gen 2 Black MB that JUST recently crapped out. It was a FT music production lap. But the m/b failed and is now dead. Sad. 

I now have a 17" 2009 MBP that was gifted w/ 8G of ram and that's the one I want to upgrade w/ a SSD possibly, but for sure a 2nd HD. 
Will now use the old Gen1 MacBook for music and want to also pop a SSD in there, prob a 120G as that's the size I have in there right now - the original from the crapped out MB. 

ANYHOW.

Bang for buck is the name of the game. And will be scooping some upgrades very soon.


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

prices on SSDs seems a wee bit lower now, I see OWC 240gig 3G extreme (my mbp is 2010) is 359. Was thinking about this, but is the prices expected to really fall in the near term?The speed is really really tempting.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

I'm not sure that prices will drop too much as I expect demand to be strong now that traditional drive prices are high.


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

interesting. I'm wondering if I should go 6G extreme given my propensity for upgrading every 2 years, which should be about summer.


----------



## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

There is no use buying a 6g 240 unless your motherboard supports it.
6g 120s make some sense as they are about the same price as 3g.

Lot of clients do a 120 boot and then something large in the optical bay.
Putting the optical drive external makes sense for many.

We are also testing the Seagate 750 XT with the 8 gb cache - looks a good compromise with boot times very close to full SSD and with the adaptive optimization should keep things snappy


----------



## Silv (Mar 28, 2008)

I just ordered the OWC 240 from OWC for 359US plus $5.60 shipped. I thought it was an excellent price.

I tried hard to get one from MacDoc, but thats another story for another time...


----------



## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

MacDoc said:


> There is no use buying a 6g 240 unless your motherboard supports it.
> 6g 120s make some sense as they are about the same price as 3g.
> 
> Lot of clients do a 120 boot and then something large in the optical bay.
> ...


I will end up with a mbp in spring/summer that will have a motherboard that will support the 6g, so that's why I'll spend the extra 100 bucks for now I think. looking for the 6g mercury extreme, noticed they have "demo' units for 60 bucks cheaper. Do you also carry that model?


----------

