ssd help?

[bejviten]

Hi All,

I'm interested in purchasing an SSD but I'm not sure what to get. There are so many different brands out there. Does anyone have any input? So far I've come across the following brands:

Intel
OCZ
Transcend
Cavalry Storage
Patriot
RiData
GSkill
PQI
Super Talent
FileMate
Crucial
Corsair
Kingston
Samsung

The list continues and it's very overwhelming!

I'm just looking for something portable, durable and fast. I'm not too worried about the cost per gig compared to hard drives since losing data on a traditional hard drive has ended up costing me way more than an SSD will.

What's the difference between all of these brands?? Has anyone had any luck?

Thanks kindly!

[DMB2000uk]

If i were to pick one up today, it'd probably be the OCZ Vertex.

Be wary of drives with jmicron controllers, as they stutter (up to a second of lag when performing small random writes to the disk).

Realistically, how much are you looking to spend?

Dan

[bejviten]

thanks for your quick reply. i'm looking at about $150 for a 64gb. i dunno. i just want something that isn't going to die on me when i carry it around, i'm not too tech savvy. do you think the jmicron delay would cause a problem for me? i'm going to be transferring photos, word docs, excel files and powerpoint presentations.

[DMB2000uk]

It'd bug me.

During normal windows use lots of small writes happen, and so you'll notice the system being un-responsive every now and again for up to a second.

Sadly most of the SSDs in that price bracket will be using the Jmicron controller.

Are you particularly rough with your laptop while it's in use or something?

As normal hard drives are pretty wear resistant, and would make a lot more sense for not having to spend a ridiculous amount of money on a small SSD.

Dan

[Apoptosis]

I always tell people you should pick what controller and price range you want first...

When it comes to controllers some of the more popular are:

IndiLinx Barefoot + MLC NAND
2x JMicron 602B + JMicron RAID controller + MLC NAND
JMicron 602B + MLC NAND

You also have some of the higher end drives like Kingston/Intel which use the Promise controller and the new Corsair P256, which uses the Samsung controller...

Lots of choices, but the price is greatly impacted by the controller used.

As for a 64GB drive... I have a SuperTalent MasterDrive OX 64GB drive that I used for day before I got angry with the stutters... PM me if you want it for a decent price as I'll be more than happy to sell it ;)

[bejviten]

the truth is, i'm pretty clumsy and i'm scared of losing data...maybe i should think of better ways to backup my data. but i want something that i dont need to worry about if i drop it frequently (i'm just being realistic). also, i don't know much about this controller stuff. is there anywhere i can go to read more about it in laymen's terms? i'll being using the drive as if it were a portable hard drive. i noticed that ocz and cavalry have usb ports...maybe those are good options...does the supertalent drive come with one or would i have to buy an external enclosure?

thanks!

[dicecca112]

If you are using it for a portable/external, then by all means do not bother with a SSD. Just get the cheapest slowest drive you can find for that. You could do a cheap laptop drive and enclosure for less than 50$

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136099 - HDD 80GB Sata 50$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817334012 - Enclosure 9$

More capacity, its slower, but still 59$ plus shipping. An SSD would be so bottlenecked if you used a USB enclosure it wouldn't be worth it. If your dropping the laptop, I'd be more worried about the laptop getting damaged than the drive if it was a SSD

[Major_A]

Like the others here are alluding to what are you needing the drive for?

A. A replacement for your desktop computer?
B. A replacement for your laptop computer?
C. An external hard drive to carry around for extra storage?
D. Something bigger than a USB thumb drive but not as large as a full hard drive?

i'm not too tech savvy

i'm going to be transferring photos, word docs, excel files and powerpoint presentations

i'll being using the drive as if it were a portable hard drive

By those three quotes I would say just pick up a thumb drive and call it day. While they aren't as fast they are a solid state drive and can be dropped, banged, washed, kicked, etc... and still work. Now the important thing, what size do you want and is speed important? Every since my beloved 200X A-Data drive was ripped out of a USB port I can't handle a slow drive. But if you don't have that bias then you are pretty much open to every drive out there.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227272
I bought this to replace my A-Data that my sister broke, she still owes me a 200X drive.

[bejviten]

Hi,

i'm looking for:

C. An external hard drive to carry around for extra storage

and to transfer large amounts of data, like videos, photos, and music. Maybe you're right, a thumb drive is a good option for me. I definitely don't want a regular external hard drive again since I'm worried about hard drive crashes. 16GB on a thumb drive just seems too little space.

Good point about losing the speed benefits using usb. Maybe I'll get an SSD from Cavalry..? They have ready-built ones with eSATA interface. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820411001

i dunno.

[dicecca112]

Your still gonna get bottlenecked on that SSD too. The speeds are crap, its just a glorified Thumb Drive

Just get a thumb drive and save the money, all the 32GB ones are cheaper than that Cavalry Drive http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... &name=32GB

Even for a little more than the Cavalry you can get a 64Gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820134834

[Major_A]

Or... look for a traditional single platter hard drive. Less platters = less likelihood of failure especially due to shock. The new Samsung "Green" series drives are all single platter drives that run cool and quiet. Personally I'd skip the SSD fad for time being or see what Apoptosis wants for his drive. At the end of the day though get what will make you happy.

[bejviten]

thanks everyone for the input! if i get a samsung 1tb, what portable enclosure could i put it in? i need something that could be powered only with usb.

[Major_A]

Well then you can't get the 1TB Samsung. The only traditional drives I know that can be powered via a USB port are laptop drives.