Replaced a mechanical hard drive with an SSD. My word, it's quick!

Feek · 30-09-2010, 23:05

I got a bit lucky last week and as a result I've been able to fit an SSD into my Mac as the OS/Apps drive.

I've read reviews and seen videos showing how fast SSDs are but it's one of those things where it really has to be seen to be believed.

I took a short video yesterday of me double clicking an image file on the desktop to open Photoshop CS5 and load the image. The image is about 5Mb in size.

The drive is an OCZ Vertex 2, 60Gb jobbie. It's slower loading the image (which is on a mechanical hard drive) than it is to open CS5. You can see the icon bounce once in the dock and then it's loaded.

If anyone is considering an SSD all I can say is "Do it"!

Mark · 01-10-2010, 09:00

Thinking about a 120GB for my laptop. Prices are going down at an incredible rate.

Belmit · 01-10-2010, 09:30

I installed a 40GB (unfortunately proving to be too small even for minor updates etc.) in my MBP a few months back. It's amazing to see things like startup and shutdown, certainly in comparison to the ones at work with mech drives. From the moment I click shutdown, the screen is off before I can close it. Amazing.

Burble · 01-10-2010, 09:49

Nice!

I'd love to have an SSD in my Macbook Pro but I need an appreciable amount of capacity and don't want to pay £lots right now.

Joe 90 · 01-10-2010, 10:11

Yeah I'd love an SSD in my mac. Pointless in my PC as I rarely use it, and only really for video & photo library updates.

Need a NAS so I can shift A/V storage there and then an SSD in the mac would work. Either that or pray for a capacity boost at decent cost soon!

Toby · 01-10-2010, 11:33

Quite fancy one for the netbook as it'd extend battery life even further and render it totally solid state so nice and robust.

Prices are still a bit too high though, as I'd need at least 250GB of storage on there.

Feek · 01-10-2010, 12:25

On some Macbook/Macbook Pros it's possible to replace the hard drive with an SSD and put a second drive in place of the optical drive, that way you get the benefits of speedier booting and app opening and data goes on the mechanical drive. Of course, you lose the optical drive but I think I only ever used mine once on my MBP when I had it.

Burble · 01-10-2010, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Feek

On some Macbook/Macbook Pros it's possible to replace the hard drive with an SSD and put a second drive in place of the optical drive, that way you get the benefits of speedier booting and app opening and data goes on the mechanical drive. Of course, you lose the optical drive but I think I only ever used mine once on my MBP when I had it.

Yeah, I've seen them. It's very tempting to do that but I do use the optical drive when travelling (albeit rarely). Some kits come with a USB enclosure for the optical drive but I'm not keen on an extra thing to carry when away.

LeperousDust · 01-10-2010, 13:04

I'm still sorely tempted by the seagate momentus myself, i nearly bought it, then it seemed to seel put overnight and go up in price as everyone jumped on it. Since then i've been somewhat short of money and tbh other more pressing things (a place to live

) have been on the mind. But it would seem the momentus does a fairly decent job of being inbetween SSD and mechanicals for capacity/speed which would be perfect for my laptop as its my only real computer and it holds *everything* no days!

Belmit · 01-10-2010, 13:38

Hmm, it was pay day yesterday, and my credit card statement is monthly so anything I buy today won't need to be paid until the second week of November...

I sense an upgrade.

30-09-2010, 23:05	#1
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	Replaced a mechanical hard drive with an SSD. My word, it's quick! I got a bit lucky last week and as a result I've been able to fit an SSD into my Mac as the OS/Apps drive. I've read reviews and seen videos showing how fast SSDs are but it's one of those things where it really has to be seen to be believed. I took a short video yesterday of me double clicking an image file on the desktop to open Photoshop CS5 and load the image. The image is about 5Mb in size. The drive is an OCZ Vertex 2, 60Gb jobbie. It's slower loading the image (which is on a mechanical hard drive) than it is to open CS5. You can see the icon bounce once in the dock and then it's loaded. If anyone is considering an SSD all I can say is "Do it"! __________________

01-10-2010, 09:30	#3
Belmit The Mouse King of Denmark Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: The Winchester Posts: 6,476	I installed a 40GB (unfortunately proving to be too small even for minor updates etc.) in my MBP a few months back. It's amazing to see things like startup and shutdown, certainly in comparison to the ones at work with mech drives. From the moment I click shutdown, the screen is off before I can close it. Amazing. __________________

01-10-2010, 10:11	#5
Joe 90 Absinthe Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Chester Posts: 2,345	Yeah I'd love an SSD in my mac. Pointless in my PC as I rarely use it, and only really for video & photo library updates. Need a NAS so I can shift A/V storage there and then an SSD in the mac would work. Either that or pray for a capacity boost at decent cost soon! __________________ 360 Blog \| Join GiffGaff \| Twitter

01-10-2010, 11:33	#6
Toby Absinthe Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 1,023	Quite fancy one for the netbook as it'd extend battery life even further and render it totally solid state so nice and robust. Prices are still a bit too high though, as I'd need at least 250GB of storage on there. __________________

01-10-2010, 12:25	#7
Feek ex SAS Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: JO01ou Posts: 10,062	On some Macbook/Macbook Pros it's possible to replace the hard drive with an SSD and put a second drive in place of the optical drive, that way you get the benefits of speedier booting and app opening and data goes on the mechanical drive. Of course, you lose the optical drive but I think I only ever used mine once on my MBP when I had it. __________________

01-10-2010, 09:00	#2
Mark Screaming Orgasm Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Newbury Posts: 15,194	Thinking about a 120GB for my laptop. Prices are going down at an incredible rate.

01-10-2010, 09:49	#4
Burble Rocket Fuel Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 7,826	Nice! I'd love to have an SSD in my Macbook Pro but I need an appreciable amount of capacity and don't want to pay £lots right now.

01-10-2010, 13:04	#9
LeperousDust Bananaman Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Liverpool/Edinburgh Posts: 4,817	I'm still sorely tempted by the seagate momentus myself, i nearly bought it, then it seemed to seel put overnight and go up in price as everyone jumped on it. Since then i've been somewhat short of money and tbh other more pressing things (a place to live ) have been on the mind. But it would seem the momentus does a fairly decent job of being inbetween SSD and mechanicals for capacity/speed which would be perfect for my laptop as its my only real computer and it holds everything no days! __________________

01-10-2010, 13:38	#10
Belmit The Mouse King of Denmark Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: The Winchester Posts: 6,476	Hmm, it was pay day yesterday, and my credit card statement is monthly so anything I buy today won't need to be paid until the second week of November... I sense an upgrade. __________________