MacBook Air or Macbook Pro

[uzapuca]

Thanks for that. I guess i will have to learn a bit more regarding Apple's fusion technology now. I didn't know of issues regarding Dual Drive use.

I will also ask Agent X where i could get the Samsung 830 in the US. I am travelling there next week.

Thanks again,

[anthlover]

Think you will need to go with 840 Samsung or Macsales drive if you want to keep the purchase around $200. There are of course many choices. Looks like the 840 peo series is the new "830" series. Looks like the going rate is around $250.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electr...amsung+840+pro

Also note the fusion technology Apple provides is a good thing it makes two drives appear as one and does a good job providing greater space with basically the same speed as an only SSD system.

That said if 256gb is enough with a lot of head room you should be good with just the sad.

[anthlover]

Reposted without the typos.. Sorry

Think you will need to go with 840 reg or Pro Samsung or Macsales drive if you want to keep the purchase around $200. There are of course many choices. Looks like the 840 Pro series is the new "830" series. Looks like the going rate is around $250.

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electr...amsung+840+pro

Also note the fusion technology Apple provides is a good thing it makes two drives appear as one and does a good job providing greater space with basically the same speed as an only SSD system.

That said if 256gb is enough with a lot of head room you should be good with just the ssd.

[uzapuca]

Quote: Originally Posted by anthlover Reposted without the typos.. Sorry Think you will need to go with 840 reg or Pro Samsung or Macsales drive if you want to keep the purchase around $200. There are of course many choices. Looks like the 840 Pro series is the new "830" series. Looks like the going rate is around $250. http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electr...amsung+840+pro Also note the fusion technology Apple provides is a good thing it makes two drives appear as one and does a good job providing greater space with basically the same speed as an only SSD system. That said if 256gb is enough with a lot of head room you should be good with just the ssd.

Thanks for the good data Anthlover.
Is there any difference between the 830 and 840 Samsung models?

The 840 models are less expensive than the 830 series. Very much.

840 / 250 Gb / Price: $171.99
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electr...lectronics+830

830 / 256 Gb / Price: $560.69
http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-In...lectronics+830

You are right! i might just go for the SDD without the KIT.

Cheers,

[agentx]

WTH ? Those price sare crazy.....
I bought a load of 830 the other day for £140 inc 20% tax

The 840 SSD is a new model using different NAND flash chip and firmware.
I am always a bit nervous running out and buying the latest SSD tech as frankly have been burned by crap firmware/products in past. However the 840 and 840 pro have very good reviews and I have had like 1% trouble with Samsung SSD they know there stuff !

[uzapuca]

Hi Agentx, do you know of a reliable seller of 830 seller in the US? Maybe that price in Amazon was not correct for some obscure reason.

I read a review from Amazon than the 830 y better than the new 840 model...for technical reasons i could not understand really.

First of all, the Samsung 840 uses triple-level cell (TLC) memory vs. the multi-level cell (MLC) memory used for almost all other SSDs. So what is the difference between TLC and MLC? With TLC memory, 3 bits of information (8 possible values) are stored per cell instead of the 2 bits (4 possible values) in MLC memory. This might sound better but it also means that the cells are used more and there is less voltage fault tolerance. In the most simple terms, you can think of cells being "filled" or "emptied" by applying voltage. When 3 bits (8 possible values) of information are stored per cell, the SSD may have to apply voltage to the entire cell multiple times even though just one bit of information is encoded (depending on the bit being changed). The multiple voltage applications to each cell also slows down the write speeds and causes more wear in general.

Performance-wise, the Samsung 840 is actually worse than the previous generation Samsung 830. On the Passmark benchmarks, it is slightly lower than the OCZ Agility 4 which uses asynchronous MLC NAND flash.

Right now, the top three SSDs (best selling and best reviews) on Amazon are the OCZ Vertex 4, Samsung 830, and the Crucial M4. However, all three of these SSDs are cheaper and they perform better than the Samsung 840. Eventually, the TLC NAND should mean that the Samsung 840 will sell for less because less NAND is used. However, it is not worth it right now. To be safe, I would say that you should wait until the drive is at least 10-20% cheaper than the three drives above due to the uncertainty of how it will perform in the long run.

[uzapuca]

I just found a really good deal!
SAMSUNG 840 Series MZ-7TD250BW 2.5" 250GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
previously at $179 and now at $149 (today discount)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...83&SID=1002996

what do you think?

[anthlover]

I would go for the 840 Pro version or Macsales one. The Pro version is faster and will remain so over time. Any SSD will run circles around HD.

Here is the Pro at new egg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147193 $269. Note that the Macsales one is $229. http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/SSDEX3G240/


There is a something called spare area empty space that manufactures leave to allow the SSD to function more quickly over time, deal with bad cells, etc.

Sure Agent X could tell you more.

Read the reviews on new egg and Amazon. There very helpful. Something with mostly very good reviews 4-5 Stars should be pretty safe. Remember with reviews to Look for a large # 50, 100, 500. What 4 people say is not helpful. No product makes everyone happy.

Good Luck.

[uzapuca]

Thanks for the point of view! When you talk about macsales are you refering to this OWC SDD?

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/inter...lid_State_Pro/

[anthlover]

Yes same place many names. Please also if u feel $149 to good to pass up go for it. Everyone has there price point. That is close to hd prices.
Sadly i need 500gb at least so i would have to go fusion or spend 400+

May do so on my next macbook pro 13 or 15.

[uzapuca]

just curious anthlover, why do need such a big SDD drive? isn't easier to have a small but a fast one SDD and then and external HDD to backup files and work?

Thanks again for all the good info!

[anthlover]

Well before the fusion drivers a lot effort those with alot of Data had to sort data in around. Its too much trouble to keep an external with Laptop and keep both data sets backed up. Course you can use NAS or Two internals, etc. *** but nothing is simpler then a single drive and lots of backups.

Most of my big Data is Photos which I want to edit of my children so they would need to go on the SSD. That and VMs that are 15 to 20Gbs

Everyone's needs are different and what works for one is going to be different for another. I have around 320gb of Data and OS. You always want to have head room to grow and for OS to function. So for me 500GB would be a min but comfortable size.
I could use 128 or 256 SSD and try out the fusion trick with what ever drive is in my current computer a Seagate Hybrid XT or is in my new computer to be.

I am sure however that I would find that for me various use cases all SSD is going to be better.

When I started this waiting games 500GB SSD were $1000, now that there around $400 plus or minus its very tempting. Just have not bit the bullet.

[uzapuca]

thanks for your interesting point of view anthlover!

Indeed with external HDD it is a bit of a pain to keep them in sync with my main computer. In the other hand, a 2 TB of files is easier and less expensive to find in regular HDD.

thanks again for all the info and have a good weekend!

[anthlover]

You too. Been reading up on 840 non pro reviews. It sounds good. Even saw that on amazon that $149 price without a special sale. Very temping. Hard to justify the Pro version unless money is no object. The Pro version is 50 percent more in both sizes.

In theory the tech around the pro version will last longer and is faster but not that much faster.

*******The regular 840 does run circles around any HD and is one of the faster SSDs out there.

Technology keeps moving forward. The regular 840 comes with a 3 Year warranty no idea how hard it is to exercise it. I did see that both versions come with the samsung utility to vary the spare area/over provisioning. The more you give in space in theory the faster the drive stays and the longer it lasts.

Let us know how it goes.

[agentx]

I have 250GB of Virtual machines that i need with me always so i have a 512GB SSD and a 750GB SSD/HDD combo in my laptop....i do count myself as a power user !

I am sure the 840/840 pro will be very good drives and just because performance is a bit less than other drives it will make zero difference in most tasks for 99% of users.

[anthlover]

Have you played with the OCZ Vertex 4s they seem to have a pretty compelling price performance ratio? Seem to be more like the Pro Samsung at closer to the regular price.

Agree I think any SSD will do wonders.

Yeah importing VMs is 10 times dater on a SSD then on a HD.

[anthlover]

Well your thread infected me I bit the bullet. I bought Vertex 4 512GB from Amazon for $429.

I strongly considered many others, chiefly the Samsung though read up on many. The 840 512 was going for $379-$389. The 830 was still available for $489. The 840 pro was $599.

[anthlover]

Just an update... at least from me not heard from our OP recently. I noticed right after i ordered the Vertex 4 that the 830 was actually available for only $10 more $830 that the vertex 4.

None the less I left my Vertex 4 order in place. It arrived tonight. I popped in and I am cloning my system to it now from my most recent back up. Seems to be working great.

Must admit I am tempted to take a year end tax write off and follow my own advice and go with a 13 Pro with 16Gb of ram too (3rd party ram). Though I am very tempted to go with non Retina 15 which is almost 4 Times faster then my 2010 13 versus the 2012 13 i5 which is almost 2 faster. The i7 13 is 15 percent faster then the i5 but kind of too close to 15 in price unless you value weight more then speed.