SSD for Macbook Pro

[tacit]

QUOTE(dplank @ Jul 11 2013, 06:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Dear Sirs or Ms,

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro whose drive I suspect is on it's last legs. I am wondering if the old hard drive can be replaced with a new SSD. I know the optical drive can be relaced a la OWC data doubler, but the hard drive is what I'm concerned with.

Thanks

Can you do it? Yes.

Should you do it?

Replacing your hard drive with an SSD will make your computer faster. A LOT faster. Bootup will be faster, virtual memory will be faster, loading and saving files will be way faster. The processor itself won't be faster, so if you do a lot of processor intensive jobs like 3D video rendering, that won't be faster, but for everyday "normal" tasks the computer fill feel a whole lot faster.

Are SSDs more reliable than hard drives? Depends on what you mean by "more reliable."

They are physically tougher. If you drop your computer, you're likely to damage a mechanical hard drive; you won't hurt an SSD. The SSD is immune to bumps and jostles that can make a regular hard drive have problems.

However, SSDs have a limited life span. The flash memory can only be written to a certain number of times and then it wears out. SSD makers use all kinds of tricks to make sure the memory cells wear out evenly, but that's the fact of SSDs: you can write data a certain number of times and then they quit working.

[Paddy]

QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Jul 12 2013, 05:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I agree with the plan rgray described. The extreme speed difference of SSDs makes the start up process (for the OS and/or an app) well worth the extra cost for many people. This method works because the SSD is mainly used for nothing but reading; it is accessed to install the OS/app as opposed to writing data to it. SSDs have two basic types and you may not even know which you are getting when you buy; try to find out Single Layer Cell (SLC) types are longer lasting than Multi-Layer Cell (MLC) types. Worse, as new devices come out with higher and higher GB sizes, their lifetimes are actually getting shorter; to increase the GBs, the usual method is to make smaller cells, smaller cells means more problems in maintaining the state of the bits, voltage leakage, etc. Mind you, your SSD will no doubt outlast your laptop! And it will probably outlast the new HD you're thinking about installing in place of the optical drive. But SSDs should be used for reading as opposed to writing to make them last as long as possible.

Here are a few links for your enjoyment:
<SSD Myths and Legends, Storage Research.com>
<SSD vs HDD - life span, Tom's Hardware.com> Many additional links in this forum
<How Much I Write to Disk Per Day, interesting and comforting info and a link to the next site/source>
<Samsung SSD 840 (250GB) Review>

Well, I hope that Apple engineers have read and addressed the issues discussed in this paper;
https://www.usenix.org/system/files/confere...t13-final80.pdf

If not, they may find themselves doing a few warranty replacements for the new Mac Pros, unless they're also going to tell every purchaser to buy a good UPS too! Either that or all their flash drives are from manufacturer "A2" - enquiring minds would like to know just which manufacturer/SSD that was!!!!
(BTW, I find it most peculiar that it wasn't pointed out in the paper that the two drives in the study with no corruption or damage HAD POWER LOSS PROTECTION capacitors and gee, maybe every SSD should have that? Judging by the price per GB, those weren't even enterprise class drives, though they were the most recently manufactured, indicating that perhaps SSD manufacturers have become aware of the problem of power loss and addressed it. Again, enquiring minds would like to know...)

[Paddy]

I seem to have answered my own question generally, though not specifically with regard to the new Mac Pros:

http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/seagat...oss-protection/

http://thessdreview.com/daily-news/latest-...ex-2013-update/

http://www.micron.com/products/solid-state...nt-ssd/m500-ssd

Not an issue with a laptop though - just an interesting digression.

[Xairbusdriver]

QUOTE

Not an issue with a laptop though

That might be due to the fact that many laptops have a battery... For the lazy among us... OK, me, could you summarize the info in those links? Small, non-technical words, no more than 25 for each link, please? While I don't mind inserting dozens of links in my posts, I very much dislike it in others! It's one of the few cases where people should not do as I do!

SSDs seem to have the same 'aura' about them that CDs/DVDs had years ago. "This new technology is perfect! It will last forever! It is the wave of the future! Life will not be the same after today!" At least they got the 'life-being-different-every-day' part right, but that has nothing to do with CDs/DVDs/SSDs... Oh well, I guess the big difference in my today is that I need to go read some info on at least four sites!

later...
I liked the first SSCDReview article, the second one was too short. The PR page from Micron is somewhat lacking in facts, probably written by the sales department...

I am sending you a bill for the Emergency Room visit made due to hitting my head when I fell asleep reading that last 'white paper!' The only thing they did cover was why people use the same font and size on illustration citations as in the body text. Three blank lines does not a good separator make... I re-re-re-read the text under an illustration and the following body text at least 10 times before I realized it was not an editing/printing error! I think that's when my dizziness started. Even our local paper points back to the previous location!

I'm just glad I didn't have my glasses on or I'd probably be needing a new pair! Don't believe anyone who says keyboards are not dangerous!