Recommendation for 2.5 inch SSD

[sim1]

Hi everyone!

It's been a lonnnng time since I posted on Neowin.net (see my SoF2 signature/avatar lol) and I need some advice.

I'm looking to buy a SSD for my Dell XPS M1530 Laptop.

Do you have any links to reviews/tests/benchmarks for SSD drives?

Is it the good time to upgrade from a WD 7200 rpm hdd?

The main feature I'm looking for is: stability.

I use my laptop mostly for work and the last thing I want is to lose my data.

I know that first generations of SSD had problems and firmware upgrades we're released to fix those problems.

I personally don't want to have to do any of those.

I would prefer to buy a good, stable, reliable drive from the start without having to do anytime except install it.

I think aroungd 100 gb will be enough storage for my work and music.

Suggestions?

Thanks a lot, :)

-sim1

[crazzyyfool]

A Crucial M4 is what you need dude. I have a 512GB SSD in my uMBP and it's awesome.

[Brian M. Veteran]

Everyone has their own recommendations - mine would be the Vertex 3.

Every single one of my machines has a vertex drive in it, and, touch wood, none of them have failed. If not the Vertex 3, then the M4. The M4 is technically faster if benchmarks/numbers are your thing, but most report that the Vertex 3 is faster in "real life" situations.

[chconline Veteran]

I'd recommend an Agility 3. It's not as fast as the Vertex 3, but it's incredibly power efficient -- perfect for laptop use. I have a 240GB with my T420 and it's awesome :D

[Glassed Silver]

I'd go with what reliability and performance tests from institutes and the like say and not go with the fan-esque opinions on a board where everyone tells you to go with something different.

I'm telling you though, SandForce chips tend to be fast but more erroneous, too as I've read some time again at a couple of places.

Personally, I've read good things about Intel and most notably Sammy...

You decide, but get some professional guidance from people who compare them.

Glassed Silver:mac

[sim1]

Wow thanks a lot guys for the fast answers!

Do you know any tech sites that do good reviews on SSD?

Thanks

-sim1

P.S.

Read a bit on Hardware.fr and it looks like

Crucial M4, OCZ Vertex 3 et Intel SSD 510 are looking good... should I really be "scared" to buy the vertex 3 because it's on the sandforce platform? (the others are on marvell)

[Astra.Xtreme]

I also vote for a Vertex 3. I've always had OCZ drives and they have all been flawless and extremely fast.

Regardless of brand, the number one rule when buying a SSD is to immediately upgrade the firmware to the newest version.

Most of the time, it will be up-to-date straight out of the box, but you never know. If there are fixes or optimization available, you'll definitely want to jump on that.

[neoraptor]

+1 for vertex 3

[primexx]

You want stability? Get an Intel 320 (or 510?). Every other manufacture pales in comparison to Intel's reliability.

Reviews you can get by just googling. The big sites Anandtech and Tom's Hardware, for example, should have reviews/benchmarks of all the big names.

[capr]

Don't bother spending extra money on the vertex 3. agility 3s are even too fast for most people. check your mobo and figureout if it's a SATA 3 plug or a SATA 2 plug. if it's a SATA 2 then half the recommendations here are not good for you. go with agility 2 or vertext 2 if you are looking at sata 2s.

I will always buy OCZ because of their customer service. it took them 3 weeks to send me my mail in rebate during which time they were in constant communication with me. I would do business with them any time.

[chconline Veteran]

No. Sandforce is fine. I have owned/current own 9 SandForce based drives and never had a problem.

[tsupersonic]

Crucial and Intel if you want reliability. I would definitely stay away from OCZ, as they have the highest failure rates.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Crucial and Intel if you want reliability. I would definitely stay away from OCZ, as they have the highest failure rates.

There has only been one study on that and it showed OCZ at around 5% failure rate, but the other brands were't that far away. Personally, I've never seen an OCZ drive go bad and tons of other people swear by them (as seen in this thread). The Vertex is always the top rated SSD, so I don't see any reason to stay away from them.

[neoraptor]

Crucial and Intel if you want reliability. I would definitely stay away from OCZ, as they have the highest failure rates.

Here we go again... early SSDs weren't very stable but not only for OCZ.

[tsupersonic]

There has only been one study on that and it showed OCZ at around 5% failure rate, but the other brands were't that far away. Personally, I've never seen an OCZ drive go bad and tons of other people swear by them (as seen in this thread). The Vertex is always the top rated SSD, so I don't see any reason to stay away from them.

My Vertex died within 4 months, my friend's Vertex 2 died within a few months. I've read some bad reviews elsewhere, and I just don't trust OCZ and their ability to make SSD's. My opinion, take it or leave it, really simple. They're attractive since they're cheap, but other than that, I don't trust realiability.

[primexx]

There has only been one study on that and it showed OCZ at around 5% failure rate, but the other brands were't that far away. Personally, I've never seen an OCZ drive go bad and tons of other people swear by them (as seen in this thread). The Vertex is always the top rated SSD, so I don't see any reason to stay away from them.

compare that to about 2% for many other SSDs (about the same as good HDDs) and about 0.6% for Intel X25

at the end of the day, it won't make much of a difference whether it's 5% or 1% (an aggregate stat) when you're talking on a scale of a single disk. The most important thing is to back **** up. If OP really really values reliability over all else, though, it might be worth the marginally better track record of the Intel.

I believe Intel's controller also used to be the best well-rounder in performance, but it seems like everyone else has long caught up to a decent level so that's probably not an issue.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I've tried just about all of them except for OCZ and my favorite by far is my Corsair Force GT.

[ARchamps]

I've had no problems with my Vertex 3 120Gb and it's been running for about 2 months now.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

it's worth noting that a single hard drive is a single point of failure. doesnt matter if it's a hard drive or SSD - you need to be backing up. so when you say you're looking for stability and/or reliability, you need to backup to multiple locations. it's that simple.