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esMan · Dec 24, 2012, 04:10 AM

Hi,

I need help in purchasing a ssd hard drive for a New Macbook Pro that I will be purchasing shortly. I can't decide btw Samsung 830 or the recently release OCZ Vector. I am interested in getting the 128 gbs size. The two drives got great reviews. Any suggestions? I am interested in hearing from current owners of either of these two drives.

Your comments will be very appreciated.

Thanks,

Shaddim · Dec 24, 2012, 04:39 AM

Do not buy OCZ, ever. Their QC is horrid, as is their customer service. I've had the best luck with Intel, but Samsung drives are robust as well.

Pao|o · Dec 24, 2012, 09:19 AM

I would go with a Samsung 840 if you are planning to use it for less than a decade.

If you do use it for a decade I salute you!

jmiddel · Dec 24, 2012, 07:31 PM

Yes. avoid ocz. Samsung Intel and Kingston seem to get the best reviews.

mduell · Dec 25, 2012, 05:33 PM

Samsung 840

jmiddel · Dec 26, 2012, 03:59 PM

OreoCookie · Dec 26, 2012, 05:52 PM

I'd either go with an Intel 330 series SSD or with a Samsung, preferably the 840 series.

billmboy · Dec 28, 2012, 11:06 AM

Look at what OWC ( Macsale.com ) has to offer here
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/

The have great support.

Bobbo · Dec 28, 2012, 12:26 PM

I read a bunch of reviews on many ssd's and it was down to Samsung and OCZ. I got a deal on an OCZ 250. Then I started to read horror stories about fails. I installed it in my late 2011 MBP 15" and converted the existing 750G drive into an external/bootable drive. I booted off the external and formatted the ssd then loaded it using Time Machine. With trepidation I fired up the new ssd. It worked fine and I have had no trouble with it for months now. I DID follow directions VERY closely. YMMV, but the OCZ has worked great for me and makes that i7 MBP scream.

mduell · Dec 28, 2012, 01:39 PM

Originally Posted by billmboy

Look at what OWC ( Macsale.com ) has to offer here
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/
The have great support.

They have terrible prices for off the shelf hardware.

James Katt · Dec 30, 2012, 09:05 AM

The Samsung 840 is set to fail faster than the 830 SSD. This is why it costs much less than the 830 SSD. For ultimate in reliability I recommend the OWComputing SSDs. No other brand is higher in quality.

James Katt · Dec 30, 2012, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by mduell

They have terrible prices for off the shelf hardware.

You're talking about SSDs to feed your Mac and you're being cheap. Realize that SSDs fail suddenly and catastrophically without warning, unlike hard drives. Thus for peace of mind and data security, you have to backup your SSD much more regularly than a hard drive. And you have to buy the most reliable ones - which are from OWC. Yes they have slightly higher prices. But like Macs vs PCs, the prices are highly competitive compared to the best SSDs from Samsung and other competitors. For example, the Samsung 830 is about the same price as the OWC version. Thus I would rather buy the more reliable and compatible OWC version.

CharlesS · Dec 30, 2012, 01:02 PM

You're joking, right? Those OWC drives are just using a stock SandForce controller. They're no different from OCZ or any of the other generic SandForce drives on the market. They're certainly not more reliable than high-end brands such as Samsung, Crucial, etc.

Shaddim · Dec 30, 2012, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesS

You're joking, right? Those OWC drives are just using a stock SandForce controller. They're no different from OCZ or any of the other generic SandForce drives on the market. They're certainly not more reliable than high-end brands such as Samsung, Crucial, etc.

I think they're worse, because OCZ's ratings are worse than other makers' SF drives. Maybe they're using lower bin parts, I dunno.

Stick with Intel or Samsung.

mduell · Dec 30, 2012, 09:05 PM

The higher failure rate of OCZ SF drives is probably due to firmware development. Given their performance angle, I wouldn't be surprised if they're developing for performance moreso than reliability.

Originally Posted by James Katt

You're talking about SSDs to feed your Mac and you're being cheap. Realize that SSDs fail suddenly and catastrophically without warning, unlike hard drives. Thus for peace of mind and data security, you have to backup your SSD much more regularly than a hard drive. And you have to buy the most reliable ones - which are from OWC. Yes they have slightly higher prices. But like Macs vs PCs, the prices are highly competitive compared to the best SSDs from Samsung and other competitors. For example, the Samsung 830 is about the same price as the OWC version. Thus I would rather buy the more reliable and compatible OWC version.

Are you the new face of OWC on MacNN?

OWC was cute in the days of G4 upgrades.

jmiddel · Dec 31, 2012, 03:10 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

OWC was cute in the days of G4 upgrades.

Oh yes, those were the good old days, when you could upgrade the 'daughterboard' (cpu). And everything else.

Shaddim · Dec 31, 2012, 03:21 PM

Originally Posted by jmiddel

Oh yes, those were the good old days, when you could upgrade the 'daughterboard' (cpu). And everything else.

I still use my upgraded Cube. It runs 9.2.2 very well.

P · Jan 6, 2013, 04:30 PM

OCZs return rates are partially due to the transition to 25nm flash. OCZ quietly switched some drives to 25nm flash, and in the uproar of lower performance at certain capacities, offered to replace them with older 34nm drives. This meant that the return rate went up, but that was not due to drive failures. The OCZ Sandforce drives fail as often as any other Sandforce drives. Right now they're not using Sandforce controllers at all, and likely won't be (Sandforce was bought by LSI, and OCZ bought Indilinx, and everyone is transitioning to using "their own" controllers rather than buying ready products).

comdoc · Jan 25, 2013, 11:04 PM

I'm with Bobbo on Samsung and OCZ. Have decided to buy Samsung 840 Pro because it uses 2bit cells (more reliable), has a 5 year warranty, and is also fast. Expensive, 256GB is $227.49 with free shipping, but may be worth it.

Amazon.com: Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive MZ-7PD256BW: Computers & Accessories

cgc · Jan 26, 2013, 07:32 AM

How's the Crucial M4 compare? Looking at specs and reviews it seems comparable to the Samsung 840 to me.

mduell · Jan 26, 2013, 03:20 PM

They don't deliver the same IOPS, but it hardly matters, and they're wonderfully cheap.

Hawkeye_a · Jan 26, 2013, 05:16 PM

I picked up an Intel SSD for my first gen unibody, about a year ago. They are a bit pricy(i got mine on special), but i've heard that they are more reliable.

CharlesS · Jan 26, 2013, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by cgc

How's the Crucial M4 compare? Looking at specs and reviews it seems comparable to the Samsung 840 to me.

They're not as fast, but they're very reliable and have fantastic support.