SSD and OS Lion

Thanks, but its about the new mac book Pro. Looking to buy and paying more for the SSD because of reliability and faster loading of graphics

Am concerned because might need to edit on the run, and the SSD will be slower for that in saving. Apple will not comment, which I suppose is fair. I don't want to end up in a situation like Time Capsule.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, I do appreciate it.

Well then, just wait for a few Thunderbolt devices to hit the market, and grab one of those. In essence, Thunderbolt provides direct access to the PCI-E bus, so it puts USB 3.0 and even FireWire 800 to complete and total shame speed wise. It could use with a security model, and after that, a good security model, but as far as speed goes... It is the fastest external connection tech there is right now that you'll find in consumer oriented products.

And I haven't had a chance to look at the internals of a MBP with a SSD, but if it's anything like the new MBAir's, then they use a specially made SSD that doesn't really use a slow SATA connector. It looks like it uses a form of PCI-E link.

But I would also expect that the flash cells used in desktop and laptop models would be in a whole other class than the likes of the iPod/iPad/iPhone. On those devices, write performance isn't as big an issue. You also have to figure that if you're using an iPod, then you're likely trying to copy several small files. Without getting into Computer Programming 301, let's just say that there's a lot of overhead associated with copying a file, and to date there's no real method of doing burst transfers of files. The computer has to open the file for reading, then read it, copy it, then close it. Then move on to the next file and repeat the whole process. Even if the open and close bits only take a few milliseconds each, you can see how it will add up. So that may well be skewing your perception. If you copy a large file, the amount of overhead compared to the rest of the transfer, is pretty minimal.

Finally, if they DO use a SSD like the new MBAir's, which is about the size of a desktop DIMM, they could probably manage to squeeze that in AND still leave room for a standard 2.5" drive.

Hi Jimmy

Thanks for this, I am trying to get away from externals really. I will look at the extra HDD SSD.

At 17" screen - I really don't want too much else in the case. I am also mindful of previous experiences with Laptop HDD - G3 clamshell Fried a disk, then Mac Book Pro 1, also lost first disk. Both my fault I think - I am too rough with them.

If you do not mind doing a little surgery on your MacBook Pro, you can have both a HDD and an SSD. Take a look at http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/DDMBSSD240/ , for example. If you poke around the site, you will find a graph claiming that the Mercury Extreme Pro SSD writes far faster than a 5400 RPM HDD. Of course, this course of action would remove the internal DVD drive and void your warranty.

Hi onemoremile

Thanks for this, really interested. I have read through and will do so again in the morning. I am reluctant to remove the DVD because I sort of use that when offline to relax in distant lands with suspect hotel rooms. Internet access is not always the best in far off lands and because of my work, I have to be street legal with every thing software.

I do appreciate the link

Cheers

I'd be careful about those things. I've seen people who've done something similar, and it ended up shorting out their logic board. In the case I'm thinking of, the person was stupid enough to brag about how they convinced Apple to fix it under warranty, so I took it upon myself to alert Apple's AppleCare team to it, and considering they called me back about it within about an hour, I assume they were busy trying to track down the specific store this person was going to and canceling the repair.

But, when you start messing with things like that, you never know the quality of the workmanship on the component parts. And is it REALLY that difficult to just have a portable external drive? You could swap in a SSD for the primary, and then have a USB external. It may not be the ideal solution, but seems better than voiding the warranty on your laptop, and any repair tech worth anything will be able to tell the system has been worked on before, so if they don't see some kind of corresponding repair record to explain it, they will start asking questions most likely.

I can't stop anyone from doing this, but I would strongly recommend thinking long and hard first. I've already put in a suggestion to Apple that they include a way to flag a system as having liquid damage in their service provider site. Maybe I should just expand that to any kind of unauthorized tampering. So that way it would prevent ethically challenged service providers from being able to order parts unless they wanted to pay the full stocking price or use their own stock parts. I know I get kind of cranky when I come across things like that. People thinking they can pull something over on me, and that despite dropping the laptop in the toilet or doing something that clearly voids the warranty, they can get it fixed for free.

So this is not getting me very far. I like my DVD films, especially when travelling overseas - I usually get to countries with no English TV and pretty dangerous sometime at night - so stay in and watch a film on DVD.

As for reliability I suppose HDD still has it. I do not like too many extra attachments on the laptop, these tend to get left behind or damaged because I have to put them through Luggage Scanners or very crowded over heads.

I did look through some more stuff though and there is a variety of debate about the speed on Write of various SSD but not an actual definite answer. I wish Apple would release the specs fully.

I shall ask

I do appreciate all your time and help on this, I know your time is valuable to you.