I had went back and forth on getting an SSD for about a month. I had always heard that they were amazing with some saying it was the single greatest performance increase you can get for your computer. I also heard from others that they were indeed quicker, but normally only for start up, shut down, and very intense programs. One day I saw a great price on Amazon and decided to pull the trigger.
When it came to choosing an SSD the Samsung 830 was a no brainer for me. Everywhere I looked it offered the best price to performance ratio, with only the OCZ Vertex models coming close. I have had good luck with Samsung so I stuck with them.
Pros: Windows 7 setup was a breeze and extremely quick. Actually, I messed up on the first install and had to reformat and perform another one immediately afterward and I still got through both installs in about 30 minutes.
The best way to describe the start up and shut down speed is "violent". You press the button for shutdown and things start closing faster than you've ever seen. Start is also just as fast.
Also, this thing is silent! Of course it should be since there are no moving parts. My other HDD was extremely quiet, but yes, there is a difference. Also, I've noticed a decrease in heat, which is good for the lap since my Asus in notorious for running a little warm on the bottom.
When it comes to programs I still am not completely sure as I have not put it through the paces. I have a game that I play, but never played it on this laptop before the SSD, though I am willing to bet the load times are much faster. Also, using chrome and having 8 gb of RAM I can open as many tabs as I want without hiccup.
Neutral: Coming back form hibernate is nearly instant, but I can't get my trackpad to respond for a couple seconds. Also, I cannot go straight back into the computer and must go through the log screen. I'm sure this is not the fault of the SSD, but it is something I will be working on.
Cons: The only con I can think of is that this thing is just too dang pretty to hide in the laptop. I was blown away by how awesome this little thing was and I wish I could show it off!
Other Comments: I used the Samsung SSD performance boosting program and it worked very well. For a novice user this may be enough. However, I went back through and checked everything it did manually and there were a couple of things that did not go through. Being a tinkerer at heart I was able to obtain peak performance following the SSD Optimization Guide from TheSSDReview.com. With this I was able to get more space, a little bit more speed and (hopefully) prolong the life of the SSD. I would like to warn users though to be careful which tweaks you choose based on your knowledge of the computer and the knowledge of others that will be using it.
Overall, this is a great addition to your computer. Though, I still may argue that RAM is more important. However, if your RAM is sufficient or maxed out, this would clearly be my next option.
Hard Drive | 256 GB Solid State Drive |
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Brand | Samsung |
Item model number | MZ-7PC256B/WW |
Product Dimensions | 10.01 x 0.71 x 6.99 cm; 9.07 g |
Item dimensions L x W x H | 10 x 0.7 x 7 Centimetres |
Flash memory size | 256 |