Help me find an SSD for old laptop?

December 1, 2014 8:34 AM

Hi I want to find a SSD which is: -stable, long life, to be used as primary hard disk for my 5 years old Thinkpad X201 with i5 win7 -240G or above -no speed requirement as if it's better than my 3 years old Intel X25-M 120 GB -preferably no TLC -good price Thank you very much!
posted by pack2themoon to Computers & Internet (10 answers total)

Best answer: Samsung's 840 EVO series are pretty sweet SSDs, and not too expensive.
posted by flabdablet at 8:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks flabdablet, I was considering initially, it's about $109 on Amazon, similar as Intel 730, which I thought would be much more endurable? and the Samsung 840 Evo is TLC which I do not prefer.
posted by pack2themoon at 8:58 AM on December 1, 2014

Best answer: Here's an example of what I do for parts:

pcpartpicker.com -> storage -> filter by SSD -> set minimum size -> filter by stars (4/5) -> sort by price ascending -> pick the one from the first 10 or so results that has the most reviews.

Doing that right now shows the Crucial M500 240G drive for $73 and it's MLC which sounds like it might be a good choice for you.
posted by Poldo at 9:53 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I'd say top options for non-TLC are Crucial M500/M550/MX100 or the Samsung 850 Pro (Which isn't MLC, but newfangled 3d NAND with lifestyles comparable to or better than MLC ) I have an MX100, it's good and cheap.
posted by JauntyFedora at 10:19 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The Samsung 850 Pro is actually rated for higher endurance than the Intel 730 (150TB of writes for the 850 vs. 91TB/128TB for the 240GB/480GB versions of the 730). In addition, it's one of the top-performing drives on the market at the moment. The Anandtech review is a pretty good rundown.

I've got 2 of the 1TB versions. I've only been using them for a couple months, so I can't say anything about longevity, but they do come with a 10-year warranty. They are also noticeably faster than the X25-M, which I have used in the past.
posted by strangecargo at 2:37 PM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Hi @Poldo, thanks. when I check the M500 the price is $79.99, anyway , I bought one. Later I found out the power consumption of this model is pretty high, see this: http://media.bestofmicro.com/8/Y/395602/original/power-idle.png
I don't know if that will be a issue.
posted by pack2themoon at 4:35 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: I would not worry too much about the long-life, I have the nagging feeling that in 5 years you'll be getting something much faster/better/taller/wider for less. Today you can find some awesome deals on tigerdirect and newegg - with amazon matching.
posted by nostrada at 4:36 PM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: hi @nostrada thanks. what is amazon matching? how to do it?
posted by pack2themoon at 5:06 PM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you do get the Samsung EVO, make sure it has the latest firmware - there's an issue with the older devices that means that the drive gets much, *much* slower reading old data a year or so into using it. You want the Samsung PRO drive if you're set against TLC memory anyway of course.

Personally, I'd either buy Intel or Samsung SSDs. Pick whichever fits within your budget - my Intel 830 is on it's second laptop (moved from a Thinkpad X60s to an X201).
posted by pharm at 1:24 AM on December 2, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: almost one year passed, I bought two crucial ssd, mx500 and mx100. used one and another I'm about to install. thank you guys.
posted by pack2themoon at 3:51 AM on October 22, 2015