[SOLVED] Anyone Done the Optical Drive SSD Upgrade Option?

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nolimits76

nolimits76

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I have a late 2011 MBP, what I call the "legacy" MBP where the USER can still perform upgrades to RAM and HDD. Also it has an optical drive. It is pushing 5+ years old and soon I plan to upgrade to 16gb RAM and an SSD drive.

What I'd like opinions on is the the type of SSD upgrade. I have two available.

Option 1 is remove the existing HDD and replace with a new SSD. Easy enough.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ssd/owc/macbook-pro/2011

Option 2 is to utilize the kit provided by OWC and remove/replace my optical drive for an SSD. Advantage is I could buy a smaller SSD and save a few bucks. Move the OS over to the SSD and use that as my primary boot drive. Then use the HDD as a file slave.

https://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=7854&Ntt=data+doubler

Pros/cons of each? Am I overthinking it? Admittedly I can't even remember the last time I used the optical drive, but there is a part of me that doesn't want to let it go.
 
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kenrivers
I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro and did what you are thinking about doing. I replaced the HDD with an SSD and moved the HDD to the optical drive bay. I also upgraded the RAM to 16GB. Boot time is better with the SSD (Samsung 850 EVO). Since I use it mainly for editing video I like having the extra drive space. I have an external optical drive but rarely use it.
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Samer1970

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best thing is to replace the internal harddisk with SSD and put the internal the DVD place , you get 2 Harddisks in your machine

the ODD mite be SATA 2 , so put the harddisk in the ODD and the SSD in its place .

you can use Samsung SSD they are the best .. get Either 850 Evo or 850 Pro depending on your budget
 
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kenrivers

kenrivers

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Dec 29, 2010
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I have a late 2011 MacBook Pro and did what you are thinking about doing. I replaced the HDD with an SSD and moved the HDD to the optical drive bay. I also upgraded the RAM to 16GB. Boot time is better with the SSD (Samsung 850 EVO). Since I use it mainly for editing video I like having the extra drive space. I have an external optical drive but rarely use it.
 
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nolimits76

nolimits76

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Thanks for the input. Since reading both these posts, I have started researching the Samsung Pro and Evo drives. Both sound awesome. In simplified terms, I understand the Pro is about 25% higher but you get double the warranty (5yr vs 10yr) and about a 10% speed increase.

For this particular machine and expected duration of the upgrade (5yrs or less) I am leaning towards the Evo to save a few bucks while maximizing my performance gains. Any other differences that would tip the Pro in favor of the Evo?

Either way, I think the Samsung is definitely the way to go vs the OWC option.

Also, I agree about moving the SSD to the HDD location and then using a relocation kit to move the HDD to the optical drive location. Where do your recommend I buy just the optical drive relocation kit? OWC?
 
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