What SSD should I get

[duksandfish]

So I'm looking to get an SSD for my laptop, a Dell Studio 1558 (core i5 520m 4gb ram) and I'm not sure which one I should get. I've been looking at the Intel X25-M 80GB which costs around £130, and seems to be a good option, though considering i'd be using the current HDD in my laptop (500GB) as an external one, so I'm wondering whether I should get a 64/60 GB one (which cost around £90) and if so, which one I should get seeing as Intel's next step down would be 40gb which I feel would be too small.

 

[scrice]

I would not get the intel X25-V 40gb. Its a different model with slower read/write.
Personally I would just get the X25-M 80GB if your set on an intel drive. From what i'v heard its pretty awesome. Dont have one/know any1 with it though.
Theres still no harm in looking around, check out OCZ's Vertex 2's.. Just depends on the prices in your area

 

[Deleted member 217926]

The Crucial C300, GSkill Phoenix Pro and OCZ Vertex 2 are about the fastest with the C300 a hair in the lead. I have found 120GB to be the perfect size for Windows, Office and the games I am playing. I have 23.7GB free.

 

[adampower]

I like the intel drives for laptops. They sip power. They have great iops. Their downfall is in writes which is, imo, less critical for a laptop.

However, price per GB you can get better performance from a sandforce 1200 based drive. Such as the OCZ V2 or Agility 2, C300 (as anort3 said), etc.

Size depends totally on you. An x25-v40 may be just fine. It will boot almost as fast as the m80. Your OS, office, minor programs, will fit just fine. Your files can sit on the 500 ext. drive.

 

[duksandfish]

Thanks for your replies everyone, I went with the OCZ Vertex 2 60GB after doing alot of research, and seeing that it slighltly outperformed the Corsair F60 and Agility 2 in terms of IOPS (though technically they should be all the same), and since the price of the 80GB X25-M has gone up about £7 in the past week on amazon.

 

[RetiredChief]

Good choice, although for a laptop I perfer the 100 gig - But that depends on how much you want to put on the SSD.

The C300 would have been a poor choice UNLESS your Laptop supports SATA III, as most laptops currently have Sata II and the C300 is a SATA III SSD.

 

[duksandfish]

Considering I use my laptop at my desk most of the time so I will have my external hard drive plugged in, it shouldn't be much of a problem, and since the external HDD is only 2.5" then It wouldn't be difficult to take aroud with it.

 

[RetiredChief]

Understand, I also carry a 2 1/2 in HDD with my laptops. Don't really use it much. Also have a 64 Gig thumb drive and a 16 gig PCMIA card that I can swap between laptops.