Good/cheap SSD for my travel thinkpad T60

[zephxiii]

I just put an Intel 320 120GB SSD in my work beast T61p (slightly larger than the drive that was in it), that should be big enough.

I also have this smaller T60 14" 4:3 laptop that is basically my "netbook". It just travels around in my backpack, and is a small handy machine that I like to use because the font isn't retardedly small in it like on the T61p's 1900x1020 screen, and it's size is really.

I'm hooked on SSD so I'm looking for something not terrible expensive to put in it. I don't really care about the drive's performance, just how reliable and nice it is. Not looking for anything buggy.

I don't think I need a lot of space, maybe 40-60GB. Any recommendations? Kinda want to stick with brands that have reliable SSD rep., intel would prob be out of the price bracket.

heh i kinda want SSD for my T43 that i use for Ubuntu....but it is IDE

 

[Obsoleet]

I use the G2 equivalent of this http://www.buy.com/pr/product.aspx?sku=220601163&sellerid=11408470 I paid $120 for it originally. I'd buy the drive again in 320 form for the price listed.

It's been rock solid for 2+ years now in multiple laptops. All the space I need, and gets put into hibernate mode, pulled out, put back in, it's never hiccuped once in all these years. Most people will prefer more space or speed over that drive, but I have no regrets.. over time, reliability and no fuss adds up to a whole lot of love for a drive. Mine has not been treated fairly.

If you want to chip off a little more dime, and want a touch more capacity/speed I'd get this- http://www.provantage.com/samsung-mz-7pc064d-am~7SAMA0CF.htm

Your netbook chipset probably doesn't support passing TRIM commands (or, if you use XP), so having one of these 2 drives which have a SSD toolkit to schedule manual TRIM commands is essential. If it were me, I'd pickup the 64GB 830 for a mere $15 more.

 

[corkyg]

I too have a T60 as a backup unit for travel to my T510. You didn't say what OS you had on the T60. I put Win 7 on it, and it can handle it. That should make TRIM work just fine.

 

[zephxiii]

Oh yea, a T60 has more than enough for 7. 7 runs great on my older T43 even.

I was kinda looking for <100 dolla range though.

 

[epuigvros]

Crucial M4 64GB for $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

It's not as fast as a SandForce drive, but it's more reliable.

 

[zephxiii]

Crucial M4 64GB for $95

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

It's not as fast as a SandForce drive, but it's more reliable.

That sounds good thanks.

 

[zephxiii]

Just ordered the M4, got 15 dollars off w/ promo code. This drive looks fantastic, amazing ratings too at newegg.

 

[ensign_lee]

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1171320/

Crucial M4 120GB for $150. To me, the extra $50 is worth doubling the space. Otherwise, yeah, the 64GB for $100 seems good.

 

[birthdaymonkey]

I have a T60 with a Crucial C300 64GB and it works well with Win7 32 and 3GB of RAM. Be advised that the T60 only supports SATA1 speeds, so most drives will perform the same, bottlenecked by the interface.

 

[zephxiii]

64GB would be plenty for this. This machine is primarily for casual portable+tool use, maybe some photoshop/lightroom too.

SATA1 SSD beats waiting on an arm scanning a platter

 

[GoSharks]

Glad to see you didn't get a Sandforce drive. I tried an Agility 3, with the "fixed" firmware, in my T60 and all I got were BSODs. Ended up with a Intel 320 in it, and its been perfect.

 

[bryanW1995]

m4 or samsung is the next best thing to an intel ssd. Looks like you made a good purchase.

 

[zephxiii]

Yea, I read anandtech's Intel 520 review this past week and it pretty scared me away from getting a sandforce drive lol.

 

[zephxiii]

hah I gotta make one more post.

I'm using the T60 right now tonight after being spoiled on T61p with SSD. As I use this machine i'm watching the HD light stay on a lot, typical slowish boot from hibernation, lag on starting apps while the HD scans for the data etc......can't wait to say GOODBYE LAPTOP HD!!! It's going to be great.

 

[ensign_lee]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441

Just saw this. The crucial M4 64GB is still on sale for $80

 

[taltamir]

Yea, I read anandtech's Intel 520 review this past week and it pretty scared me away from getting a sandforce drive lol.

same here... unless its an intel branded sandforce that is. I was quite impressed by intel finding and fixing the issue sandforce couldn't and still can't (the fix is only in intel branded sandforce drives)

 

[F1shF4t]

Just make sure to update the firmware of the M4 if its 0009. Otherwise you'll have issues in 5000 hours

 

[magreen]

Personally, I'd get a used 80gb x25-m g2. I did that awhile ago for my dell d620 laptop and couldn't be happier. Rock solid, nice and quick. And it's got the disk optimizing utility to schedule the once-a-week TRIM. They've gone down in price on ebay since then, too. Hovering around $80 for 80GB.

 

[zephxiii]

Just make sure to update the firmware of the M4 if its 0009. Otherwise you'll have issues in 5000 hours

lol yea i just saw something about that last night lol.