T500: Finding a reliable "compatible" SSD

[vtohthree]

Hey I was wondering for all you T500 users out there, any of you running SSD's?

(edit:to clarify I know the specs that are compatible, but I meant "compatible" as in works well, no/minimal issues with the MOBO/BIOS, etc. on a T500/400 as I have seen many who have complained about the Crucial M4's in T500/400 and still without resolution)


I'm one who has studied SSD's more or less, and have been an avid fan of the Crucial M4 series, however, incidentally in my research I find quite a few people with T500/T400 who have issues with it... be it BIOS, SATA controller, or something MOBO related and inconclusive. I had yet to find one success story online about a T500 user with a Crucial M4 SSD drive(which saddens me as it seems to work quite stable in other+newer systems).

I know what is compatible hardware wise, but I use "", as in, one that seems to work fine from user experience...again, for whatever quirky reasons, hardware is picky.

I was also looking at the Samsung 830 series(another highly regarded SSD as far as reliability and stability goes), however, again I find that YMMV depending on laptop, as quirky as it may seem. I also looked at some of Intel's series too(also highly regarded, but lot I've managed to find some TP users that just can't get it to run reliably on their machine, and it seems more than a coincidence.)

So again, I'm calling out T500 users specifically(I've found that the aforementioned drives run seemingly fine in newer series models, for whatever reasons..hence I'm seeking for T500/T400 users too), anyone find a good SSD setup?

Thanks in advance.

[ThinkRob]

I have no idea about the Crucial M4, but I have used SSDs from Samsung, Intel, and OCZ (multiple generations of each) when I had my T500 and never had any problems. (Edit: also, my C300 worked fine too.)

My advice is to pick whichever one you want, but buy from somewhere that accepts returns on the off-chance that it doesn't work.

[vtohthree]

Thanks Rob. Perhaps I'll give the Samsung 830 a try. Out of curiosity, which series Samsung and Intels have you used?

[ThinkRob]

Thanks Rob. Perhaps I'll give the Samsung 830 a try. Out of curiosity, which series Samsung and Intels have you used?

Most recently I've been running a couple of Samsung 830s in various laptops. I've also used Samsung PB22-Js and an earlier Samsung SSD (I can't recall the model number, sorry!).

On the Intel side of things I've used X25-Ms (G1 and G2), X25-Es, 320s, and 510s.

[vtohthree]

Wow you've used em' all, haha.

Glad to hear that they worked out, I guess I'm still cautious as many started seeing problems after a little while, but I suppose I'll take a risk.

[ThinkRob]

Wow you've used em' all, haha.

Glad to hear that they worked out, I guess I'm still cautious as many started seeing problems after a little while, but I suppose I'll take a risk.

I was an early adopter of SSDs. In retrospect, that was a bad decision. They didn't really get good until the X25-M G1, they didn't get affordable until the OCZ Agility and the PB22-J, and they didn't get both until the Samsung 830.

It's important to note that the same cautions apply to SSDs as to mechanical drives: don't trust them! Back up regularly. Back up to multiple drives and/or multiple locations if your data is important. Assume that all of your data is one bad electron away from disappearing.

[vtohthree]

haha, thanks for the tip. I'll have to remember that... oh how I've learned and relearned that the hard* way,

[Jakoob]

Just want to confirm, that there is something wrong with T500 and Crucial M4. I've bought to my T500 the 128 GB 7 mm version of Crucial M4 and I'm having random freezes. Unfortunately the seller isn't willing to replace the disc or give me a refund

[vtohthree]

Dang, sorry to hear that Jakoob.

I've heard similar stories on T400's as well, and it's crazy how I haven't found anyone who has resolved issues either(deadend threads). People have tried different firmwares, BIOS updates(downgrades), fresh reinstalls, etc.

Update: I still haven't ordered the drive yet, missed out on some decent deals on Samsung 830's(which is what I want to get), but also saw some Intel 330's at reasonable prices.

[skrypj]

I am using a 64GB Kingston SSDNow blah blah blah that I got for a steal at Newegg a few years back. It has done me well and the performance bump is far better than anything else you can do to the computer.

[vtohthree]

Just to update everyone I went ahead and got a Samsung 830 128GB. Works great, granted it's only been a few days but i haven't had any problems, left it on overnight, etc.

On a side note(I'll have to look at some more threads or start a new one), I gotta consider backup options.... I made a windows7 backup image(through windows) and it failed to restore it(spent hours on forums searching..., even while trying to make a similar mbr table..any how, it's frustrating and didn't work)...also didn't have much luck with clonezilla(made a backup image, tested it after creating it....and then when I tried to restore it onto the new SSD-yes all provisions were correct...it refused to let me restore or didn't even give me an option to do so...after much reading, the backup must've been no good)...so... needless to say I did a fresh install....all the patches I had to install...blargh..

THanks again for the responses!

[Jakoob]

Jneedless to say I did a fresh install....all the patches I had to install...blargh..

In my opinion fresh install is the best solution while upgrading to SSD. Not only you don't have to align the ISO, but also Windows 7 recognizes the SSD and enables trim, stops defrag, etc....

Anyway don't forget to open powermanager and set "Stop harddisk rotation" to "never" on all power plans as it may cut the SSD from power and cause freeze of system....

[vtohthree]

Thanks for the headsup Jakoob.

[EvilH]

I have been running a Mushkin Chronos 120GB SSD in my T500 for a few weeks and its been great.