Specific SSD Question

Theres lots of "is the SSD switch worth it threads, been through a lot, butjust before I click purchase, would anyone mind taking a look to see if it makes sense for my system?

Problems: Crawling slower and slower, despite clean installs crashed apps refuse to fully quit (disabling log out), incredibly slow startup, spinning balls. I do a lot of HD video editing and plan to upgrade to Lion. Any thoughts are appreciated.





Thanks for your time!

Everything is below- I know this is overkill but hey, the more information the better right?...


This is an early 2008, pre-unibody Macbook Pro.

OWC Drive:
OWC YSSDMP240 DIY KIT: 240GB Mercury Electra 3G SSD... in stock at OWC

Current Drive:
HITACHI HTS722020K9SA00 200GB 7200RPM SATA DRIVE | eBay


System Profiler SATA:
Intel ICH8-M AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ICH8-M AHCI
Speed: 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00:

Capacity: 186.31 GB
Model: Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00
Revision: DC4AC77A
Serial Number: 080323DP0440DTGDP18P
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32
Removable Media: No
Detachable Drive: No
BSD Name: disk0
Mac OS 9 Drivers: No
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Verified
Volumes:
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 185.99 GB
Available: 25.08 GB
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk0s2
Mount Point: /

System Profile main:Hardware Overview:

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.6 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 4 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP41.00C1.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.27f3
Serial Number (system): W881404X1SH
Hardware UUID: F2ACDE04-1317-505A-A699-93A1A2FD88C3
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled

That does make sense, and it would definitely make your computer more responsive. I installed a Sandisk 240GB 6GBs SSD in my 2009 13-inch MBP a few weeks ago and it feels like a new computer.

However, before spending the money maybe you can salvage your current drive. From your description it sounds like the drive may be severely fragmented. Do you have a disk maintenance utility such as Drive Genius or Intech Speed Tools? Defragmenting your drive, checking for bad sectors and repairing the volumes may get your old drive back up to speed.

Also, there are less expensive alternatives than an SSD. I have a Seagate 500GB XT hybrid drive that accomplishes most tasks about 80% as fast as my SSD. I use it as my backup drive in a FW 800 case. OWC sells it for $117.99 with a five-year warranty.

Whatever drive you get I urge you to take advantage of OWC's discount on a drive maintenance utility. They've saved my data more than once.

Thanks Lightcraftsman,

I ended up following through on the SSD and getting the drive maintenance idea- Great idea, great profile pic and Guy Clark quote. I'm a Townes addict. Texas pride.

Which SSD and utility did you get?

Good to see another Texas music fan here. Townes was one of the all-time greats, and Guy Clark is obviously one of my favorites.