Which 512GB SSD to get?

I have an early 2011 13" MBP 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 and would like to upgrade to a 512GB SSD. I see talk of the Crucial M4 512, the OCZ 512 (several models) and the Samsung 830 512 seem to be the most popular upgraded SSDs used. The Samsung seems to be the most expensive. How do these seem to stand up as far as speed (rank fastest to slowest...and how much difference does the difference in speed really mean in real time usage? I am not a power user, but want the benefits to justify spending significantly more on one versus the other.

What about firmware issues...are these all able to be resolved. I am new to Apple computers and still have trouble doing things I could do on my old Windows with both eyes closed and at least one hand tied behind my back...

I am settled on getting one of the 512 SSDs...I can afford whichever I get, but don't believe in spending money needlessly, so if the higher priced Samsung is truly worth the almost double the price of the Crucial, then I'll consider it, but if the real speed/reliability doesn't really mean much in real life (other than on speed tests), then can't see maybe spending the extra $s.

Thanks for any assistance.

i have a samsung ssd 830 running on my current mbp mid 2010, it is the best in the market,
do not know what mbp you have, yet it is worth the extra money, Crucial seems to be the
good one, price is lower than samsung yet if you can look for it at newegg you might sometime
see samsung on sale. Do not worry about the firmware, should work with the mbp.
M4 is not bad either, you can get hold of it, try it out, if you are an expert in pc hardware,
then do not worry about apple which is easier to work with. Once you get use to it, you can even
get things done with both hands tie, which I found window pc even with eyes wide open and both
hands free nothing get going, that is how bad I feel with windows.
comparing with some brands like lexus, mercedes, chevy, you pay for the quality.

PNGento said:

I have an early 2011 13" MBP 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5 and would like to upgrade to a 512GB SSD. I see talk of the Crucial M4 512, the OCZ 512 (several models) and the Samsung 830 512 seem to be the most popular upgraded SSDs used. The Samsung seems to be the most expensive.

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I have a Crucial M4 256GB and am very happy with it. It's not the fastest drive on the market, but it's one of the fastest in its segment. Crucial is well known for the their Mac support and customer service, whereas some vendors (Samsung in particular) are known for exactly the opposite.

How do these seem to stand up as far as speed (rank fastest to slowest...and how much difference does the difference in speed really mean in real time usage? I am not a power user, but want the benefits to justify spending significantly more on one versus the other.

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SSDs are so much faster than traditional hard drives, that just about any model will create a stunning difference in your machine. When you compare one SSD to another of the same generation (keep in mind, there's been several successive generations of SSDs) in terms of performance, the differences are pretty subtle in anything other than abstract benchmarks. Literally, we're talking a few tenths of a second difference in reads and writes. You can find specific benchmark comparisons on sites like Anandtech.com - it's hard to rank them as things change with firmware updates and specific revisions.

What about firmware issues...are these all able to be resolved. I am new to Apple computers and still have trouble doing things I could do on my old Windows with both eyes closed and at least one hand tied behind my back...

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I can't speak to the others, although I've read a lot of complaints about OCZ firmware updates - but the firmware on my M4 is rock solid, I've never had any crashes or hangs.

One of the things that can be difficult is firmware updates - especially if the vendor doesn't specifically support the Mac. Some of the updater programs are Windows only. Crucial supplied their firmware on bootable CD images, which are Mac friendly.

I am settled on getting one of the 512 SSDs...I can afford whichever I get, but don't believe in spending money needlessly, so if the higher priced Samsung is truly worth the almost double the price of the Crucial, then I'll consider it, but if the real speed/reliability doesn't really mean much in real life (other than on speed tests), then can't see maybe spending the extra $s.

Thanks for any assistance.

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I think you hit the nail on the head. I doubt you'd notice any discernible difference between any of the models that support SATA 3. If it were me, I wouldn't think twice about the Samsung.