SSD Installs Continued

I want to take some time this week to revisit an article I wrote a couple of weeks back. I got a lot of great responses from our readers about SSDs and their experiences as well as trials. Overall, I would have to say that switching to SSD storage is the next best boost on computer performance after memory. That’s definitely the new technology trend most machines are being converted to.

The new Apple laptops all have SSD options and very few actual HDD options anymore. One great response I got was from Winston, who wrote in about extending the life of his PowerBook. PowerBooks are classified as “obsolete” by Apple, yet his is performing like a new machine with a new, low power SSD. That is great feedback, and I’m glad to hear that the older machines can get a few more years out of them with an upgrade like this.

Another response I got was from Tarik, an IT specialist for a junior high school, who has a lot of experience with prolonging the use of older MacBooks with SSDs in a school environment. Also, the reduced disk failure rate from kids throwing the computers into their bags is a blessing. This feedback was very helpful and informative — as of this writing, I’m simultaneously downloading Chameleon SSD Optimizer for my Crucial 256GB SSD to play around with!

Working in the tech department, I get to see all types of issues with computers. Something I didn’t expect to see was a failed SSD. I don’t see that happen too often, but when it does, there isn’t a whole lot we can do to recover the data on the failed drives. If the customer absolutely needs the data, at that point, we have to hand it over to DriveSavers, the company Apple uses for forensic level data recovery. They aren’t a cheap service, but if anyone can get data on a failed drive, they can.

Ed. Note: We can never stress enough how important it is to back up your computer. Even if you have the latest SSD, failures can still happen. So, if you don’t want to be shelling out the big bucks for data recovery, then back it up faithfully!

So far, I have been extremely happy with my SSD in my little 13” mid -2009 MacBook Pro. The SSD has given it new life over the standard HDD in conjunction with using external HDDs for storage. I am a data packrat and have terabytes of information on multiple hard drives that I’m constantly accessing or moving around. Despite my thirst for speed, I don’t have any SSD externals (yet).

Switching to an SSD was the best decision I have made for my current MacBook Pro. I hope I’ve helped answer some questions and I would like to thank everyone who wrote in with responses to my original article. To those I didn’t mention in this article, I have read your responses and I thank you.