Performance is extremely important for everything laptop or MacBook, and the storage medium used by you can make the difference between a great and an execrable computer experience, whether we're talking about a mobile one or a desktop one.
Although at the moment most MacBooks come from the factory with high-performance SSDs, in the past the situation was different, and if we look at simple laptops, then we are talking about simple HDDs that are extremely slow and strangle the power processing that the RAM or processor provides for users.
I have been using for years Corsair SSDs both for computer and Mac, or laptop, to be exact this model, this model and a 180 GB model, and what I can tell you is that the difference you feel when you moving from a normal HDD to an SSD is huge, everything unfolding much faster.
How do you prepare?
First you need to know that an SSD can reduce the time of accessing information by up to 5-10 times stored in a laptop or computer and we are talking about a very big difference compared to a normal HDD, the writing or reading speeds can increase by up to 4-15 times, depending on the product you buy.
Before buying one SSD for laptop or MacBook it is very important to know what kind of motherboard do you also have an integrated controller, because you might buy one SATA 3 SSD, and your motherboard should be limited to SATA 2, so you will not benefit from the maximum performance offered by SSD.
In this idea, programs such as AIDA 64 will help you find out what kind of motherboard does your windows laptop have and based on the information you can search on the manufacturer's website what kind of SATA it supports, in the case of Macs, the System Profiler application being useful for exactly the same purpose.
If you have a newer MacBook, or a laptop that has a motherboard that offers support for SSD on PCIe, then things are simpler, but also more expensive, products of this kind having a much higher selling price, but also the writing performances of almost 1 GB/s are commensurate with the money paid.
What to buy
Assuming you have correctly identified what kind of motherboard you have and what SSD is suitable for it, well now comes the time to choose a SSD suitable for your laptop or MacBook, and as in most aspects of life, money is what makes the difference between a good or bad experience.
My recommendation is to choose ONLY SSDs that have at least SATA 3, PCIe ones being preferable, but in the case of the latter, it also matters if there is support in the motherboard, and in terms of storage space, a minimum of 120 GB it is recommended, especially if you want to use an operating system with it.
When you choose the SSD, there are some key features that you have to consider, more precisely:
- Capacity;
- Interface;
- Write, read and transfer rates;
- MTBF, or the number of hours specified by the manufacturer for operation;
- Memory type.
Considering all this, here are my recommendations, but of course you can buy what you can afford:
- Corsair Force Series™ LS 480 GB SSD;
- 850GB Samsung 500 EVO SSD;
- 951 GB Samsung SM2 M.128 PCIe SSD;
- 540 GB Intel 120s SSD;
- 750GB Samsung 250 EVO SSD;
- 535GB Intel 480 SSD;
- 240 GB Patriot Blast SSD;
- Crucial MX200 500GB SSD;
- 240GB SanDisk Ultra II SSD.
Apple uses Samsung and Toshiba SSDs in MacBooks sold worldwide, so you can rely on these two manufacturers, but Intel, Crucial, Patriot, OCZ and Corsair are the brands that produce some of the best good SSDs in the world, so you have to consider them.
If you want something else cheaper, find it on this page discounts from 800 LEI on a varied range of SSDs.
