looking to get a new mobile workstation - should i go SSD?

[LeoMANXVII]

wondering how many of you take advantage of SSD over HDD for ableton productions?
i'm under the impression that it is faster than a standard 7200 notebook hdd

any other key aspects i should review before i purchase a new book? looking to spend around 2-4k

ddr3 memory a must?

at first i had my heart set on quad core, but after reviewing the performance thread, i am very pleased with c2d processors. should i still go with quad anyways? i don't want this book to go old after 2-3 years (even though it will)

[mihai]

ssd is definitely not going to let you down and only makes things much faster than with a traditional hdd. as for the processor, the quad will be faster but it'll eat up more power. so if you intend on running mostly on battery then get a dual, if you're going to be mostly plugged in get a quad. then again the ssd uses less power than a conventional hdd.

[LeoMANXVII]

thanks for the response mihai

i'm mostly going to be plugged in. i would go with quad but i really cannot find a notebook which also has sleek style .. don't want to be too bulky

i read this which might be true.. gives me mixed feelings "ssds are plagued with random write time problems. they slow down after 1 month use and you need to reformat, and to top it off you cant even multi task with them without the system freezing up because of awful write access speeds"

[Gab]

Good SSDs are WAY faster than any traditional hard drive - even 15k rpm ones. But as you stated, some are plagued by slow writing times while dealing with very little files, which will almost freeze your system, killing the whole interest of having a SSD to let your system be faster and more responsive...

SLC SSDs are the most reliable ones, but with the use of more advanced controllers MCL drives have become more interesting. Check Samsung's MLC SSDs, OCZ's Vertex - these are the current best choices. G.Skill's Titan (the 256GB version only) can also be considered, but as it's still based on a crappy JMicron controller I'd avoid it, although its dual-controler architecture seems to be quite efficient.

Remember that SSDs are still evolving, and way faster than any other PC component. Within a single year you will find SSDs double the capacity and half the price of today's, and they'll definitely be more reliable - regarding cell wear.

Today, if you want a 128GB drive, you'll have to drop around 400$, 800$ for a 256GB.

As for the rest, DDR2 or DDR3 does not change anything.

If you want your book to be still useful in 3 years you'd certainly better get a quad - who work with a single core CPU today?

[LeoMANXVII]

thanks for your input gab. i knew there had to be some catch to SSD's. i really appreciate your say in MCL spec drives.

would SSD's use the same connection as HDD's? SATA the standard for the future? I would rather go with a 7200 HDD for now and give it some time to make a direct swap. in time i can smart buy on a HDD replacement. possibly i can find a book with a second bay for better possibilities.

the higher MHZ in DDR3 not beneficial over DDR2? thought that could change something

you're right about the quad. i've been using this slow poke turion 64 1.99 single core forever now. it's embarrassing when i want to record or go over 3 MIDI tracks

[Gab]

SSDs and HDDs are the same form factor, any SATA SSD (the vast majority of them now) will fit in a laptop's HDD bay, so your idea of buying a 7200rpm HDD now and swapping it latter with a SSD is a good one

Although you cannot compare DDR2 and DDR3 performance based on clock speed alone, you are actually right, you'd better go for DDR3 now - since prices have hugely dropped during the last months, price is no longer a reason to stick with DDR2 if you go with a new computer, and it may make it easier to upgrade memory if you need in a year or two.

[noisetonepause]

SSDs are SATA. I've seen a few IDE ones, but that's rare.

I've seen some (OCZ?) that also have a mini-USB plug on them -- which struck me as the best idea since, well, USB HDs...

I think you should buy an SSD RIGHT NOW! and tell me how it goes

[Gab]

Early SSDs were available in either IDE or SATA, some Mtron models can still be purchased in IDE but as SATA is the current standard, the choice of the interface is pretty straightforward

As for OCZ's USB plug, it was meant to allow the user to upgrade the drive's firmware or use it as a big USB key/thumbdrive - not the most useful feature but, whatever.

[rectus_dominus]

As far as I know, SSDs are still inferior to HDDs in warranty times and long-term usage due to their write/read limit
And they're still expensive as hell... I say wait for them to be more developed and be more popular (so it will be cheaper)
DDR3 RAMs would make great companions to a computer with a Core i-series CPU, and no, it does not offer much more power for the plus money, at least here in Hungary an entry-level 4gb DDR3 module (1333mhz) costs 2 times more than an decent DDR2 module (1066mhz). The performance difference is minor if we look the price

[noisetonepause]

As for OCZ's USB plug, it was meant to allow the user to upgrade the drive's firmware or use it as a big USB key/thumbdrive - not the most useful feature but, whatever.

Yeah, big thumb drive's what I was thinking. Handy for backups, sharing files between different computers etc. I swap harddrives around alot on my main tinker ThinkPad.

Further down the road when SSDs are huge enough and cost pennies it'll eliminate the need for HD cabinets which are a right pain in the backside IME...