Author Topic: Do Not Buy This SSD!  (Read 15731 times)

WCDev

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Do Not Buy This SSD!
« on: July 01, 2012, 09:25:09 AM »
Bought this OCZ Petrol SSD two weeks ago. It was an impulse buy - I was in the shop, saw it, saw a use for it and bought it - if I'd done my homework first, I don't think I would have bought it.

Anyway, installed 10.7, went through the grief of getting all my development profiles set up, started 1.1 development.

Two weeks later, completely dead - won't mount, won't format - nada. As it has confidential information on it and I can't even format it, I can't take it back [banghead]

Sigh.



Wildwood

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2012, 05:32:11 PM »
This is a good one - I have 6 at work been running great for 6 months.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_6G/

good luck

elagache

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Bummer Dude!! (Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!)
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2012, 09:48:45 PM »
Howdy Stu, Wildwood, and WeatherCat folks,

Bought this OCZ Petrol SSD two weeks ago.
. . . .
Two weeks later, completely dead - won't mount, won't format - nada. As it has confidential information on it and I can't even format it, I can't take it back [banghead]

Bummer dude  :(

That's really unfair.  I don't know what good it would do, but I would at least give them a call and see if you can figure some way to get the company to guarantee they'll zap the old one.  After all, they are in the computer business and there (at least used to be) something called professional courtesy.

This is a good one - I have 6 at work been running great for 6 months.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_6G/

I haven't bought one of their solid state drives, but I've been doing business with Other World Computing for decades.  They have been a MacBook's best friend since they were called PowerBooks!!  ;D

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Steve

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2012, 01:03:46 AM »
I haven't made the move to solid state backup drives. I have three LaCie 2T Firewire 800 drives I use for backup, and they're plenty fast. What are folks finding attractive about the quicker, but smaller and more expensive solid state drives for backup?
Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


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elagache

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Not for backup I think (Re: SSD)
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2012, 09:57:48 PM »
Howdy Steve and da' cat fans,

I haven't made the move to solid state backup drives. I have three LaCie 2T Firewire 800 drives I use for backup, and they're plenty fast. What are folks finding attractive about the quicker, but smaller and more expensive solid state drives for backup?

These drives are still more money than I'm willing to spend, but I thought the big incentive was to replace your main system drive.  The access time is comparable to RAM instead of a disk.  So your machine becomes much, much faster.

In the old days RAM was very expensive which disk space was more plentiful.  Operating systems and a lot of software were designed to trade speed for capability.  If everything on your computer is "RAM" than you get much more than a faster drive, all your software performs far better than "it should."

Anything I'm overlooking or other features that folks think are important to mention about solid state drives?

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

JosBaz

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2012, 05:46:49 PM »
I've done quite some reading on this as I plan to get an SSD for my MacBook pro. From what I have read the OCZ have high(est) failure rates.

Can you not go back to the store, swap it for a Samsung or Intel SSD, and ask them to trash the OCZ (with confidential data) on the spot? They won't go and repair it anyway. Fact is they sold you a product that does not meet expectations  ??? and they need to propose a solution.

Good luck.

Jos

WCDev

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2012, 07:39:55 PM »
I have a bit of an update on this - it'll be back down the shop tomorrow. They promise me they can recover it; then I have the choice of security wipe and refund or taking it back home again. I'll be opting for the security wipe and refund :)

The main drive in the development machine is an Intel X-25 -  never had a problem with it, so as you say Jos, it'll either be a new Intel (330 or 520) or the Samsung 830. I have Samsung in my Air and find it very impressive, but the Intel I already own has been flawless.

Lesson learnt - never buy on impulse :)



elagache

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Are SSDs really "worth it?" (Re: Buy SSD!)
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2012, 11:30:39 PM »
Howdy Stu, Jos, and WeatherCat technology geeks,

The main drive in the development machine is an Intel X-25 -  never had a problem with it, so as you say Jos, it'll either be a new Intel (330 or 520) or the Samsung 830. I have Samsung in my Air and find it very impressive, but the Intel I already own has been flawless.

Well now, so you have some experience with these drives.  [computer]  Also, you obviously like the experience enough to - go for more!  [bounce]

Do you have any advise for the rest of us?  Is this something we really, really want  [cheer]  and . . . . don't know it yet?  ???

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

WCDev

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Re: Are SSDs really "worth it?" (Re: Buy SSD!)
« Reply #8 on: July 04, 2012, 04:54:03 PM »
Howdy Stu, Jos, and WeatherCat technology geeks,

The main drive in the development machine is an Intel X-25 -  never had a problem with it, so as you say Jos, it'll either be a new Intel (330 or 520) or the Samsung 830. I have Samsung in my Air and find it very impressive, but the Intel I already own has been flawless.

Well now, so you have some experience with these drives.  [computer]  Also, you obviously like the experience enough to - go for more!  [bounce]

Do you have any advise for the rest of us?  Is this something we really, really want  [cheer]  and . . . . don't know it yet?  ???

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Sure, if you have an older machine with a mechanical hard-drive, especially a slow notebook drive, they make a great deal of sense and have really fallen in price over the last 12 months - just do your homework first  :)

The Grand Poohbah

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #9 on: July 04, 2012, 08:30:55 PM »
Has anyone tried the OWC Accelsior SSD PCI Card yet? The August Macworld reviewed, "Solid-state drive provides a superfast speed boost." and gave it 4 stars.

WCDev

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2012, 07:50:19 AM »
Has anyone tried the OWC Accelsior SSD PCI Card yet? The August Macworld reviewed, "Solid-state drive provides a superfast speed boost." and gave it 4 stars.

Impressive, but you get to pay for that performance (but if it's invest in the business or give it to the tax man... :) )

Just as an update to this, I got a full refund and expect the postman to bring me a Samsung 830 sometime this morning - cheaper and not quite as fast overall as the Intel but reliability of it seems very good from all the reports I've read.


elagache

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Hurrah!! (Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!)
« Reply #11 on: July 07, 2012, 05:52:55 PM »
Howdy Stu and WeatherCat fans,

Just as an update to this, I got a full refund and expect the postman to bring me a Samsung 830 sometime this morning - cheaper and not quite as fast overall as the Intel but reliability of it seems very good from all the reports I've read.

Hurrah!!  [cheer]

Glad you got the sort of customer service you deserve!!  [tup]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

WCDev

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2012, 05:10:36 PM »
Thank you  :)

The 830 came yesterday morning and has been performing flawlessly ever since. Hopefully it'll be a bit more reliable (certainly very fast  ;D ).

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #13 on: July 08, 2012, 10:29:47 PM »
I'v now also ordered the Samsung 830 (256GB) for my 2008 15" MBP. After the price of this dropped to ? ?170 it has become a quite popular device so may have to be a bit patient. Will share my experiences once it is installed.

Stu, any tips for a smooth migration from HDD to SSD?

I plan to install the SSD (replace current HDD), boot from a USB stick with Lion on it (format the SSD from there), and then do a full system restore from a Time Machine backup (USB attached HDD).

Thanks,

Jos

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Re: Do Not Buy This SSD!
« Reply #14 on: July 09, 2012, 05:03:16 PM »
That sounds fine Jos - the only issue you may have is it's a 7mm drive so may need a spacer of some kind.