[www.newegg.com]

Good deal, right?

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OWC Larry reported that OCZ uses second grade chips in some of their SSDs, I am not sure if all or only some models. Maybe he will comment again. YMMV

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space-time
OWC Larry reported that OCZ uses second grade chips in some of their SSDs, I am not sure if all or only some models. Maybe he will comment again. YMMV

Thanks- would love to hear from him or anyone else.

I've tried to dig through OWC's offerings several times and I just can't deal with the way the drives and info are presented-- there's no overview and you're bombarded with adspeak on every page.

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Not trying to be a jerk but just do a search on OCZ. Larry's comments are here.

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OWC SSDs are first rate.

I've been burned by a bad SSD. Never again for me.

OCZ has a checkered past.

If this is a main machine, I would not trust OCZ or most cheap brands.

I think Intel, OWC and maybe Samsung are trustworthy.

For what kind of Mac? That could narrow your choices.

Not to defend OWC, but this seems pretty straightforward: [eshop.macsales.com]

For example, if you have a brand new MBP with a 6G connection, then you probably want to go with a Mercury drive. If you have an older MBP, mini, etc -- then you want to look at the 3G Electra.

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The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs [www.fakesteve.net]

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AllGold
Not trying to be a jerk but just do a search on OCZ. Larry's comments are here.

Thanks-- I did-- all I'm finding are the same sort of cryptic "OWC is better, OCZ is shady" comments as I'm getting here. Veiled comments about "warranty throttling." No info anywhere to the effect that the "substandard chips" actually result in any performance degradation vis-a-vis OWC's superior chips.

A couple things that would tip the scales:
1) OWC SSDs manufactured in America. True?
2) OWC= 5 year warranty on SSDs per Larry-- still true?

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jdc
For what kind of Mac? That could narrow your choices.

Not to defend OWC, but this seems pretty straightforward: [eshop.macsales.com]

For example, if you have a brand new MBP with a 6G connection, then you probably want to go with a Mercury drive. If you have an older MBP, mini, etc -- then you want to look at the 3G Electra.

It's cool, I figured most responses would be promoting OWC. It's to use as an external boot drive for a 2010 iMac, in a FW 800 case. I'm already clear that I don't want anything more expensive than 3G.

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here's one in a series of blog posts about OCZ from OWC: blog post



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2012 09:35PM by clay.

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clay
here's one in a series of blog posts about OCZ from OWC: [blog.macsales.com]’s-are-created-equal-the-story-continues

Got that, thanks. As mentioned above, is there any evidence that alleged inferior chips result in performance degradation? Would one expect to find the same chips a year later?

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there's really no way to know for sure. I think if you leave chips out of the equation, you're paying extra for OWC SSD's for a higher level of customer/tech support/warranty. All SSD manufacturers have warranties and some level of customer support, you just need to decide what that premium is worth to you.

Oh, and like any drive, be sure to keep a backup of your data. OWC SSD's may be better than the alternative, but they aren't immune to failure.

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clay
I think if you leave chips out of the equation, you're paying extra for OWC SSD's for a higher level of customer/tech support/warranty. All SSD manufacturers have warranties and some level of customer support, you just need to decide what that premium is worth to you.

I prefer OWC SSDs and they are the only SSDs I recommend because they were designed and tested specifically for Macs, but...

As per their policy, OWC will not advance exchange an SSD warranty replacement. Not sure how that compares to others, but I know Corsair offers advance exchange for their SSDs. WD, Seagate, etc. all have an advance exchange for their HDDs.

*paces waiting for his replacement drive to show up via USPS first class mail... No, I didn't mention that I was in a hurry, but still.

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C(-)ris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/2012 09:46PM by C(-)ris.

I was on some sort of Mac forum earlier this year @#$%& research on SSDs and trying to get some help with my issues. I don't remember the details but all sorts of accusations (allegations) were floating around. Almost every SSD had knocks against them.

I went with OWC because I wanted to support this site and not necessarily because their SSD was better. It may be...it may be not.

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IronMac


I went with OWC because I wanted to support this site and not necessarily because their SSD was better. It may be...it may be not.

It is better. The SandForce controller they use is the best performing and most compatible with Macs and the chips are high quality.

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C(-)ris

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C(-)ris
...

*paces waiting for his replacement drive to show up via USPS first class mail... No, I didn't mention that I was in a hurry, but still.

so you had a OWC SSD fail?

co-worker had a Kingston SSD fail in his XP laptop at work just a week ago, after working fine for about 6-8 months

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space-time

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C(-)ris
...

*paces waiting for his replacement drive to show up via USPS first class mail... No, I didn't mention that I was in a hurry, but still.

so you had a OWC SSD fail?

I have had one fail after about a month of regular use.

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C(-)ris

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IronMac


I went with OWC because I wanted to support this site and not necessarily because their SSD was better. It may be...it may be not.

It is better. The SandForce controller they use is the best performing and most compatible with Macs and the chips are high quality.

The linked OCZ boasts:
By leveraging the latest SATA 6Gbps interface and the second generation of SandForce SSD controller (SF-2281),

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See? The same thing is happening here as it did in that other forum.

You will always get people saying this SSD did this and that SSD did that. Frankly, if I had to do it all over again, I would still do the same thing.

While I will not be able to get any sort of warranty support here in SG at least I can get a hold of Larry on here if any problems crop up.

My gut reaction is that they are selling (relatively) smaller SSDs and have a rebate associated with it, so that when you send the UPC in, you cannot return the drive (usually the UPC has to be intact for a return).

Where 60GB-90GB used to be ok for a SSD (when those drives were > $350), a quality 240/256 GB SATA 3 SSD can be purchased for around $300 on sale. If this trend continues, you will see SSDs for 75¢/GB by the end of the year (or around $180 or so delivered).

Seems like a good fit for a netbook.

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john dough
My gut reaction is that they are selling (relatively) smaller SSDs and have a rebate associated with it, so that when you send the UPC in, you cannot return the drive (usually the UPC has to be intact for a return).

Where 60GB-90GB used to be ok for a SSD (when those drives were > $350), a quality 240/256 GB SATA 3 SSD can be purchased for around $300 on sale. If this trend continues, you will see SSDs for 75¢/GB by the end of the year (or around $180 or so delivered).

Seems like a good fit for a netbook.

Well, just like monetary amounts can mean wildly different things to different people (see the guy on the news tonight for having elevators for his cars) this project is worth $80 or $100 to me, but definitely not $300.

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If I were building a netbook or using an ssd for a boot drive for a htpc, then a cheaper ssd is fine.

My experience with a runcore taught me that ssds are still new tech. Data corruption was the issue in my case.

For new tech, support is critical as it's more likely to be needed.

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space-time

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C(-)ris
...

*paces waiting for his replacement drive to show up via USPS first class mail... No, I didn't mention that I was in a hurry, but still.

so you had a OWC SSD fail?

Yep. Had issues with random freezing waking from sleep or hibernation. Didn't lose any data, drive always worked after a restart. I think it was a firmware problem. This is one of the earlier 3G OWC SSDs. There were some firmware updates for the model as well as some specific issues that required mailing the unit in for an update as well.

I've installed dozens of these. Mine was the only one to have problems. But I also bought mine early in the product life. Most of the others have been more recent models.

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C(-)ris

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Black

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C(-)ris

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IronMac


I went with OWC because I wanted to support this site and not necessarily because their SSD was better. It may be...it may be not.

It is better. The SandForce controller they use is the best performing and most compatible with Macs and the chips are high quality.

The linked OCZ boasts:
By leveraging the latest SATA 6Gbps interface and the second generation of SandForce SSD controller (SF-2281),

I could be wrong, but from what I see, that drive does not support TRIM on a hardware level. Which Sandforce controller it uses might make a difference. Larry or someone else from OWC is probably more knowledgeable on the differences.

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C(-)ris

found this via Google:

AnandTech has an article on the reliability and compatibility issues with current SSDs and admits this is unacceptable, even acknowledging that Intel has serious issues. Anandtech has been able to duplicate some of the bugs.

Anand believes the reason for the numerous SSD issues is cost related but I find that a debatable conclusion. I believe that the current rush-to-market and fix it later mentality that Microsoft has perfected is the primary reason for the SSD, mobo and other hardware/software issues. It's extremely profitable to sell half-baked goods at premium prices if there is no penalty for this fraud.

[www.anandtech.com]

lots (and i mean LOTS) more here:
[www.anandtech.com]

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[www.giyf.com]

some reviews on Amazon say OK for Macs, others say avoid.

[www.amazon.com]

firmware 2.15 appears to be the latest & the one you want.

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[www.giyf.com]

I've got a 60G OCZ SSD in my BMB which has been running fine for over a year, I think.

It was a second Gen, I think.

There's been a lot of back and fourth around the web, one about OCZ using second-rate chips, one about one of the manufacturers fudging the capacity spec, and something about OWC not telling the truth about OCZ's SSDs. I saw a comment at the OCZ forum that said something about OWC's allegations being "proven bogus", but I could find what that proof was, and who offered it-- OCZ or somebody independent.

There's just not enough info to go on for me to form any unequivocal conclusions. At this point, I'd get another OCZ when the price is right, or an OWC, again, for the right price.

That newegg deal looks pretty good, considering I paid about $110 or $120 for my 60G. But I won't pay $100 to increase my capacity by 30G. If I needed *another* SSD for something, I'd get one. I'd like to put one in my PB12, but I'm just not up to cracking that thing open.

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You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

-An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

There is no safety for honest men
except by believing all possible evil
of evil men.

Pixels were born to be punished. -Frederick Van Johnson

Mister, that's a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.

I *love* Sigs. It's Glocks I hate.

Without TRIM or a sandforce controller, that SSD is going to lose speed over time.

OCZ clearly used sub-par chips at one time. Not sure if that's still true today.

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sekker
Without TRIM or a sandforce controller, that SSD is going to lose speed over time.

OCZ clearly used sub-par chips at one time. Not sure if that's still true today.

Sekker, I get that you're rooting for an OWC drive, and I'd love to be talked into one with vald info/rational detailed argument, as I already have the enclosure I want sitting in my OWC cart, but I've already responded to one erroneous claim that it doesn't have a Sandforce controller, and I'd be interested to know how you decided definitively that it doesn't have TRIM support.

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Wow - quite a thread....

With the exception of our SSDs for the original 2008 MacBook Air (IDE/ATA) - all of our SSDs are built right here in the USA.

Our Electras have 3 Year Warranty, Extreme Pro 5 year, Enterprise Pro with 7 Year.

We are also the only maker with a Mac friendly firmware updater vs. command line stuff or requirement to have Windows/use Windows updater. Further - we are the only make with SSD Firmware support at all that doesn't require Windows for Sandforce based drives.

Hope that helps. One thing for sure - we are here to support and you can count on us being here to do so.

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OWC Larry
Other World Computing
[www.macsales.com]

OK, so here's what I think I'm going to do.
That 90 GB size is just about right, not so crazy about the 60 vs 120 choice, but if either the 60 or 120 OWC SSDs drop in price by more than $10 in the next 3 days, I'll buy one.

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My whole 10.6.8 system takes half a drive of that size, and since you are installing on an external, you can run a clone on the internal drive for added security.
So I think you should go ahead and buy the OCZ. It's a good deal...
Same $/GB as OWC's 120, and if you buy the 15.00 1yr extended warranty, same $/GB as the 60.
Please keep us posted.

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• back to confinement

Black, I tried to give you my reasons for why the product you listed might be lower in quality/value than top models like OWC.

We are spending a little more for tech support and greater capacity. We may end up moving the drives to other machines, making the higher cost worth it for us.

I've been burned by poor quality ssd, unfortunately.