Solid State Drive

[AgnesIO]

Soo I got a really good deal on a Corsair Force Series 3 60GB SSD (SATA III) from Pixmania - 61 quid! Sadly, one week on I emailed the darling company asking why my order was yet to actually be dispatched. "We are sorry, the [copy and paste here] has been discontinued. Would you like a refund?" Well, obviously.

I am now struggling to find a decent deal on an SSD from anywhere, so was wondering if you guys could give me some advice? Where could I get a decent 60gb SSD (heh, or two) - needs to be fairly cheap, say £75 tops?

Looked at Amazon (having Amazon Prime is brilliant), but they don't seem particularly great when it comes to SSD's. Also had a look at overclockers and ebuyer.

Cheers guys.

Oh and on a side note, 8 days until CES 2012!!!

[Oleh]

As somebody who isn't interested in SSD's I haven't a clue what is classed as good. But here's one for £72 (£3 postage)http://www.pixmania.co.uk/uk/uk/5759118/art/Product.html?srcid=369

[xxMATTGxx]

I'm not sure if it's any good but it's under your £75 budget:

http://www.ebuyer.com/280120-ocz-60gb-vertex-plus-ssd-2-5-sata-ii-read-185mb-s-write-oczssd2-1vtxpl60g

[Recursion]

Just remember, there are in fact, **** SSDs.

[Chippiewill]

I'm not surprised it's "discontinued" everywhere else charges £20 more, the one Oleh posted was okish and the one Matt posted is the first in a series of three.. and is also terrible. If you're willing to stump up just £5 more you can get:

http://www.ebuyer.com/284262-corsair-60gb-force-3a-ssd-2-5-sata-iii-6gb-s-read-525mb-s-cssd-f60gb3a-bk - I have the 120GB version of this drive myself and I'm very happy with the performance. It's also just a slightly updated version of the one you stated.

But I'd advise that as soon as you install windows that you:

a) Enable ACHI in bios (Technically you should do this before installing windows)
b) Shift off all caches, everything onto another drive (http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82516)
c) Move your documents folder and pictures etc. onto a different drive before windows starts filling up your 60GB
d) Enable TRIM

If you get the one I suggested:
e) Update the firmware, until very recently there were problems in certain configurations with the Force 3 series causing them to hang every so often due to power issues, it's been resolved but you'll want to flash it before transferring stuff. (http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=100162). This being a "3A" version might mean they've pre-updated the firmware but it's worth checking before you start getting bluescreens every three days.

[N!ck]

If you can stretch, this will be decent. http://www.ebuyer.com/268239-ocz-60gb-agility-3-ssd-2-5-sata-iii-read-525mb-s-write-agt3-25sat3-60g

[Stephen!]

Don't buy anything OCZ as their Sandforce SSD's are plagued with problems.

[Chippiewill]

Most sandforce problems have been fixed nowadays.

[AgnesIO]

I am actually using one for OSX. I can stretch to a bit more, and am selling 3 PS3 Games and a book to make sure I don't use more of my own cash than intended. Stuck between the Corsair and OCZ one haha

[Chippiewill]

I am actually using one for OSX. I can stretch to a bit more, and am selling 3 PS3 Games and a book to make sure I don't use more of my own cash than intended. Stuck between the Corsair and OCZ one haha
Oh, I'd be a bit wary then since most manufacturers do not provide a mac format of firmware updates. I'll look to see what both have in terms of updating with OSX for you.

Here's a link to OSX tweaks:
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93748

Edit: OCZ appears to have a hacky way to use a CD for flashing, I was too lazy to make an account to access the full thing:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?74114-To-all-the-Mac-owners-OS-X-OCZ-SSD-Firmware-upgrade

And corsair have a tool for making bootable usb flash drive which you can put firmware updates on:
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85816

Having a look around it doesn't seem like the corsair one would be much help, if you have a windows computer to use to firmware update then that would work..

[AgnesIO]

Oh, I'd be a bit wary then since most manufacturers do not provide a mac format of firmware updates. I'll look to see what both have in terms of updating with OSX for you.

Here's a link to OSX tweaks:
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93748

Edit: OCZ appears to have a hacky way to use a CD for flashing, I was too lazy to make an account to access the full thing:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?74114-To-all-the-Mac-owners-OS-X-OCZ-SSD-Firmware-upgrade

And corsair have a tool for making bootable usb flash drive which you can put firmware updates on:
http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85816

Having a look around it doesn't seem like the corsair one would be much help, if you have a windows computer to use to firmware update then that would work..

The plan was a dualboot with Windows 7 and OSX. I am planning on using iBoot and Multibeast - so the Windows computer is all sorted - unless of course I get a second (or first if OSX plan fails) for Windows. Heh, hope you get me...

Apologies if discussion of "Hackintosh" isn't allowed - don't go mad at me if it isn't..

[Chippiewill]

Ahh, if you've got windows on there's it's fine. You can just use the normal firmware updating tools. I was worried that it was just a Mac, you'd be pretty screwed there.

[AgnesIO]

Ahh, if you've got windows on there's it's fine. You can just use the normal firmware updating tools. I was worried that it was just a Mac, you'd be pretty screwed there.

Naa

Basically I am getting on well with Objective-C, but would like to use XCode. Sadly, as a student spending £500 on a Mac (the cheapest option) is not realistic at the moment. I will eventually move on, but I like a bit of fun and you know :)