SATA to SSD

Hello,

I'm using 17" MBP with the default hard disk 500G 5400 rpm SATA and i would like in order to secure my system from defecting hard drives, etc to get a SSD 500G. The Apple Store said they can clone the entire hard drive to the new hard disk and i should not install anything more afterwards. And the entire process will take 2 days. Everything is working flawlessly, and i don't really want to mess it up. Library is over 5000 tracks, all X1s are controlled perfectly, Maschine via Ableton as well, etc.

The question is, is this really possible? If someone here has done it, am i facing something else besides the mentioned above? Thoughts?

Thanks

 

It's definitely possible to clone your hdd to a ssd and not have to install anything. Why not add the ssd in place of your optical drive and do the clone? Once you're done with the cloning you can boot to either drive that way you have a backup. If booting to ssd works with no problems then you can erase the OS and other files from the hdd and use it for extra storage.

Just a thought...

 

Your ideas sounds reasonable. However, i cannot open the macbook by myself, and i won't have a lot of time to jingle around with it. The Apple Store said they will order one SSD and it will take 1 day to arrive and then 1 day to clone, swap and test if all works fine. But, they are not truly aware what's going on with this laptop, cause ... let's put it this way ... they're not NI experienced

The dual boot option sounds also as a good plan, although i think i may turn the old hard drive into a dedicated Time Machine backup. Thank you for your input.

Let's see who else knows something more.

 

Just bear in mind that SSDs do have a limited life span. Also, a 500Gb SSD will cost a fortune. If you can afford it, then that doesnt matter, but the fairly limited lifespan in comparison to a regular mechanical HDD is worth bearing in mind.

 

Cloning the HDD so SSD is very easy. I have done it myself on my HP laptop. But if you can't open your MBP then you have no choice but to take it to the Apple store and let them do it for you.

I managed to clone mine and it only took me less than 2 hours to do it. SSD is the way to go.

 

Can you explain what do you mean by "life span"?
I thought SSDs are the most reliable hard drives out there.

 

Some SSD has 1,200,000 (50,000 days) hours up to 2,000,000 (83,333 days) hours lifespan so that is not really an issue. You can get a Crucial M4 256GB SSD for around $350-$450.

And in my opinion it's worth paying that much for the improvements you get using SSD.

PS
SSD can range from 2 to 3 years warranty so it's not a big deal.

 

For Windows 7 users, you may find this article helpful regarding SSD optimization...

http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-...ned-for-optimal-solid-state-drive-performance

 

I´ve done a timemachine when switching to SSD on my macbook.
since then I have problems with the Audio In/Outputsettings in Traktor, everytime I plug the TA10 in, they change to mainoutputs and I have to load settings to get the thing right..

Didn´t try to reinstall Traktor yet tho, only the drivers.

Just saying, it could aswell become a bit messy!

 

Hmm.. this is why i asked the Apple Store if they can clone the original hard drive to the ssd..

 

SSD it is..

 

I don't think this problem was caused by changing your system disk.

Technical Issue thread here.

 

This could be worth a read:
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/blogs/back-office-10012454/are-ssds-all-theyre-cracked-up-to-be-10024981/

 

He mentioned Patriot SSD (which is a crap unit). The Crucial M4 is the most reliable SSD.

EDIT:

as for the other brands listed further down on that blog:

they are older models and newer and better models have replaced them.

 

haha, what?
Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD, failed after 15 days
hopefully they all crashed within warranty periode

I have been using a hybrid hdd in my traktor system for more than a year now
Seagate Momentus XT 500gb 7200rpm with 4gb ssd
once in a while I have found my music files corrupted and had to recopy from backup
3 weeks ago I found out it was possible to update hdd firmware which I did. I hope the disk is fixed now as I like the fast trackload time in traktor

 

Hybrid HDD is not exactly SSD though.