SSD Upgrade Takeaways

I recently installed a dual drive setup in my 15” MacBook Pro. Between the dropping ssd prices and my warranty being up, I couldn’t resist. While there are a ton of great guides out there, here are the two I relied on:
Maclife for the hardware considerations
Matt Gemmell for data location

I’m overly cautious with this kind of thing, so not only did I back everything up before I started (Time Machine and Superduper!), but I also bought a new hd so I could leave my old drive untouched, if I wanted to revert.

Here are my takeaways from the whole process:

Buy an Optibay

I didn’t do this, and I regretted it immediately. I thought I would save a couple bucks by getting a cheapie on Amazon, but the fit and finish was sub par. This is not something you want to skimp on. The Optibay has great reviews, and it comes with a free enclosure for your superdrive.

Go with a fresh install

There is some debate on whether you should clone or go with a new installation. I went new installation because it gave me a chance to clean house. I also figured that it was the safest route. I don’t see any disadvantages of doing a fresh install (other than time), while there seem to be some theoretical problems with cloning.

Buy a Reliable SSD

SSD failure rates are high in comparison to hard drives, get one with a good reputation and/or warranty. Seriously. Also, go SATA 3. Tom’s hardware has an updated list of their recommended drives. I went with a Plextor 128 gb drive. It has a 5 year warranty.

So far, it has been awesome. It really feels like a new computer. Following Gemmell’s advice, I moved my larger folders over to the hd. I got my ssd installation down to 70gb, but I could easily reduce that down to about 45. Every little thing is faster, from the responsiveness of the trackpad to the opening of windows. I wish I would have done it sooner.