I was doing some research on SSD drives and found the outstanding article.  It answers almost any questions you might have on how they work, why are some faster than others, why they get slower as they are used more, how to restore them to full performance, how long they will last, etc.  Read the "anthology" first, and then the update.  You'll feel like the foremost expert and be ready to buy one after you read.

 

http://anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3631&p=1

 

Enjoy!

Very good articles, thank you for bringing them to my attention.  I had a slow day at work today and paced my way through them both.  If you actually care about how SSDs work and why some suck and some don't, read the articles.  For those of you who don't care how they work and just want to get the best SSD you can, here's a summary:

 

If you want the best and fastest SSD on the market and you are willing to pay out the nose for it, you want the Intel X25-E.

 

If you want the next best thing at a somewhat more reasonable price, you want the Intel X25-M G2.  This SSD also has the advantage of being the most forward-thinking, as it will support TRIM whenever it eventually comes out.  TRIM basically means that the drive will age gracefully, and won't slow down over time as all the others will.  Unfortunately, only Windows 7 and certain flavors of Linux support TRIM.

 

If you want the best of the entry-level/economy models of SSDs you will want an OCZ Vertex.  Note: You do NOT want the OCZ Vertex Turbo, it is not worth the extra cost.  Go for the standard Vertex.

 

If you want the cheapest possible SSD without compromising quality you want an OCZ Agility.  Note that these SSDs are currently the same price as the Vertex, so you may as well get the higher-performing Vertex.  I'm only including them because I expect they are more likely to go on sale at some point.

 

The above recommendations are based on the quality and speed of the drive, not based on capacity.  I figure that most of us would only use an SSD as a boot/OS/application drive, since we store all of our weighty data on our unRAID servers, so the capacity really wouldn't be all that critical.

 

Concluding his article, Anand provides the following chart.  His final recommendation is to buy the drive that suits your storage needs:

 

                          Price   Cost per GB

OCZ Vertex 64GB $219.99 $3.437

Intel X25-M 80GB $279.99 $3.500

OCZ Vertex 128GB $369.00 $2.883

Intel X25-M 160GB $499.99 $3.125

OCZ Vertex 256GB $725.00 $2.832

 

After reading these articles, I really want an SSD to plop into my laptop.  Given my needs (just enough capacity for OS and apps, plus maximum on bang-for-buck ratio), I'm considering these three SSDs:

Intel X25-M G2 - 80 GBs for $289.95 (only if I really want to splurge)

OCZ Vertex - 30 GBs for $134.99, $104.99 after rebate (this is one I could actually afford today, though I'm hesitant that 30 GBs may not be enough even for my spartan needs)

OCZ Vertex - 60 GBs for $239.00, $209.00 after rebate (same drive as above, just double the capacity, same bang-for-buck ratio)

...and maybe an OCZ Agility if they happen to go on sale.

 

One final tidbit from the article: even if you have a Mac, do not buy one of the 'apple' versions of any of these SSDs.  They are simply rebranded and more expensive.

Stick with the Ocz Vertex and upgrade the firmware to 1.41... it includes idle garbage collection that keeps performance in tip-top shape.

The OCZ Vertex is definitely the forerunner in my mind.  However, the article seemed to indicate that the idle garbage collection may decrease the lifespan of the drive.  Comments?

With typical use, the drive will be obsolete to you long before it wears out.  Plus utilities like CrystalDiskInfo will show the exact remaining life in cell writes.... so you know exactly when to replace it (unlike rotating media!)

Sweet, good to know, thanks!

With typical use, the drive will be obsolete to you long before it wears out.  Plus utilities like CrystalDiskInfo will show the exact remaining life in cell writes.... so you know exactly when to replace it (unlike rotating media!)

 

Dude, thanks for the info, I didn't know a tool like CrystalDiskInfo existed.

I'm Just starting to swap out some of my rotating media to SSD's over the last few weeks.

What about the Intel 40gb for $130??

Intel X25-V SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

Looks decent, but I'm not sure the extra 10 GBs is worth paying another $25.  If the 30 GB Vertex didn't have the rebate, then this would certainly be the better deal.

 

Looks like I was right about the Agility going on sale, and looks like I missed the boat

OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $129.00 after rebate

The OCZ Agility 30GB (plus a free 8 GB SD card) is currently on sale for $99 after MIR.  I think I'm going for it.

 

Also, if you need more space, there's also an Intel 80 GB drive with adapter kit on sale for $189.99.

Gah, kicking myself!  The day after I buy the 30 GB OCZ Agility, this goes on sale:

 

OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $129.00 after MIR

 

Edit: Looks like its out of stock already...oh well.

Gah, kicking myself!  The day after I buy the 30 GB OCZ Agility, this goes on sale:

 

OCZ Agility Series OCZSSD2-1AGT60G 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - $129.00 after MIR

 

Edit: Looks like its out of stock already...oh well.

I went to buy one and it was out of stock.

Bummer, just bought an intel 40GB from zipzoomfly for $125 yesterday.

Oh well with rebate it comes to $109.

 

BTW, The Scythe slot rafter makes a great inconspicuous mounting for these drives.

Might be good for a cache drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817984008