Mac Mini SSD upgrade

[Shadylane315]

Im looking to buy the OWC 6G SSD by the end of the year. I have a few questions.

1. What is the OWC 240 6G major competition (intel?) and why? Price/Speed/Warranty.

2 can I work on the hard drive I have in my Mac mini server and make a bootable hard drive to copy to the SSD when I'm ready to upgrade?

3: Best Installation guide?

 

[tbayrgs]

Im looking to buy the OWC 6G SSD by the end of the year. I have a few questions.

1. What is the OWC 240 6G major competition (intel?) and why? Price/Speed/Warranty.

2 can I work on the hard drive I have in my Mac mini server and make a bootable hard drive to copy to the SSD when I'm ready to upgrade?

3: Best Installation guide?

1. Can't comment myself as I don't have any experience with other manufacturers. From what I've read here in the forums, both Intel and Samsung seem to be favorably received though I don't think Samsung has a 6 GBps available for sale, just remember reading that they have announced a new model but not yet for retail sale. I'm sure others will be able to chime in with good advice.

2. Sure. Why don't you just clone your existing HDD to the new SSD when you're ready to install. I just installed an OWC Mercury 3G SSD in my older Mini and simply cloned my current HDD to it using a USB external enclosure before I installed it--booted up just fine after the install.

3. iFixit's Dual HDD kit installation guide is probably a good place to start--just stop at the removal of the first HDD as I believe it is the drive containing OS X. You should also check out this thread here in the Mini forum.

 

[ABTsportsline]

Try the Crucial or Plextor versions - they have the same transfer speeds (6Gb/s) and are far less expensive. They have received solid reviews in case you were nervous:

Crucial 240Gb Sata-III $390: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148443

Plextor 256Gb Sata-III $355: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820249011

Corsair 240Gb Sata-III $365 after mail-in rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233182

If you're even more interested in saving money, you could spend less and get a Sata-II solid state drive. The transfer speeds are still as fast as you'd need (to be fair 6Gb/s is overkill) and you'd pay even less money.

OWC is good stuff, but a little on the pricey side.

(edit: as a qualifier I should say I currently run a 256Gb SSD not from OWC and it has been just fine. In fact mine is a Sata-II (not as fast) but I have yet to find anything in my normal Mac use that can transfer faster than my SSD can handle - even when I'm using Handbrake on 720p film rips - so it's probably an unnecessary expense to pay extra for that 6Gb/s FWIW)

 

[handheldgames]

1. Can't comment myself as I don't have any experience with other manufacturers. From what I've read here in the forums, both Intel and Samsung seem to be favorably received though I don't think Samsung has a 6 GBps available for sale, just remember reading that they have announced a new model but not yet for retail sale. I'm sure others will be able to chime in with good advice.

2. Sure. Why don't you just clone your existing HDD to the new SSD when you're ready to install. I just installed an OWC Mercury 3G SSD in my older Mini and simply cloned my current HDD to it using a USB external enclosure before I installed it--booted up just fine after the install.

3. iFixit's Dual HDD kit installation guide is probably a good place to start--just stop at the removal of the first HDD as I believe it is the drive containing OS X. You should also check out this thread here in the Mini forum.

Samsung's 6G SSD retail packs show up in October.