Originally Posted by confoosious I missed out on a super cheap 120GB kingston SSDNow and HyperX on staples but might just suck it up and get the 90 GB for $65. Throw in some filler and user a $25 off $75. Staples is sneakily a great place for tech deals. If all I'm using it for is Windows 7 + office install + random spreadsheets, I should be fine. I figure windows + office is 10GB at most?

My personal preference would be non-Sandforce drives, as there's been a history of issues with drives that use Sandforce controllers with data corruption. For the most part, it's been resolved with most vendors, though I wouldn't touch one with a 10 foot pole.

Crucial m4 uses a Crucial-modified Marvell controller and the Samsung uses their own in-house controller.

Windows 7 + Office 2010 + swap file + other bits would be in excess of 10GB. I personally wouldn't want a drive smaller than 64GB for any reason, especially in this case. 120GB/128GB would be good options to choose from for long-term use. 64GB would suffice, yes, though in between 64GB and 120GB would be better options.

Plextor M5S 128GB drive @ $80 after rebate:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...srkey=P67-7022

It's a good solid drive using a modified Marvell controller. $50 instant rebate, $10 mail-in rebate, free shipping.

hmmm thanks. I use both a crucial m4 and a samsung 830 for my "real" computers.

I figured I could cheap out on this one. Maybe I'll wait for a crucial sale and check out that plextor.

It's your money on working to an SSD upgrade, though if I was in your shoes and looking for an SSD on the cheap, I'd get that Plextor for its price. Beyond that, there's numerous options around that price, including m4 and PM830s around the $100 mark.

Originally Posted by confoosious hmmm thanks. I use both a crucial m4 and a samsung 830 for my "real" computers. I figured I could cheap out on this one. Maybe I'll wait for a crucial sale and check out that plextor.

I agree with Strike. I had an OCZ w/ Sandforce & my Access & Excel files became corrupted. Railroad tracks were everywhere #######. I always backup my files so it was merely a nuisance, but it is a nuisance you can avoid. I, like you, utilize very large files (up to 40 - 50K line items (rows)). I have had no problems with the Crucial M4 that replaced the faulty OCZ. The Crucial is fast and reliable. In my dedicated work system I use W7 64 bit with an i5 & 16 GB of RAM.

I presume using Apple's Numbers program isn't an option?

Never even tried Numbers but doubt it'd suffice. Plus, I'm too much of an excel expert to try to learn Numbers.

Btw, Office Max is damn fast. Ordered my laptop yesterday, arrived this morning.

ok pc folks, need a little help and I don't feel like registering for a pc forum.

I took off a boatload of bloatware and my windows installation is still 42GB. (including office)

Now, there's also a Lenovo Recovery volume. If I want to install a SSD into the laptop, do I care about that recovery volume? What does it do? I thought perhaps it was just to restore everything to factory specifications.



2nd Q: How does Windows 7's built in backup work? Does it clone the entire OS + files or does it just backup files incrementally like time machine?

And if so, say I put in a 128GB SSD Could I just clone it to an external hard drive as a backup solution? Or actually back to the original HDD in an enclosure?

I don't have any recovery disks of course.

thanks

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anyone?

Recovery volume is needed to restore everything to factory specs, yes.

You could clone the internal HDD to a SSD, though sometimes Windows gets funny with doing it that way. I'm surprised you don't have recovery discs included in the system via a creation utility. They're not normally packed in the box these days, though you have to be able to make them on the system with an installed utility.

I think there's a utility included.

How would you do the SSD install if not by cloning? (I am assuming by your response that I don't need the recovery volume on my SSD?)

I realize I'm late to this thread but did you try open office on the mac? The last time I used it, it reminded me more of Excel 2003 plus it's a free program. I don't use excel all the time (except for my own simple bullshit) so it could be gimped for all I know but just thought it might be another way to not have to use a separate PC just for excel.

Unfortunately I really need the bells and whistles of excel.

I've already purchased a laptop and a copy of office 2010 so it's too late now. Thanks though.

Originally Posted by confoosious I think there's a utility included. How would you do the SSD install if not by cloning? (I am assuming by your response that I don't need the recovery volume on my SSD?)

I'd do what I did with my Envy 17, make my recovery disks and do a restore on the SSD. You'd have to use the utility to make the recovery media, probably will need 3-5 DVDs to make them.

Also, Amazon has both the Plextor M5S 128GB and Samsung PM830 128GB SSDs both on sale for around $90 each. Plextor is on sale until the 7th, PM830 is on sale until the 13th.

NewEgg.com has the Crucial M4 128GB on sale for $99.99 until Monday.

ok just created some recovery discs. It took 5 DVDs.

So are these 5 discs the default for the system or does it include my documents?

If it's the former, how do I move my docs to the new ssd?

If it's the latter, what if I create new documents in the time it takes me to get a new SSD, do I have to create recovery dvds again?

Originally Posted by confoosious ok just created some recovery discs. It took 5 DVDs. So are these 5 discs the default for the system or does it include my documents? If it's the former, how do I move my docs to the new ssd? If it's the latter, what if I create new documents in the time it takes me to get a new SSD, do I have to create recovery dvds again?

The recovery DVDs would be to reinstall the software that was on your system out of the box. It wouldn't do anything for documents or added software.

I would back up the documents with a USB flash drive when you have your SSD, install the SSD, restore from the DVDs to the SSD and then reinstall your apps and restore your documents.

Regarding getting rid of the bloatware.

Why not download an OEM Win 7 install disc image, burn it, and reload a fresh copy of Win 7 without all of the extra crap to the SSD. All you'd have to do beyond that is get any drivers you might need from the Lenevo website. The OEM disc images will take any Win 7 key (I have one I use for personal use and for computer repair side-work I do outside of my day job)