Howdo,
Now that Tracktion is back in action, , i've decided to look at installing the new version (4) on my existing Sony Vaio.
It's a Core i5 M480 WITH 4gb RAM. Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit.
I've just got myself a Belkin (TI) 2 port Firewire Expresscard today, so i can use this with my Yamama N12 mixer and SSL Duende.

My HD is a Hitachi 5400rpm and i'd like to look in to getting an SSD and run it from the eSATA/ usb port on the Vaio.
My question is what do i need to put on the SSD to get the benefit of faster read/write speeds?
IE Audio or Programmes or the whole OS?

I'm a bit reluctant to go the whole hog and swap the main HD out for a SSD as the storage is much smaller for the money.
It seems that i will get a benefit if i use the esata port over a standard USB.
Should i buy an internal SSD and buy an enclosure for it?
What's to stop me just buying an internal drive and using an adapter cable from the SSD to the esata port? Is it a powering issue?
Or do i have to face the music and swap the drive out for best effect?
If this goes well, i've sourced an 8GB RAM upgrade kit from Crucial for £45.
Think i'll have a fairly smokin little set up there when its done. For not a lot of extra cash.

Any thoughts on this?
Cheers.

Edited by shindigger (15/02/13 08:46 PM)

Swap out your main system drive I.e. OS and programs, for the SSD. Put your old Hitachi drive in the external enclosure, not the SSD. That way you get the speed of SSD inside your laptop where it will do the most good, plus the storage capacity outwith it. If you can install plug-ins and samples on the SSD, so much the better.

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

Great suggestion.
That's what i'll do.
Thanks for that.

What would you recommend for the SSD?
I'm prepared to go to 256GB.
Read good reviews of the Samsung 830.
Is the migration software reliable?
Also, my Vaio is Sata 2 will a Sata 3 SSD work ok, just slower?

Sorry to hammer back with a load more Qs.


Edited by shindigger (15/02/13 09:13 PM)

Quote shindigger:

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Great suggestion.
That's what i'll do.
Thanks for that.

What would you recommend for the SSD?
I'm prepared to go to 256GB.
Read good reviews of the Samsung 830.
Is the migration software reliable?

Sorry to hammer back with a load more Qs.

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By all means get Samsung. I've got OCZ drives in both my PCs and have had no problems, but I've heard it said round these parts that they are less reliable.

I've had great results using this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/OCZ-OCZSSDUPGDKIT1-Solid-State-Upgra...

Migration software worked brilliantly and was very straightforward. After migrating, enclosure can then be used to hold your Hitachi drive.

SATA 3 drives will work just fine on a SATA 2 connection. But you might find you can buy a SATA 2 drive a fair bit cheaper... And you won't lose any performance, given that your connection is only SATA 2.

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

Great info.
Much appreciated.
Thanks again.
The path is clear.

Just an option for you, don't know how much you were planning on spending, but here is 240gb for a whisker over £100

http://www.aria.co.uk/SuperSpecials/Other+products/240GB+OCZ+Vertex+Plus+2 .5"+SATA+3GB%2Fs+%28SATA-II%29+Solid+State+Drive+?productId=53637

They also sell the upgrade kit

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Storage/SSDs/SSD+Accessories/OCZ+Solid+State+Drive+Upgrad e+Kit+?productId=50380

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

Thanks for that. Missed the deal.
The OCZ migration kit would work for any SSD i presume?

I'm interested in opinions as to OCZ SSDs now, as I know they've had reliability issues in the past. Personally I like Crucial and Intel SSDs, though they are more expensive. I have an OCZ drive in my main rig though, and it's been fine so far, but I tend to make regular backups anyway so if it did fail I'd just replace it and restore from backup.

Quote shindigger:

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Thanks for that. Missed the deal.
The OCZ migration kit would work for any SSD i presume?

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It's still on! Just have a look at the super specials page on www.aria.co.uk

Yes, the ocz migration kit will work for any brand of SSD

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Battle flags are flown at the feet of a garden gnome.

Ok i'll have another look.
The link to the drive was a 404. But i'll have a dig around.
Cheers,again.

Just to update. I bought this which is on offer until tomorrow.
Seemed like a decent price.

Will defo be getting hold of the OCZ migration kit though.
The case for my existing drive is worth the admission on its own.


http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/crucial-m4-256gb-133-crucial...


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140893719316?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX...

Thanks Richard for your input. Much appreciated.

Edited by shindigger (18/02/13 07:17 PM)