$120-$150 SSD Recommendation?

[julian tempest]

Hey all,

So I just got my first SSD, the Vertex Plus, and before I've even hooked the thing up, I've already learned how substandard it is. It apparently just barely bests SATA 1 standards. For $90/$120, that seems like a waste if I can get a ~500MB/s SSD for $120-$150-ish. So I'm going to throw it on eBay, looks like I can get $120 back easy.

In a quick scan, I've found the following deals posted over the last 3 days;

240GB OCZ Agility 3, $250 plus $30 gift card
120GB Corsair Force Series GT, $135
120GB OCZ Agility 3, $113
128GB Crucial M4, $152
128GB Plextor M3, $150

So, since I know little about SSDs beyond being able to look at "advertised spec prices", I'd like to ask all of you what your choice would be between these (or other) SSDs. I have only SATAII slots available, but I wouldn't mind being able to move this drive to a SATAIII slot when I get around to upgrading computers.

The Crucial M4 seems to be well spoken of on this board, but the 5-year warranty on the Plextor, or the 250GB of space on the OCZ Agility 3 make them tempting.

I don't mind waiting a few weeks to two months waiting on a good deal, since I've been using my ASUS G51JX-X2 anyway.

So, what would you suggest?

Thanks in advance!

Luke

 

[armandomtnz]

Ive been hunting for 128gb ssd think crucial m4 is the best and best price check
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI
if i where you i would go crucial then raid it if necesary when more cash goes your way

 

[LordConrad]

I would go for the m4. If you need more space, the Agility 3 is a good deal.

if you're considering switching to a RAID setup at some point in the future, keep this in mind... Never put drives in a RAID 0 setup unless it's strictly for temporary storage, or you have a very strict backup strategy, because all of your data is lost if just one drive goes bad.

 

[julian tempest]

Never put drives in a RAID 0 setup...because all of your data is lost if just one drive goes bad.

Yeah, I'm aware that RAID 0 really isn't RAID, it's just striping.

 

[tomatthe]

I would remove anything Corsair makes in the SSD market from your consideration. That's obviously just a personal opinion, but I've had 3 120g force 3, and 1 256g performance 3 drives all of which did not work reliably with my system. Their forums are covered with post of people having issues, which may be the case with the other brands as well, but I've just had a particularly horrible experience in dealing with them. The 256g drive died 3 months in, and was replaced with a refurb which pretty much sealed the deal of me never considering them again.

 

[julian tempest]

I would remove anything Corsair makes in the SSD market from your consideration. I've had 3 120g force 3, and 1 256g performance 3 drives all of which did not work reliably...The 256g drive died 3 months in, and was replaced with a refurb...

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely keep that in mind.

 

[julian tempest]

Best answer selected by julian tempest.