Recommend SSD

[redhouse]

Could someone tell me what's the best/most reliable 480/500/512GB SSD for $150 and below? I don't mind if it's local, or from Amazon/Qoo10 etc. I am using Plextor m5pro 128gb, space getting too low. Currently looking at Crucial MX500, but hoping to get more insight.

 

[orlengtao]

Most reliable should be Samsung 860 or Intel SSD liao, but don't think it can hit your $150 budget.
I will suggest SanDisk ultra 3d that is selling at 89usd in Amazon

 

[singupingu]

Reliability is depending on your luck really. You can buy a Samsung and spoil, but buy a cheapass WD Green and last through your life.

Crucial MX500 matches the performance of Samsung 860 Evo, so that's pretty good.

Sent from OnePlus ONEPLUS A3003 using GAGT

 

[Ark Law]

860 Evo. Always foolproof cloning with Samsung.

 

[redhouse]

Thanks all. I will buy the 860 evo locally online. It costs a bit more than $150, but the 5 year warranty might be worth it.

 

[commach]

860 Evo. Always foolproof cloning with Samsung.

One of my friend recently bought a 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD to clone his Yoga 510 laptop running Windows10 Home. I wasn't the one doing the cloning and I've never use Samsung software for cloning, either Acronis or Clonezilla, never encounter any problem this far. He (trying to learn drive cloning) told me, the recovery partition wasn't clone to the EVO 860 SSD, only the C system drive.

True or user problem?

 

[watzup_ken]

One of my friend recently bought a 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD to clone his Yoga 510 laptop running Windows10 Home. I wasn't the one doing the cloning and I've never use Samsung software for cloning, either Acronis or Clonezilla, never encounter any problem this far. He (trying to learn drive cloning) told me, the recovery partition wasn't clone to the EVO 860 SSD, only the C system drive.

True or user problem?

This is a true problem. I've used a few of these cloning software. Because they clone from Windows, they have a tendency to only clone a mapped drive, i.e. C:. Which means those 100mb and another partition set aside during Win 10 installation is not cloned over. As a result, the cloned drive is unstable. In both cases, I just did a clean format and reinstall instead.

I also just noticed the same problem with the free cloning software provided by Samsung on their website. When asked about the source disk to the target disk, I only see C:.

 

[watzup_ken]

My recommendation to TS is to check between Crucial MX500 and Samsung 860 Evo. Whichever is cheaper, just go for it. Both performs very closely and are good drives.

 

[commach]

This is a true problem. I've used a few of these cloning software. Because they clone from Windows, they have a tendency to only clone a mapped drive, i.e. C:. Which means those 100mb and another partition set aside during Win 10 installation is not cloned over. As a result, the cloned drive is unstable. In both cases, I just did a clean format and reinstall instead.

I also just noticed the same problem with the free cloning software provided by Samsung on their website. When asked about the source disk to the target disk, I only see C:.

Hi, thanks for the confirmation. I know what to do when he visit me on Monday.

Weird, I never encounter such problem cloning HDD to HDD/SSD using Acronis or Clonezilla be it desktop or laptop. Whatever partitions in the source drive will be clone over to the destination drive and boot up perfectly after swapping the drive.

 

[watzup_ken]

Hi, thanks for the confirmation. I know what to do when he visit me on Monday.

Weird, I never encounter such problem cloning HDD to HDD/SSD using Acronis or Clonezilla be it desktop or laptop. Whatever partitions in the source drive will be clone over to the destination drive and boot up perfectly after swapping the drive.

That was my assumption as well. I did not suspect anything at the start, but the cloned partition always appears unstable and so I went to investigate.

In the end when it comes to cloning from 2.5 to 2.5 inch drives, I use my hard disk dock to clone.

 

[commach]

That was my assumption as well. I did not suspect anything at the start, but the cloned partition always appears unstable and so I went to investigate.

In the end when it comes to cloning from 2.5 to 2.5 inch drives, I use my hard disk dock to clone.

I got a BNIB (given FOC) dock too, but never need to use it for cloning, Usually I put the SSD into a 2.5" USB3.0 external enclosure for cloning on both desktop and laptop.

I know the dock is handy but don't really want to use this bulky dock compared to the USB enclosure. For people regularly perform cloning, the dock is god send. For non regular like me, I need to properly cover the dock to avoid dusts on the contact points, kinda troublesome.

 

[haylui]

Hi, thanks for the confirmation. I know what to do when he visit me on Monday.

Weird, I never encounter such problem cloning HDD to HDD/SSD using Acronis or Clonezilla be it desktop or laptop. Whatever partitions in the source drive will be clone over to the destination drive and boot up perfectly after swapping the drive.

my experience align with yours.

Recovering HDD with Acronis over 30 times with various spec PC also never encounter any problem.

 

[commach]

my experience align with yours.

Recovering HDD with Acronis over 30 times with various spec PC also never encounter any problem.

Thanks for the confirmation, I guess the Samsung software is not an ideal choice for cloning operation.

 

[letmeout]

One of my friend recently bought a 1TB Samsung EVO 860 SSD to clone his Yoga 510 laptop running Windows10 Home. I wasn't the one doing the cloning and I've never use Samsung software for cloning, either Acronis or Clonezilla, never encounter any problem this far. He (trying to learn drive cloning) told me, the recovery partition wasn't clone to the EVO 860 SSD, only the C system drive.

True or user problem?

I also couldn’t clone the recovery partition in a Lenovo laptop using Acronis. But Easeus worked.

 

[Ark Law]

This is a true problem. I've used a few of these cloning software. Because they clone from Windows, they have a tendency to only clone a mapped drive, i.e. C:. Which means those 100mb and another partition set aside during Win 10 installation is not cloned over. As a result, the cloned drive is unstable. In both cases, I just did a clean format and reinstall instead.

I also just noticed the same problem with the free cloning software provided by Samsung on their website. When asked about the source disk to the target disk, I only see C:.

Interesting, I've never cared/noticed about my recovery partitions when cloning. Will need to take note for those not-my-disk times.

 

[commach]

I also couldn’t clone the recovery partition in a Lenovo laptop using Acronis. But Easeus worked.

Weird, Acronis True Image is relatively easy and straight forward. All you need to do is choose the source and destination drive, all existing partitions on the source drive will be clone over to the destination drive. I use custom setting only when I want to change the ratio/proportion of the partition in the destination drive, the default/auto setting works for me flawlessly.

 

[commach]

Interesting, I've never cared/noticed about my recovery partitions when cloning. Will need to take note for those not-my-disk times.

I got it, I missed one important point from watzup_ken's post. I always perform cloning using bootable USB flashdrive or internal/external optical drive. Never do it in Windows GUI because I do not want Acronis to be present in the destination drive.

 

[eric3743]

Interesting, I've never cared/noticed about my recovery partitions when cloning. Will need to take note for those not-my-disk times.

Samsung cloning limitation is it do not support OEM recovery partitions.

It is stated in > Samsung SSD Data Migration User Manual

5. The OEM Recovery partition created by the computer manufacturer as a factory setting will not be cloned. However, it will be automatically cloned if the manufacturer is Samsung and SRS ...

Anyway i never use this Samsung cloning software.

FYI.

 

[redhouse]

Thanks for the heads up. When you guys talk about the recovery partition, you mean the partition that usually comes with pre-built PCs right? Where you can restore your Windows from if anything happens. If so, I don't have it. Do you guys know if Windows System Image backup is good enough tool to "clone"? I am thinking of just using that, then booting to Windows recovery using USB stick, and restore my Windows.

 

[Koenig168]

Do you guys know if Windows System Image backup is good enough tool to "clone"? I am thinking of just using that, then booting to Windows recovery using USB stick, and restore my Windows.

It works well enough. I image my C: drive regularly and have restored from system images before without problem.