The current conventional logic with solid state drives goes as follows: they're new, they're cool, they're speedy, and they're expensive — but once you go SSD, it's incredibly hard to go back. This theory is fully proven with OCZ's new Vector solid state drive, the 256GB variant having occupied my mid-2011 MacBook Pro for a few weeks now and making me dread the day I have to send the review unit back.
To begin, OCZ went back to the drawing board and got the Vector's underlying design completely right. Abandoning the SSD industry's popular-but-much-maligned SandForce 3 controller, OCZ purchased South Korean solid-state drive controller Indilinx and built the Vector's current Barefoot 3 controller in-house and from the ground up.
The results speak for themselves. During benchmark testing, the Vector showed steady read speeds of 390.5MBps, steady write speeds of 488.8MBps and boot and shutdown times of 14.8 and 21.5 seconds, respectively. In terms of day-to-day use and functions, my MacBook Pro is speedy and responsive with otherwise-heady applications such as Microsoft Word, iMovie, and Left 4 Dead 2 opening within just a few seconds, as opposed to requiring the better part of a minute to load from my MacBook Pro's original hard drive.
From an upgrader's perspective, the process of cloning your current data over to a Vector drive and installing the unit is fairly simple, but not perfect. The Vector can't be seen, recognized, or formatted via an external drive carrier straight out of the box. It needs to be installed directly into your Apple notebook or desktop (iMacs and Mac minis use 2.5-inch drives like this, and OCZ includes a 3.5-inch drive mounting bracket and screws for use with a Mac Pro) and recognized on the internal SATA chain. Then you boot your Mac to OS X Recovery by holding down Command-R (this comes with all Macs that shipped with OS X 10.7 or later), and install OS X — this is Internet Recovery, so you'll need to connect via Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Now you can boot normally, use an external enclosure to connect your old HDD, and migrate your data over with Migration Assistant (or just restore your data from a Time Machine backup).
The Vector has been cited as being at the higher end of power consumption among SSD drives currently on the market. While this may be true, the unit still paces itself well, with my MacBook Pro becoming only moderately (but not uncomfortably) warm while running under battery power, and running cooler when plugged in. It's not a lap-roaster, and that makes a difference.
The bottom line. OCZ has built something terrific in-house and from the ground up with the Vector drive. If there was ever a new component that made you feel as if you had a brand-new Mac, this is it.
SATA-equipped Intel-based Mac, 6 GB/s support for maximum performance, OS X
Terrific performance, 5-year warranty, just about the perfect upgrade for anyone looking to make their SATA-equipped Mac's hard drive fly.
Somewhat power intensive, drive will have to be mounted internally inside your Mac to be formatted before data can be cloned over to it, great performance still comes at a premium for a 256 gigabyte drive.
