Question 1

If i plan to put this ssd in a desktop? well first, can I put this in a desktop? And can i use the sata 6 ports on my motherboard with this drive?
Thanks

-Nick

Accepted Answer

You can install the 840 Evo in a desktop, it is a standard SSD.   You will need the bracket adapters for it, or make some out of erector set parts.

sata 6 capability is entirely dependent upon the motherboard, if you are unsure, check your manual to determine if you have sata 6 ports and if they will reduce to the sata 3 speed of this SSD.  You can also test the sata 6 ports with a standard sata 3 hard drive before you purchase.

Question 2

I have a 750GB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s Primary Hard drive in my Digital Storm Model 9170 LAPTOP Computer and want to change it
over to a 500GB Solid State Samsung 840 EVO -  Is the above model MZ-7TE500LW the one I would order? or is there a better one to use?

Accepted Answer

I replaced my 500GB 7200 RPM drive in my laptop with this drive and I love it.  It used to take about 7 minutes to boot up, log on and open Outlook and now I do all of that in less than a minute.  It is like I have a new computer.  However, you have a larger drive than the one you want to buy, so I don't know how the data transfer will work.

Question 3

Will this work with my last 2011 Macbook Pro 13"?

Accepted Answer

Yes this drive will work no problem on your Macbook. I installed this on my 2010 MBP 13" & it works flawlessly. The increased speed is noticeable right away. The migration software is for Windows only so you'll have boot into restore mode & clone the drive from time machine or do a fresh install.

Question 4

Does this weigh less than the standard hard drive that is already in the notebook?

Accepted Answer

Short answer: Yes. Long Answer: I weighed the Samsung EVO at 52.3g (1.84 oz). The Hitachi 500GB HDD that came with my laptop weighs 109.1g (3.51 oz). So, the EVO SSD weighs about half the HDD. For grins I weighed  a SanDisk Ultra Plus 256GB SSD and an old Fujitsu 60GB HDD from an old Dell laptop. The SanDisk SSD weighs 37.1g (1.31 oz) and the Fujitsu 99.4g (3.51 oz).

Question 5

How do I determine if this drive is compatible with my laptop?  I have a mid 2010 MacBook Pro.

Accepted Answer

I can't link to an external page, but Google "everymac", select the MacbookPro, Mid-2010 year, scroll down to "Standard Hard Drive" heading and under "Details" click "How do you upgrade the hard drive"

Basically, it should work just fine.  This drive may be overkill if you only have the SATAII interface and not the SATAIII interface.  This drive can only operate at ~75% of it's fastest speed on a SATAII interface.  3000mbps/8MB(convert bits to bytes)=375MB/sec maximum bus speed.  375MB/520MB sequential write=72.1%; 375MB/540 sequential read=69.4%; If you have SATAII, you could go with a less expensive drive.  If you have SATAIII, enjoy!

Question 6

What is a SATA interface?

Accepted Answer

Looking up SATA on Wikipedia found the following:

"Serial ATA (SATA) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to mass storage devices such as hard disk drives and optical drives. Serial ATA replaces the older AT Attachment standard (later referred to as Parallel ATA or PATA), offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (seven conductors instead of 40 or 80), native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signalling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing protocol."

The short is SATA is the way a modern hard drive connect to transfer information in and out of the computer process.  There are, I think three different SATA speed formats, and this drive operates at the highest current level (6 Gig-a-bits per second).

If you have an older laptop that uses say SATA 1.0 or 2.0, and not 3.0 you may have to change a pin setting on a the drive for the mother board/BIOS to see the drive.  None-the-less, new wine can most often work in the old wine skin, but may need a tweak.

Question 7

Looking for a 250 or 500 GB SSD for my Acer Aspire V5  271p 6815 Laptop.
Prefer the Samsung EVO.
Which do you recommend. Do I need any temp cables?

Accepted Answer

No cables necessary. The laptop kit comes with a neat little USB adaptor that works with USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. The only caveat is to use Windows Disk Management Tool to partition and initialize the drive. Do NOT use the Samsung Data Migration Software!! I had to find that out the hard way from Samsung Support. Just download a free disk partition program like Macrium Reflect to do the drive cloning. Works great with no hassle.

Question 8

Is the software included cloning software? What I mean is will it clone the entire old drive including protected partitions that contain  files to restore laptop to factory setup?

Accepted Answer

In most cases, yes. I can confirm the drive was a bit level copy (multiple partitions) on an ASUS, Dell, and Gateway system.

However, I do know some forms of proprietary encryption will NOT copy over correctly. So if you've specifically enabled drive encryption, you may have problems. (However, the Samsung software generally detects this, and will inform you ahead of time)

Question 9

what is the difference between this model and the 7te500BW?

Accepted Answer

It's been a while since I researched & bought some of these drives.  Best I can remember the major difference is a USB to SATA cable to transfer the data from your current drive to the new soild state drive.  A slick package if you need the cable.  I don't remember what the cost difference might have been at that time.  LW has the cable / BW does not.

Question 10

MacBook Pro 2008 compatibility?

Accepted Answer

The drive will work fine with your mac.  Samsung's drives are typically all Mac compatible.  The issue you may run into is that Apple decided to put more driver security in place.  You can google "OS X Yosemite TRIM issues".
Just check Samsung's website, there might be a firmware update you would need to perform on the drive.

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