SAMSUNG 840 Series 500GB SSD for $270 at Newegg after 10% V.Me Checkout

Quote from pipmeister : I believe your thoughts are well-intentioned no matter how misguided.

I'd say the same thing. Companies routinely do things that aren't in the consumer's best interest, like "panel lotteries" for TVs and LCD monitors. OCZ, in the ssd space, changed from 32-bit NAND in its Vertex 2 line to 64-bit NAND. The result was lower formatted capacity and a dramatic reduction in speed due to there being 50% fewer chips. OCZ did not change the product name or the packaging, which listed speed specs and such. Anandtech of all places called the company out and it responded by providing an exchange program for a limited time and changed the product name to Vertex 2e.

Samsung's research likely concluded that it would be a good business move to sell TLC NAND, using the consumer's familiarity (goodwill) with MLC ssds. If the prices can be closer to MLC for the consumer than the difference between TLC and MLC for the manufacturer then it's particularly profitable. This helps to explain the naming, which is deceptive. Instead of "840 Series" these TLC drives should have been called something with a lower number and TLC explicitly in the name, like 820 TLC.

HardOCP's review of the 120 GB model speaks to the dramatic drawbacks of TLC NAND in smaller capacity drives (e.g. flat-lined read speed), and the power usage in large sizes is also enough to make 19nm MLC more attractive for mobile usage models.

Quote from superstition : I'd say the same thing. Companies routinely do things that aren't in the consumer's best interest, like "panel lotteries" for TVs and LCD monitors. OCZ, in the ssd space, changed from 32-bit NAND in its Vertex 2 line to 64-bit NAND. The result was lower formatted capacity and a dramatic reduction in speed due to there being 50% fewer chips. OCZ did not change the product name or the packaging, which listed speed specs and such. Anandtech of all places called the company out and it responded by providing an exchange program for a limited time and changed the product name to Vertex 2e. Samsung's research likely concluded that it would be a good business move to sell TLC NAND, using the consumer's familiarity (goodwill) with MLC ssds. If the prices can be closer to MLC for the consumer than the difference between TLC and MLC for the manufacturer then it's particularly profitable. This helps to explain the naming, which is deceptive. Instead of "840 Series" these TLC drives should have been called something with a lower number and TLC explicitly in the name, like 820 TLC. HardOCP's review of the 120 GB model speaks to the dramatic drawbacks of TLC NAND in smaller capacity drives (e.g. flat-lined read speed), and the power usage in large sizes is also enough to make 19nm MLC more attractive for mobile usage models.

The Bottom Line (from HardOCP's review):

Saving $100 dollars in the 250GB, and $200 in the 500GB categories is going to persuade many users to make the jump regardless of the lower write speeds. From a value perspective there is no better value, especially for those looking for large capacity SSD that exhibits overall good performance. If you are moving from a spinning SSD and size is important to you, the value is very attractive.

We give the [H]ardOCP Silver award for the continued innovation that Samsung has displayed with the 840 Series of SSDs, and we look forward to other manufacturers deploying TLC solutions so we can continue to enjoy price drops in the overall SSD market. Certainly though, Samsung has set a benchmark for others to compete with in the TLC SSD market. While it may be a stretch to call the Samsung 840 an "enthusiast class" SSD, it is certainly a solid product choice for those looking to make the jump into the Solid State Drive arena. While we have not tested the 120GB Samsung 840, we have reservations about lumping the 120GB capacity Samsung 840 into our award category, simply due to technical limitations imposed upon it.

You neglected to mention their bottom line for the 120 GB drive, which earned not recommended because even its read speed flat-lined because of the substandard NAND. But, it is true that HardOCP gave awards to the larger drives, probably so they'll continue to get free products to evaluate from Samsung. Beyond the higher power usage, higher latency, and slower write speed for TLC, an issue with review sites is that they use store prices instead of comparing slickdeals' deal prices. Moreover, the site, when speaking to value, neglected to take budget 19nm MLC drives into proper account. Instead, they did what so many have done in the forum here, mainly compared the 840 Series and the 840 Pro as if they are the only two options in the marketplace. Budget 19nm MLC drives will use less power, last longer, and offer better performance than a TLC drive. Again, it just doesn't seem like much of a value for anyone as long as MLC drives are listed with good deals periodically.

The only time a TLC drive seems to be relevant is in the 500 GB size for a desktop system (when the workload is no more than moderate and the drive isn't filled). Even then, with good pricing, an MLC drive should be able to compete and offer better performance, particularly over time.

superstition, pipmeister, thanks you're exchange has been educational, repped.
I had ordered, the 250 840 from beach, and the 500 from newegg, if I had ordered the 120 I would have cancelled that order by now, and increased the size thanks to what I have learnt.

Quote from superstition : You neglected to mention their bottom line for the 120 GB drive, which earned not recommended because even its read speed flat-lined because of the substandard NAND. But, it is true that HardOCP gave awards to the larger drives, probably so they'll continue to get free products to evaluate from Samsung. Beyond the higher power usage, higher latency, and slower write speed for TLC, an issue with review sites is that they use store prices instead of comparing slickdeals' deal prices. Moreover, the site, when speaking to value, neglected to take budget 19nm MLC drives into proper account. Instead, they did what so many have done in the forum here, mainly compared the 840 Series and the 840 Pro as if they are the only two options in the marketplace. Budget 19nm MLC drives will use less power, last longer, and offer better performance than a TLC drive. Again, it just doesn't seem like much of a value for anyone as long as MLC drives are listed with good deals periodically. The only time a TLC drive seems to be relevant is in the 500 GB size for a desktop system (when the workload is no more than moderate and the drive isn't filled). Even then, with good pricing, an MLC drive should be able to compete and offer better performance, particularly over time.

From a perspective of someone who has pulled the trigger twice on these drives on the past couple of days. The discount / performance advantage offered over the last tier ssd's for the 250 and 500 models, make these very attractive over the MLC drives. I've gone through the alternatives and can't find anything more attractive than these at this price point. The only MLC drives I am interested in would be the ocz vectors, but the price premium (about 60%) over the 840's make them a no go for me. If they were about 20% more expensive I may bite, infact I've set a price alert on them.

The extra life you make the point of for the MLC drives is really not relevant in my opinion as the drives / technology available in 3 years+ time makes the life in these drives as irrelevant as betamax tapes today.

Quote from carlfxy : The extra life you make the point of for the MLC drives is really not relevant in my opinion as the drives / technology available in 3 years+ time makes the life in these drives as irrelevant as betamax tapes today.

I'd say that if you're on a three year upgrade cycle then you have enough money to invest in higher-performance NAND, eh? I use my equipment longer than that. My primary work laptop is a 2008 Macbook Pro. With the upgraded RAM and the SSD it gets the job done. High-end users who do things like render video will have a "time is money" attitude and will thus upgrade more often, but they will also be more inclined to get a fast SSD.

Quote from carlfxy : From a perspective of someone who has pulled the trigger twice on these drives on the past couple of days. The discount / performance advantage offered over the last tier ssd's for the 250 and 500 models, make these very attractive over the MLC drives. I've gone through the alternatives and can't find anything more attractive than these at this price point. The only MLC drives I am interested in would be the ocz vectors, but the price premium (about 60%) over the 840's make them a no go for me. If they were about 20% more expensive I may bite, infact I've set a price alert on them.

PNY 240 GB model, $125 AR.
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/90296

versus

250GB Samsung 840 Series + Assassin's Creed 3 PC Game Coupon $150 (given front page)
http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/90232

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SanDisk Extreme SDSSDX-480G-G25 - $300 (has fast MLC synchronous toggle NAND at 24nm)

versus

500GB Samsung 840 Series $290 (given front page)

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PNY XLR8 120GB $75 AR

versus

Samsung 840-Series 120GB $94.99 @ Newegg with 16GB SDHC card

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MLC drives are price-competitive. In fact, some of the deals tend to be better even in just price.

Newegg has the Samsung 840 MZ-7TD500BW 500GB SATA III Internal SSD for $270 when using V.me by VISA during checkout. Normal price is $399.99. $100 instant discount, plus additional 10% off with V.me. Free shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Pro...6820147190

Really? Repost

Quote from laphroaigh : Really? Repost

Where is the original post? I can't find it.

http://slickdeals.net/f/5883134-S...e-Checkout

Quote from superstition : I'd say that if you're on a three year upgrade cycle then you have enough money to invest in higher-performance NAND, eh? I use my equipment longer than that. My primary work laptop is a 2008 Macbook Pro. With the upgraded RAM and the SSD it gets the job done. High-end users who do things like render video will have a "time is money" attitude and will thus upgrade more often, but they will also be more inclined to get a fast SSD.

Thanks for adding those, the sandisk extreme, was in fact my first choice as it seemed like the performance was good for the 120. But then after looking into the 840 pro, I saw that the 840 was a better price / performance for me. In any case, I really got forced into making my purchase this weekend, as I had a disk failure (a 13month old hdd ironically) and wanted to repair the laptop. Sadly I didn't spot the deals the other week with the free game an all... but whatever.

I used tomshardware benchmarks [tomshardware.com] to help me make my choice. Also, noting that SSD's have halved in price over the last year, although that may not carry on to be the case, the fact that the 60% I save now buying the 840, which has a pretty good performance according to toms (for my needs as well) means that I can put that money to good use in the future.

Again, I hadn't realized some of the intricacies such as purchasing a drive at least 30% larger than your anticipated needs to maintain performance, and the fact that the 840's use tlc instead of mlc, and there will be a lifetime hit. So again thanks superstition.

You can see the ocz vector and 840 pro stand out in toms hardware benchmark summary, if i can get either 250's for 200 or less (33% or less price premium to the 840) they would be my preference, but 60% premium is just way off my imo, and not worth it.

thanks op