• expired

Crucial M550 SSD 256GB $129, 512GB $245, OCZ 240GB SSD $115 Free Shipping @ Shopping Express

1290
OI-OI-OI

This massive discounted price is an ozbargain exclusive deal with special support from our Vendor (valid for the next 2 days).
In Stock, same day dispatch for orders before 1:pm AEST. (Unexpected downtime from our system today causes slight delay for same day dispatch cut-off time - apologize for those order between 12-1pm AEST)
This is Australia Stock with Full Manufacturer's Warranty
Enjoy Everyone.

Use coupon code: OI-OI-OI in your shopping cart before checkout to enjoy discounted SSD prices below


All stocks are limited, with limited quantity per customer.
Where free shipping do not apply, shipping starts $8.95 and averages $12 Australia Wide.
No Grey Imports, All Genuine & carries Australia's Manufacturer Warranty.


For 1st time buyers:
- Add any of the above products to your shopping cart
- Enter Postcode inside your shopping cart and click apply
- Enter voucher code: OI-OI-OI and the associated discount will apply (check right side of the shopping cart for the total value
- Proceed to checkout and make payment once you confirmed the total price is correct

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closed Comments

  • +3

    Thanks. Ordered a M550. Glad I missed out on a previous deal since this is a better price. :)

    • +4

      Keep in mind Shoppingexpress is NOT express when it comes to dealing with faulty goods and returns. Takes Weeks before/ if they reply to emails.

      Will never buy from them again.

      Do yourself a favour and spend your dollars elsewhere.

      • +10

        every shop will have some bad and good reviews, but if shoppingexpress is truly bad, they wont be still exist and run around ozb offering good deals.
        plus, human nature: you have bad experience you tell 100 friends, you have good one maybe forget to tell anyone.

      • +2

        I have to disagree. I have good experience with Shopping express. They have replied my emails in time and even replaced two faulty micro sd cards without much issue and queries.

      • +2

        I agree SE have terrible customer service. With my DOA purchase they wanted me to go though the manufacturer for a replacement rather than them. It was DOA! They have shown me once they have your money they don't care.

        • I've made about 5 purchases from Shopping Express. I've never had a problem that wasn't dealt with in a professional manner.

      • +1

        I agree, it took me a month of chasing up on an order that I placed and didn't receive before giving up and eventually getting my money back. I guess it depends on what you are buying from them. I spoke to most people in the business and no one would help.

  • +1

    Any deals on 1TB SSD?

  • +1

    Bleh, bought one yesterday (from elsewhere). Good deals though!

  • +1

    As usual, great deal from shoppingexpress!

  • Is m550 comparable to Samsung 850 pro series?

    • M550 is good, Samsung 850 Pro is superior.

    • m550 - better value for money, and has power loss protection.
      Is 850 Pro worth 80% more?

      • Personally, I would choose 850 Evo, not Pro.

    • 3yr warrnty with Curcial, 5 year warranty with the 850

      • Also realized if you get Samsung 850 Pro, it comes with 10 years warranty! (Provided Samsung is still around that is…)

        Still, very much leaning towards to Crucial M550 256gb for my main windows as my current Intel 510 is showing some sign of retreat.

    • +3

      ^ Disregard the emphatically categorical statements above.

      They're the same. You won't miss anything or notice any different between them, as a lowly, home user. Just go for the cheapest option; in this case the Crucial M550. As already mentioned, all current Crucial SSDs have a supercapicator, which the Samsungs don't (though realistically depending on what's occuring during a power failure, you can can still corrupt data even on SSDs with supercapicators; it's not a 100% guarantee of power failure protection).

      By now I must have put together about 30 builds with the M550 as the system drive (some 6 months old by now) and they're all flawlessly running.

      New MU02 firmware just released last week that improves stability, power state transitions and file handling.

      • +1

        Thanks for the explanation. One question, when you update the firmware, do you have to reformat the drive in order to do so?

        • +1

          No. The new Crucial bootable firmware wizard is now even easier to use than before, just burn it to a CD (with ImgBurn) or a bootable USB stick (a bit trickier if you don't already have one to go) and run it. It takes about 5 seconds to update the firmware. It's always best to disconnect all other SATA drives and just have the Crucial SSD connected to the motherboard when updating to avoid the wizard not being able to detect the SSD.

          Performance-wise, there is no question that any SSD will perform better on a fresh installation of Windows (or your OS of choice) rather than cloning a drive image or updating firmware on an already worn-in SSD (basically the caching algorithm has to relearn the data usage patterns all over again, so you may notice a performance drop right after a firmware update or image clone before it tiers your data in the right order).

          I've updated a dozen M550s to MU02 so far; not one lost any data or bricked itself during the process. As always, if anything is truly valuable though, do back it up beforehand but a botched firmware update is a rare occurrence these days.

      • New MU02 firmware just released last week that improves stability, power state transitions and file handling.

        Would these have it? I'm about to install one for friends. How would you go about with the firmware upgrade? I've never done firmware upgrades for SSDs before

        • See the above reply.

          I'm going to wager that they won't. This stock will be at a minimum, a few months old; so they'll be on MU01. Like I said, MU02 launched on the 1st of March, a little over a week ago.

          A firmware update isn't a scary process; especially with the new Storage Executive firmware wizard, there's absolutely no user input required once you boot from your firmware CD. I would recommend going the CD route, rather than creating a bootable USB stick, as there are more things to go wrong with that process and it'll take longer.

          Like I said, just use ImgBurn, select "Write Image File to Disc" from the main screen, select the downloaded firmware ISO image and burn it. Easy. Then, with the CD inserted, reboot and boot from your optical drive (either change the boot order in your BIOS to have the optical drive first or open your boot manager menu and select the optical drive).

        • @Amar89:

          What's a CD? Jokes.. just that I don't have a CD drive on my computer (to prep all installation files haha)

        • +1

          @cwongtech: In that case, a bootable USB stick it is. This illustrated guide should help you out. Obviously, at Step 5 you're going to need to copy the extracted firmware files from the ISO into the format tool.

      • Hmmm, my google search seems to suggest that Crucial m550 is MLC, is this correct? Just asking because I want to get something reasonable for someone.

        I am tasked with getting someone, who's fairly tech illiterate, a PC, and I've gotten him a HTPC.
        All I need now is a SSD and since I know that I will be probably be called upon to fix it if it breaks, so I am looking for something reliable. Even though I have no clue why I would be responsible for that. Since it has SATA2 interface, I'd assume that most SSDs would probably do the job. So is Crucial SSD reliable (Let's say compared to Samsung 840 EVO (which is a TLC SSD))?

        • +2

          Samsung 840 EVO uses TLC. The main issue with 840 EVO is the read performance drops significantly on old files (files staying on the same SSD block for 3 months or more). It is drops to around 100MB/sec or lower read speed (sequential read). The firmware fix released last year did NOT fix the issue (and that firmware patch actually moves every existing data block to a new block (kinda like format the drive and re-write every block, except done in chunks instead of a full format). Samsung indicated they will release another firmware BUT it was announced in a way that they could simply introduce an application which "moves" every block every few months - not ideal. No ETA on the fix (assuming the new firmware could fix it - which is still a big question mark).

          And, the 840 (non EVO) one has the same issue with no firmware fix. It is an issue with Samsung TLC, but could it affect other TLC drives from other manufacturers? Then, there is 850 EVO, which uses TLC V-NAND. TLC V-NAND uses a 40nm process, which is more resistant to wear and tear compared to just TLC NAND. However, too early to tell that it is free from the issue 840 / 840 EVO is suffering.

        • +4

          What I can tell you from personal experience is that I've had the older M500 in my day-to-day PC for over a year now (from Feb 2014) and it has had zero issues and the wear level indicator is at 1% after 10 Terabytes of total host writes. Performance consistency has remained like-new even at 40% free space (though beyond that, I do start to notice a slight drop; I'm still booting to desktop in 15 seconds or less).

          I've also rolled out, as I said, at least 30 of the M550s for workstation PCs and they've all been running for months now without issue, and in addition to that, I've seen numerous Crucial M500s and older Micron RealSSD C400s with power-on counts beyond 5,000 hours all humming along without any issues in some of the older workstations our business has had for years now (again with 0-1% on their wear level indicators). Most of these workstations get smashed day-in, day-out by architects and 3D rendering guys who work with huge models and file sizes in the gigabytes on a daily basis, but with most current-gen SSDs pushing endurance ratings of 100TB or more over their lifetimes (and those are conservative estimates as per TechReport's SSD torture test which revealed consumer SSDs often outlast their rated lifetimes by a magnitude of 10), it's still a moot point; as home users are not coming anywhere close to those MTBF ratings.

          The top 3 largest semiconductor companies in the world that manufacture SSDs are Intel, Samsung and Micron (owner of Crucial) and coincidentally they are the only SSD manufacturers I would buy from. It's also worthy noting all three actually manufacture the NAND at their own plants, where they have full oversight over the QA process.

          It's also worthy to note that all of the major OEM players such as HP, Dell, Lenovo, IBM, Acer and so forth, touch no other SSD manufacturers with a barge pole aside from Intel or Crucial, when it comes to their enterprise-grade storage hardware like SANs/NASs/Storage Virtualisation Devices.

          The M550 is an enterprise-grade SSD. Supercapicator, more over-provisioning (a ridiculous amount of reserve NAND), and better wear-levelling; features missing from virtually every similarly-priced SSD and many far more expensive ones including the Samsung 850 Pro.

        • @Amar89: Thanks. The only problem I had with buying this was, well, it's not for me so I cannot go recommending something that I cannot rely on. Also, tech illiterate person, I cannot be certain whether he's going to back up frequently (I know that he does sometimes), and if it fails, I am almost certain that I will be the one who'd have to fix it. So I wanted to make sure that it's reliable; TLC has its issues (looking at 840 EVO) so I was hesistant on getting this without checking whether it is MLC. I've heard decent things about Crucial but I am not really familiar with their line. Anyways, thank you so much for the information.

          Also, your information sort of made me feel alright about getting an Intel SSD from black friday deal. :)

        • @AznMitch: Just to weigh-in on the Samsung Evo 840. I've seen 5 of those running with no trouble on the older, pre-fix firmware for months now with no appreciable dip in performance. To me it looks more like a batch issue than design flaw, but apparently as netsurfer mentioned, the new fixed firmware and performance restoration wizard still doesn't resolve the issue for those folks experiencing the problem (without having to rerun the performance restoration procedure every 3 months or so).

        • @Amar89: Hmmm, though at this price, I'd rather pay little bit more for the peace of mind. Though about the firmware, I've heard that they are working on a permanent fix (though it was a rumour from some website I don't really remember). Also, at $100~$200 range, paying extra $20~$30 (I am sure it's less, but being generous) for more reliable product seems reasonable. Anyways, thank you so much for the information :)

        • @AznMitch: 840/840 EVO issue isn't a data reliability issue (well, you can still read the data). Also, it won't be an issue if you write to the SSD regularly with new files or new versions of the files.

          I have an 840 and it seems fine at first. It is my spare drive (wasn't a fan of TLC, bought it because it was cheaper and I needed a drive which is suitable on the move). I was using it regularly for a while at one stage. Then, I stopped using it (coz. work got me a new PC with SSD - interestingly a Crucial one - old m4, but good enough). After not using it for 3+ months, the issue can be detected when running HDTach. However, my usage pattern on the 840 isn't heavy read/write so I cannot really feel the big performance drop (but running HDTach, I can definitely see it).

          I normally use MLC drives for boot drives (Samsung 840 Pro, Crucial and Sandisk SSDs). While I like 850 Pro, it is too expensive, and the max write warranty Samsung is offering is rather disappointing, considering Samsung raved about V-NAND for MLC.

        • @netsurfer: When I said reliable, I meant it like, it's going to perform well without needing me to fix it few months afterwards. I know that if it breaks down or slows, I probably will have to fix it for the person who's getting this. I really don't want to do that because I'd rather not have the awkward moment where I feel bad about something I've recommended.

        • @AznMitch: Wouldn't recommend 840 or 840 EVO as a system boot drive (840 Pro is fine, as it is MLC - but you cannot buy 840 Pro easily nowadays).

          If you want a portable USB3 storage device to transport files (work files, project files), then 840 EVO (assuming you get it at a bargain price) is fine - because that usage pattern won't encounter the issue.

          I use my 840 kinda as a bit of both. Normally, it is a portable storage, but I do connect it to a laptop using eSATA and boot from it from time to time (when I want to do some special tests on my laptop).

          For a friend / mate, I wouldn't recommend 840 EVO (unless Samsung really fixes the issue in the next firmware - not moving data hack / workaround).

        • @netsurfer: I will probably go with this one… :) Thanks for the information :)

        • @AznMitch: If your friend is tech illiterate I highly suggest you get them to buy a copy of Genie Timeline for Backups, it continually backs stuff up as you use the computer and during periods of inactivity it will use a more aggressive speed but while you are using the pc adopt a relaxed backup schedule so as to not impact performance. It's pretty awesome and I use it to backup to my NAS. It even has special filters where it can backup your outlook.

  • +1

    thanks - perfect timing!

  • +1

    I've been waiting for a local Crucical bargain. Just bought the 512GB SSD.
    Thx

  • +1

    Bought one, thanks SE

    • Wow bought yesterday, received today. Well done SE

  • excellent price especially considering the aud, too bad i don't 'need' one :P

  • 256gb or 512gb? decision decision…

    • +2

      I find 256 GB to be sufficient for games and big applications (eg. Starcraft 2, Adobe Suite etc.). 128 GB, which came pre-installed on my Zenbook, is way too little.

  • @shoppingexpress do you guys ship to Auspost parcel lockers with australia post ?

    • +1

      The FAQ says that ShoppingExpress generally use Australia Post eParcel for shipping. eParcel is accepted into Parcel Locker since it's Australia Post.

      • some retailers don't as they treat them as po boxes, it doesnt hurt to ask

        • -1

          It's not up to the retailer that decides what is being sent to a PO Box or even a Parcel Locker or not all they do is print out the shipping label and slap it on the box. It's up to you to supply the correct address. And it's up to you to make sure that the retailer ships through Australia Post and not some third party courier. And even if a retailer treated Parcel Locker as a PO Box then that's just plain stupid because it's nothing of the sort. I'm quite sure that ShoppingExpress is a smart business to know the difference between a PO Box and Parcel Locker.

          If it's a parcel being shipped through Australia Post correctly addressed to your Parcel Locker address then it can go into the Parcel Locker. Since it's been established that ShoppingExpress does ship through Australia Post eParcel it's all good. They don't some how decide that the address is a PO Box and deny shipping it they'd just print the shipping label out and put it on the box. I say again as long as it's an actual parcel that's being shipped through Australia Post (eParcel, Parcel Post or Express Post) then it will get into a Parcel Locker. In this case it's Ausralia Post eParcel shipped from ShoppingExpress.

          To summarise yes it will get to your Parcel Locker.

    • +2

      yes

  • Could i install this into a Dell Latitude E744

    -n00b

      • 2.5" to 3.5" SSD Bracket and a SATA data cable if don't already have one may be all that's needed for this.

      • Are you basing this on the M500 being on the list?

        The M550 isn't actually listed as compatible for this system (except the mSATA form). I'd like to know as the M550 isn't listed as compatible for my system but the M500 is…

  • I have a possible noob question also

    My laptop has 3 hard drive slots (I already installed 1 512 gb SSD) and the other slot is a 750gb hdd. Can I use the final slot for another 512gb ssd and somehow combine the storage with the other SSD (to pretty much make a 1TB hard drive)

    • +2

      You could if your operating system supports software RAID level 0 or even if your laptop supports RAID in its own hardware. Must be a good laptop if it supports RAID in its own hardware. But no data redundancy under RAID 0. That would combine the two 512GB SSD into a 1TB RAID volume. If you're running Windows 7 Pro, Windows 8 or 8.1 Pro then those operating systems support software RAID. But check your laptops BIOS to see if RAID is an option.

      • thanks holly. It's an alienware 18. Honestly i have no clue what 'RAID' even is. Do I configure it using disk management if I do choose to buy the SSD?

        • +3

          Good news. According to the Alienware 18 owner's manual that it supports RAID in the hardware itself and is one of the options in the BIOS.

          There's a video on youtube showing how to setup RAID on an Alienware M18X laptop but it should be the same for your Alienware 18 laptop. You've got to first select the RAID option in the BIOS (under the Advanced Menu and option SATA Operation) before doing what the video shows. SATA modes are either AHCI or RAID. RAID is what you want.

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ootaBL7xdBs

          And this article explains what RAID is. RAID 0 is the level of RAID that you need to combine those two SSD into one 1TB RAID volume.

          http://www.pcworld.com/article/194360/raid-made-easy.html

        • @hollykryten:

          thanks holly! much appreciated :) great help

        • @halfaznpersuasion: Beware that if you switch your SATA mode to RAID on your boot drive, Windows will most likely fail to start. Reinstallation is recommended.

        • @alvian:

          Yes that is true. May need to perform a reinstallation of Windows. Although i'd reckon in any case that Windows would be best installed on the raided volume from the SSD drives. Windows loves SSD. The hard drive is best suited for data storage like backups etc.

  • +1

    Excellent deal. Thanks Rep.

  • I put it an order around lunch time AEST. Wondering whether the promise of same day dispatch still applies as my order status is currently 'picked'.

    Thanks and great deal btw!

    • IF you don't mind, send me a PM for a quick check

      Cheers
      SE

      • Does the same day dispatch still apply for today? Ordered this morning. Thanks.

  • I have Sony Vaio E-series laptop with 500 GB (Serial ATA, 5400 rpm) HDD. Can this SSD be used to replace existing HDD in the laptop? Thank you.

    • +1

      Should be okay, assuming you can access the harddrive panel on the bottom

      You'll need to do a clean install or clone onto the ssd though

  • Does the Crucial M550 come with data transfer kit? If not, where can I get one cheap?
    Trying to upgrade an old laptop.

  • Great deal, thanks rep!

  • Thanks, bought one 256GB.

  • +1

    Hi Rep, just a special request. Could you do any promo on Hdd 4tb and above? esp for NAS

    • Hi disa1377,

      How are you? Although it's impossible to move anything further for the SSDs, if you can PM me which 4TB you prefer and also anything else you may need so i can try and work something out for you my friend.

      Cheers
      SE

  • Question: What credit card do you guys accept?
    We do not accept credit card payments directly, but you can use your credit card details through the Paypal checkout. Paypal accepts Visa and Mastercard only.

    Paypal accepts Amex as well now, can you update that section?

    • done & thanks! :)

  • Shipping Cost To Post Code 3089 $9.25

    Free shipping not working :(

    • The code covers $10 shipping & $20 item discount (for M550), so total would come up as posted price here regardless of what shipping cost says.

      • Yeah I worked that out and put through the order :)

  • +1

    Great deal! Thank you!

  • +1

    Awesome deal SE, bought a 512GB.

  • +1

    I was going to order a drive today, and this was a good deal, so got a 256gb M550, was on my short list of units to buy too.

    Price was good, how can I refuse.

  • Really keen to buy three of the Crucial M550 256GB SSD for all the laptops at home.
    But their website tells me that our models (Dell Vostro 3750 and Inspiron 15(3537) are only compatible with the M500?
    Form factor difference is M500 2.5-inch (7mm)vs M550 mSATA
    ShoppingExpress do you guys sell a converter as well?

    • I see no reason that either of those models can't take a M550 2.5" Drive like what it up for sale here.

      Where did you see that you need a mSATA drive?

    • have replied your PM

  • FYI guys, this code with free shipping discount includes the middle post+insurance option, which was going to be $4 more expensive which I was happy to pay but the io-io-io code absorbed this too. IMO it is worth insuring, especially when free!

    • Not really, it actually automatically added the extra $3 at Paypal checkout.

      Edit: nvm, it actually does give you extra $3 discount after refreshing.

    • Good to know, but why would you need insurance?

      The item either arrives to you with merchantable quality, or it doesn't?

  • +1

    Just ordered a NUC & Crucial 256gb SSD in this deal.
    http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/intel-nuc-celeron-n282…
    http://www.shoppingexpress.com.au/buy/crucial-m550-256gb-ssd…

    Fantastic service by the rep on this site, I pointed out that the combo deal for the NUC & RAM was more expensive than the NUC & RAM separately. He knocked the combo deal down from $239 to $219 straight away.

    In the end, $400.25 came down to $348 inc shipping

    Very happy customer.

  • First ever SSD just purchased.

  • +2

    so that arrived ridiculously fast…

    • Yeah, I also got mine although not that surprising for me considering it went from Sydney to… Sydney.

  • was waiting for a 256gb ssd deal for a while now. Made show I jumped into this one asap. Many thanks

  • Is the 256GB still in stock? :(

  • I'd love to get the 256gb 550.. Any idea when more stock will arrive?

  • Stock back of the 256GB it looks

  • Is it gone already? Not available for purchase for me :-(

  • Hi rep,

    Could you double check my order please? Order # N00227589.
    I placed the order at 12/03/2015 around 00.30 AM time and currently the status is still picked. Was hoping to get it today so I can set it up on the weekend, but seems like I won't have it by the end of today.

    • Hi strripedz,

      It will definitely be dispatch today & hopefully you get it early next week.
      It's been packed and labelled since yesterday, just awaiting courier collection today.
      Do apologize for the delay and inconvenience caused.

      Cheers
      SE

  • Mine shipped earlier today and arrived a little while ago via courier (good thing Sydney to Sydney was quick), but wasn't expecting it until Monday.

    Nice work Shopping Express, will keep an eye out for another sale, as I do want a bigger one in the near future :)

  • For those who missed out- stock still available through amazon
    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/185936

    Tho this would mean warranty would have to be handled overseas- correct?

    • +1

      Which will probably be faster than dealing with SE anyway.

      I have now been waiting a month so far in returning a failed SSD to them, still nothing sorted.

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