500gb ssd or 250gb for Linux + Windows 8?

I'm deciding on an m.2 ssd for my lafite laptop - purchasing from amazon.

Should I get a 250gb ssd or a 500gb ssd?

I will have two OS' installed: Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu.

I don't know how much space Ubuntu + Ubuntu programs will take up. My current Windows OS takes up around 100gb - only the installed programs - I would like to leave at least 50gb extra for windows in case at some point I decide to install another large program - such as microsoft word.

I will partition the ssd with 10gb for Ubuntu itself - another partition for programs.

My question is, how much space should I reserve for Ubuntu programs?
I feel like just getting a 500gb ssd just in case, but it'll really bother me if that extra space ends up being a waste if I just uninstall Ubuntu or if I don't install that many programs for Linux. Then again, I may end up installing extra distros so in that sense I guess I would need the extra space.

I think it's worth noting, the cheapest at 250gb is around £90, though I am likely to buy a £120 Kingston (if I go for 250gb)one as it has a TBW of 240TB - will come in handy as I hibernate often and use software encryption such as truecrypt - will wear out ssd faster. Alternatively, I could go for a £150 500gb m.2 ssd. Though the 500gb will have the same TBW as a 250gb £90 ssd which isn't a good thing.

So my Qs:
1) How much space do you think I should reserve for Ubuntu? Program purposes: Office programs such as LibreOffice/other alternatives, programs to run media such as movies and songs, IDEs for programming, browsers, and possibly other programs which I have not thought of yet or have not got a need for yet.

2) Should I go for the 500gb ssd instead? I am likely to end up using sleep more often anyways so I don't think the TBW (total bytes written) will make too much of a difference. I just want to know if because of my 2 OS setup, I should go for a 500gb ssd instead?

Thanks

Anyone?

To be honest I've no idea how much memory Linux takes (to be honest I've never really had the need to check how much memory windows takes). If you're at all concerned get the 500Gb SSD, if you're not planning on storing anything else on the SSD's you'll probably get away with the 250Gb SSDs.

I get the feeling that you're essentially looking for a justification to get the 500Gb SSD - Basically, just do it, if you want the 'peace of mind' of knowing you have enough space for whatever you'll want to do - then the 500Gb will be the better option. You never know, you might end up installing other stuff on there you didn't plan on because of the extra space. It's certainly not going to do any harm I wouldn't say.

steaky360 said:

To be honest I've no idea how much memory Linux takes (to be honest I've never really had the need to check how much memory windows takes). If you're at all concerned get the 500Gb SSD, if you're not planning on storing anything else on the SSD's you'll probably get away with the 250Gb SSDs.

I get the feeling that you're essentially looking for a justification to get the 500Gb SSD - Basically, just do it, if you want the 'peace of mind' of knowing you have enough space for whatever you'll want to do - then the 500Gb will be the better option. You never know, you might end up installing other stuff on there you didn't plan on because of the extra space. It's certainly not going to do any harm I wouldn't say.

Click to expand...

Problem is I don't want to waste money.
The two options:
Kinston 240gb for about £115.
Crucial 500gb for £152.

The kingston SSD has a much higher TBW though - will feel more comfortable hibernating on there.
I only want to buy the 500gb if it is absolutely necessary and if Ubuntu ends up taking up that much space.
Currently I will likely partition around 140gb and use that for windows.
for the remaining approximately 50-60GB, I want to know if that is enough for Ubuntu and its programs. I don't know if Ubuntu programs take up more space than Windows programs. Currently, my Windows programs which take up most space are Microsoft Office (30GB) and Visual Studio 2013 (about 10GB).

I will be leaving some space for wear levelling purposes (basically, so it takes longer for a single cell to die on me)

Another thread where I asked the same Q for future reference: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/373101-500gb-ssd-or-250gb-for-linux-windows-8/

I believe Ubuntu will take up less space than Windows.

I'd get the 500GB. I had Windows on a 120GB SSD and outgrew it after a couple of years. It's now very comfortably on a 250GB, with plenty of space to spare and to grow.

250 GB is plenty, in fact, if you actually need more space you should buy a regular hdd (go for hybrid hdd), 500 GB ssd arent worth their price yet.

As my experience, I'm running on a lafité with only a 250 GB m.2 ssd and i can say its more than enough for regular use, (virtual machines and stuff), ive got three Operative Systems in it (one of them is Windows) and the space left still can be measured with three figures.

I stress it again, if you need more space, buy a regular hdd and put it along your ssd for the OS.
128 GB ssd is more than enough, you could buy a 256 GB but 500 GB is overkill for any general purpose system nowadays.

PS: 10 GB for ubuntu is too few, consider at least 20 GB and only if you have /home in a different partition.

Erchz said:

250 GB is plenty, in fact, if you actually need more space you should buy a regular hdd (go for hybrid hdd), 500 GB ssd arent worth their price yet.

As my experience, I'm running on a lafité with only a 250 GB m.2 ssd and i can say its more than enough for regular use, (virtual machines and stuff), ive got three Operative Systems in it (one of them is Windows) and the space left still can be measured with three figures.

I stress it again, if you need more space, buy a regular hdd and put it along your ssd for the OS.
128 GB ssd is more than enough, you could buy a 256 GB but 500 GB is overkill for any general purpose system nowadays.

PS: 10 GB for ubuntu is too few, consider at least 20 GB and only if you have /home in a different partition.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I think it's worth reposting the prices:
Kinston 240gb for about £115.
Crucial 500gb for £152.

They're m.2 ssds.

The 500 is not too much more, but the 240 has a much higher TBW.

I think I'll just go for the 240 now though.

Thanks for the help.

I will for now, be only using the default 500gb 7200RPM HDD. Will purchase an m.2 SSD if I get too frustrated with the slow reads.