Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

montycat

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 19, 2007
450
143
Florida
Approximately how much HD space will be used if I downloaded about 100 music CDs. I'm trying to configure my new iMac purchase. Thanks, M.C.
 

siurpeeman

macrumors 603
Dec 2, 2006
6,318
23
the OC
it really depends on the bitrate of the encoding and number of tracks per album and length of song. i'd guess roughly 5 gb of storage.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
What exactly do you mean by "downloading" 100 CDs?

If you rip them using the sort of defacto baseline standard (128kbps AAC files -- what iTunes Store uses for all its songs except for the no-DRM EMI music), then you need about 40MB-50MB per album, e.g. 5GB is about right.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you rip in Apple Lossless, you need about 25-35GB....
 

rdowns

macrumors Penryn
Jul 11, 2003
27,397
12,521
Buy the biggest hard drive you can get. Between music, photos and videos, storage space goes quickly.
 

davidg4781

macrumors 68030
Oct 28, 2006
2,799
400
Alice, TX
Buy the biggest hard drive you can get. Between music, photos and videos, storage space goes quickly.

That's the best advice right there. My MacBook came with a 60GB HDD and I'm left with 8GB now, with hardly anything on it (I am using XP under BootCamp, but it's tight there too).

I skimped because I planned on upgrading soon. A year later, I still haven't done it. Do it now and enjoy.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Thanks for the info! I think I will go with the 500 gig HD:) M.C.

If it's at all possible to budget for it, get another 500GB external drive (Firewire preferred, but USB is okay) right now. 500GB is a very sweet spot for drives right now, and this won't cost you that much. Now that you're going to go and bring in 100 cds, back that stuff up!
 

montycat

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 19, 2007
450
143
Florida
If it's at all possible to budget for it, get another 500GB external drive (Firewire preferred, but USB is okay) right now. 500GB is a very sweet spot for drives right now, and this won't cost you that much. Now that you're going to go and bring in 100 cds, back that stuff up!

I will absolutely follow your advice. I also have about 20 gig of photos backed up on cds as I don't have a dvd burner. I will transfer them to the iMac using the cds (tedious way). M.C.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
:)

I really only just started following my own advice recently. :eek: But it's still good advice, that was echoed to me many times. Whether it's really Apple's prescience in enabling the "i" Life, changes in what computers are used for by anyone in the past five years, or what, since I bought my first Mac, my media collection has vastly expanded, and if I think about re-ripping all my CDs, for instance... I don't think I want to do that! :(
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.