macbook pro mid2009 best hard drive upgrade?

[aking63]

Hey I have a mid 2009 MBP with the 2.8 Ghz Intel Duo Processor.

I Recently upgraded my RAM from 4gb to 8 but the rest of my computer is still stock. I have the 500gb fujitsu hard drive but I'm am beginning to consider upgrading this to really boost performance for using demanding programs like Logic Pro.

Any recommendations? I dont want a smaller hard disk, but I'm considering solid state?

[aking63]

Further Details on Current Drive:

FUJITSU MJA2500BH FFS G1
5400 rpm
SATA 2.5"

I have the optical drive and I've read that this can be replaced with another hard disk but I'd prefer to keep my optical drive

Popular alternatives seem to be the Seagate Momentus or the WD Scorpio Blue. Thoughts on these?

[ShiftClick]

I have the early 09 macbook pro when they did a processor bump when the 17" unibody was released and I use the seagate momentus as a media drive and an express card 34 ssd as my boot. Couldn't be happier with this combo. I recommend getting one that runs at 7200 rpm for better performance.

[SMacDuff]

I'm still rocking my mid-2009 MBP and now it's blazing fast since installing a Corsair Force P120 SSD. I didn't really want to go down in capacity from my Samsung 500GB 5400rpm HD but the speed difference when booting up and when opening programs is like night and day.

It's been all over the Apple discussion forums and there are threads here as well talking about the Sata controller on this specific model of MBP being limited to SATA I (1.5Gbs). I knew that going in and I still bought the SSD. It's still much faster than the Samsung drive and that's all that matters. If you opt for an SSD and have the newest EFI firmware installed, then you need to either roll back the firmware, if possible, or simply go with a larger 5400rpm HD.

One issue I DO have with my Corsair SSD is that I can no longer recover my desktop if I lose power ( I always forget to plug it in on time). It tries to recover then crashes and asks me to restart. Sucks but I live with it.

[brendu]

I just replaced my 500GB HDD in my 2009 Macbook Pro to a 120GB SSD and the performance increase is substantial. Also an added benefit is that I never hear the HDD anymore which I hadn't thought about but now love. I do miss the extra space I sacrificed when I switched but I can deal for now and I am still considering getting the Optibay setup to put my HDD in the superdrive spot.

[aking63]

is there a way to transfer all of your data including OSX from the old hard drive to the new hard drive so you dont lose everything? obviously you could just temporarily put it on an external and then transfer it back but like directly transfer it so you can turn on your computer and have it be the same as before you switched?

[CubusX]

Originally Posted by aking63

is there a way to transfer all of your data including OSX from the old hard drive to the new hard drive so you dont lose everything? obviously you could just temporarily put it on an external and then transfer it back but like directly transfer it so you can turn on your computer and have it be the same as before you switched?

I purchased a Kingston 512 GB SSD for my late 2008 MBP and the speed difference is amazing, even when compared to Seagate 500 GB 7200 RPM drive. Boot times are a breeze and there us hardly a load time opening Adobe Creative Suite progrms. I picked it up after the stock HD and replacement hard drive failed to run these programs efficiently, and yes I am at 4 GB of RAM which is the max.

If you have the money I would pick up a larger SSD and wait for Lion as it has Trim support.

As for the backups, I believe the disk utility has a disk image creator. You should be able to move the image to an external drive and mount it to the new drive. IMO you should start brand new and just copy your files over.

[Cheffy Dave]

Originally Posted by aking63

is there a way to transfer all of your data including OSX from the old hard drive to the new hard drive so you dont lose everything? obviously you could just temporarily put it on an external and then transfer it back but like directly transfer it so you can turn on your computer and have it be the same as before you switched?

Yep, I use Super Duper, and it's even free, but it works so well I bought it to show my appreciation, oh and when you want a SSD go to OWC, theirs are wicked fast

[Makosuke]

Originally Posted by aking63

is there a way to transfer all of your data including OSX from the old hard drive to the new hard drive so you dont lose everything?

Carbon Copy Cloner is another option, and my preferred cloning tool. If you have some kind of external SATA to USB (or FireWire) device--you can get a little standalone dongle for about $30, or a dock, or an external 2.5" case, for about the same--just plug the new drive in, use CCC (or SuperDuper) to clone to it, swap drives, and it'll be as if nothing has changed.

I put a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB in my 1st-gen MBP, and I've been quite happy with it. Ran much better than the stock Seagate 7K drive, which would do this weird little "ker-chunk" head parking thing that would cause ~1 second stutters in disk access. SSDs are obviously drastically faster, if you have the money, although if you're not going to replace the optical drive with a traditional hard drive it's going to be pricey to get an SSD big enough for more than just the OS and a few apps/minimal data.

The 750GB 5400RPM Toshiba in my brand new MBP also seems nice so far, but I've only been using it for a week.

[brendu]

Originally Posted by Makosuke

SSDs are obviously drastically faster, if you have the money, although if you're not going to replace the optical drive with a traditional hard drive it's going to be pricey to get an SSD big enough for more than just the OS and a few apps/minimal data.

Thats not entirely true. I have a 120GB SSD and with the OS, a few apps, and minimal data I am using 16.55GB and have 103.14GB free... its when you fill it with music, movies, or pictures that you begin to run out of space and need the second drive. For the OS, a few apps, and minimal data an 80-120 GB SSD is perfect.

[aking63]

when i change the hard drive do I have to worry about overheating or overloading the circuits or anything? Im leaning towards a 500gb 7200rpm ssd

[brendu]

Originally Posted by aking63

when i change the hard drive do I have to worry about overheating or overloading the circuits or anything? Im leaning towards a 500gb 7200rpm ssd

assuming you mean 500gb 7200rpm HDD I would say thats not a bad idea just read some reviews and look at WD or Seagate drives. Also if you want directions on how to safely remove the hard drive you can look at ifixit.com or youtube for tutorials.

[Mikey7c8]

Depends on your usage model, but SSD+Optibay HDD makes alot of sense.

For myself I'm looking towards next gen sandforce drives which are coming out over the next couple months. To be fair, 3Gbps sata can't reach the full potential of these drives but I figure if/when I upgrade I'll be able to keep the drive.

[Makosuke]

Originally Posted by aking63

when i change the hard drive do I have to worry about overheating or overloading the circuits or anything?

No. No single hard drive is capable of overloading the connector in a drive bay designed for that size of drive, and certainly no laptop 2.5" hard drive will have any problem in any laptop. A large 7200RPM drive could reduce battery life by a modest amount, but that's all.

Now, if you bought a 10k RPM Raptor--which is intended as a desktop drive, although it's physically in the 2.5" form factor, like many server drives now--and tried to stuff it in a MBP, it's possible it'd try to draw too much power, and it might well overheat in a cramped laptop drive bay, although more likely your fans would just run very hard and your battery life would be poor.

[cachitongo]

I have the same MBP and want to upgrade my 'FUJITSU MJA2500BH FFS G1' HDD as well. I want to put a same-capacity or bigger SSD or hybrid in. What did you end up doing? How did it work out? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

[designs216]

I put the Crucial M4 256 in my 2009 MBP and really love it. If you need more capacity I would propose the Hitachi 7K750 which came in my MBP.

[yoak]

I have a Corsair 240 that performs really well. I had some beach balls in the beginning, but resetting of the PRAM did the trick for me

[Giuly]

Originally Posted by designs216

I put the Crucial M4 256 in my 2009 MBP and really love it. If you need more capacity I would propose the Hitachi 7K750 which came in my MBP.

The WD Scorpio Black 750GB is faster and less expensive.

As far as SSDs go, the Samsung 840 Pro or the OCZ Vector.