128/256 ssd

[Ollifi]

Does it make really significant difference in basic daily usage between 128GB and 256GB SSD ?

I 'm thinking this http://blog.macsales.com/19008-performance-testing-not-all-2013-macbook-air-ssds-are-the-same

 

[Dweez]

It's 100% dependant on what your internal storage needs are.

I've got a 512 gig SSD in my MBP, 2 1tb firewire drives, 3 1tb usb drives and a small handful of sub-1tb usb drives. Due to the fact that I run a number of simultaneous virtual machines on my system I'm considering adding a 2nd SSD in the optical drive bay.

The difference in performance between SSD drives won't be noticeable by the user, unless that user spends much of his/her time running I/O benchmarks. SSD performance is so far above and beyond spinning platter performance that it makes the systems a joy to use.

 

[Ollifi]

I think I only need 128GB. I plan to install Win8 to it, how much would there be free space after installation? (VMware Fusion)

 

[daijholt]

From my own experience, storage space issues are largely solved now for music because of iTunes Match, and for photos and documents because of Dropbox. For anything more intensive like videos, games or pro applications though, the space just seems to vanish very quickly.

If I recall, I had to allow about 20GB to install the windows 8 preview a while back, but that could've changed for the full release. When you consider some of the total space is already taken by OS X, you won't have much more than 90 - 100GB left.

It all depends what you'll be installing after that point.

 

[Nameci]

I think I only need 128GB. I plan to install Win8 to it, how much would there be free space after installation? (VMware Fusion)

If you plan to install a VM, I'd suggest for 256GB, you will plenty of room to move around as files on VM and OSX would continually grow.

 

[Dweez]

For the $200 price differential I'd also go with the larger device, as storage needs seem to "just grow" as time passes.

 

[Ollifi]

But I can install Win8 into external USB 3, too? And then it would be quite quick as well. Of course not as quick as SSD, but I think it would be enough quick.

 

[DisplacedMic]

I think I only need 128GB. I plan to install Win8 to it, how much would there be free space after installation? (VMware Fusion)

I stopped reading as soon as I saw this - as i'm sure others are posting, i wouldn't even consider the 128 if you are going to put a VM on it.

I don't know about parallels but i know that VMware needs a minimum of 40gig.
OSX itself takes about 12 gigs barebones - so that right there is about half your drive...

256 should be plenty - i wouldn't go any lower though if i were you.

PS - if you are really set on the smaller drive i think there are work arounds for installing VM less than 40gig. Just google it and decide.

 

[Ollifi]

Yes but isn't half of disk empty enough? I'm not gonna install many programs, just Office, Spotify, Skype.

 

[Jefe's MacAir]

256 also runs a bit faster than 128.

Get the 256.

 

[DisplacedMic]

Yes but isn't half of disk empty enough? I'm not gonna install many programs, just Office, Spotify, Skype.

well the rule of thumb is you want to keep at least 10-20% of your disk empty to allow for swap files, temporary files and things of that nature. i think anand did a good article on this where they tested performance of SSDs as they got full and found that most of them start to go south around 90% full.

it sounds like you might really only need the smaller drive if you are being accurate in your space need estimation. you could always buy yourself a nice external drive later... they get cheaper smaller and better every year. $30-50 a terabyte for nice reliable drives.

 

[Ollifi]

Ok, I'll need to think about it. It's a bit difficult decision...

 

[cookies!]

For the $200 price differential I'd also go with the larger device, as storage needs seem to "just grow" as time passes.

Agreed. Out of all the upgrades, I think that this one will offer you the most utility.

 

[Dweez]

Yes but isn't half of disk empty enough? I'm not gonna install many programs, just Office, Spotify, Skype.

Storage needs always seem to grow. Of course external storage is always a great option, and usb3 speeds are decent enough.

But. Having that very fast internal storage sure is nice. I'm considering a 2nd SSD to replace my optical drive as my main SSD is nearly full and I'm using the optical drive less and less.