1TB HD for Macbook Mid 2010

[mrsbean]

Hi everyone,

I've had a Macbook (mid 2010), for a few years now and although I love the features, the speed has always been quite slow. I've noticed that CPU and disk activity is maxed out whenever I try to open a programme or just surf the internet. When I purchased it, I wanted to upgrade to a 1TB HD but there wasn't anything on the market small enough to fit, so my questions are:

- is there now a 1TB HD that will fit? I've seen this, but am not sure if it'll fit.

- should I be looking to improve RAM? Mine is currently 2GB, but I'm using Photoshop and iMovie a lot which is proving to be quite sluggish.

- is there anything else I can do to improve speed?

 

[pastrychef]

As long as that drive has the correct thickness, it should fit in your MacBook fine.

Extra RAM is a good idea. 2GB by today's standards is quite small.

An SSD instead of platter based hard drive will improve the perception of overall speed on any computer.

 

[mrsbean]

Thanks - I'm not sure what the maximum size of the drive should be. I remember trying a few 1TB HDs a few years back and none of them fit.

Is it worth getting a hybrid SSD drive?

Thanks.

 

[pastrychef]

If you are unsure of the max height, go with 7mm (currently the lowest height in shipping drives) to be safe.

The hybrid SSDs do not perform anywhere near what real SSDs can do.

 

[bizzle]

Any 9.5MM drive will fit, which that is. We use the same ones at work.

 

[brdeveloper]

Your RAM can be upgraded and you could buy a SSD. Certainly your Photoshop and iMovie will like them. 8GB RAM would be pretty nice, but your Macbook (mid-2010) actually supports up to 16GB which is pretty good for dealing with large files.

 

[trevm999]

Your CPU shouldn't be maxed out just surfing the internet. Do you know what process is taking up the most CPU power?