4200 vs. 5400 rpm HDD

[Kashchei]

I've got an itchy finger and am about to buy a MacBook. I have one issue that keeps me from pulling the trigger: I want a large internal drive but the 200 GB model spins at only 4200 rpm (the smaller drives spin at 5400 rpm). As slow as my current machine is, at least its internal drive spins at 7200 rpm. How much of a performance hit will I take if I choose the 200 GB/4200 rpm drive over the 160 GB/5400 rpm? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Luis]

I would not go with the 4200RPM, since albeit it offers a great deal of storage, it is said that the minimum for a drive to be acceptable is 5600RPM, many people agree that 4200RPM is way too slow. It also depends on what you are going to do with your computer, if you are doing something HD intensive, then you will suffer greatly.

 

[Genghis Khan]

i wouldn't get the 4200rpm...the cost of speed is too much of a price to pay for the extra space

 

[DoFoT9]

yea 4200rpm is a bit tooo slow.
you could always put your own 5400rpm 250GB drive in yourself....

 

[FleurDuMal]

Hold up...surely it depends on what the OP is using it for? Yeah, 4200rpm would be useless for something like video editing. But if they're just using it for basic use, I'm sure they wouldn't even notice the difference.

 

[crazycat]

I never notice hard drive speeds, when i drag something on the desktop it does not matter if it take 10 mins or 13 mins. Once you start to copy lots of large files daily then you will have a problem.

Will this work?

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=314

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Just remember that even though a near empty 5400 disk is faster than a near empty 4200 disk, the picture gets a bit different when you start adding data: When you've added 74 GB the 200GB@4200 disk gets faster than a 160GB@5400. (Link)

But why not avoid the problem and get Samsung's new 250GB@5400 disk...?

 

[crazycat]

But why not avoid the problem and get Samsung's new 250GB@5400 disk...?

Would you do me a favor and link me to a model that i can use with my MBP 15"?

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Would you do me a favor and link me to a model that i can use with my MBP 15"?

Uk link (don't have any US ones). There might be cheaper suppliers, but I'm a long time Komplett Norway customer...

PS! I have already upgraded my HD to the 200GB@4200 Toshiba in my MacBook, and I'm very pleased with that. Still considering upgrading to the larger (and faster) Samsung disk sooner or later.

 

[crazycat]

Thank you.