5400 vs. 7200 vs. SSD Question & Obtibay

[Bobby Corwen]

The cool thing to do these days; all the cool kids are doing this:

(order the largest capacity SSD you can afford from Apple directly, 128, 256, or 512) + (Maxugrades, OWC, or MCE Optibay kit to allow you a precious second drive with enough capacity to allow early SSD adoption at reasonable prices) + (750GB 7200 RPM Scorpio Black) = Fastest, snappiest speed combined with enough non-external capacity storage to make it work while still being a mobile laptop where you dont have to worry about an external hard drive.

Then just buy a 2TB External Thunderbolt drive and it will behave exactly like a 3rd mass storage hard drive. Same speed and read write times and everything.

In the event of an emergency you replace the optical drive and return it to factory settings.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Quick questions:

Is it possible to install programs on the secondary HDD drive, and still have them appear in your native applications folder on your desktop?

What about when you install certain programs and it says "drag me" and theres the applications folder next to it. How do you handle that when you have an Optibay setup?

 

[DarwinOSX]

Are you buying the SSD from apple? Because that means your getting ripped off.
As you may know, apple over prices their SSDs.

No. They don't. You can add a 128GB SSD to the model he is looking at for $100. Yeah. A $100. Or a 256MB for $500. Oh, the horror.

The smart move would be to buy the 128GB and optibay the 750GB drive.

 

[Weaselboy]

Quick questions:

Is it possible to install programs on the secondary HDD drive, and still have them appear in your native applications folder on your desktop?

What about when you install certain programs and it says "drag me" and theres the applications folder next to it. How do you handle that when you have an Optibay setup?

You should be able to put the Applications folder where you want it then create a symbolic link to it from the original Applications folder. This way when you install an app in the old folder location it will actually be in the new location.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

You should be able to put the Applications folder where you want it then create a symbolic link to it from the original Applications folder. This way when you install an app in the old folder location it will actually be in the new location.

How do I do that? What's a symbolic link?

The reason I ask is because I have lots of applications I want to install with music plugins of all sorts which is much more than the SSD can hold and I'm trying to figure out how all this will work before I do it.

I will have OSX and Win7, and iLife and Ableton, Logic, and Final Cut installed on the SSD. Besides that is there anything else that HAS to be on the SSD and can't go on the internal secondary?

 

[Weaselboy]

This explains what a sym link is.

Here is a good thread that explains how to sym link the apps folder.

 

[NickZac]

The speed of any hard disk drive is a joke compared to even the slowest of solid state drives.

The upgrade from the Apple HDD to 128 GB SSD is about 100 USD here, which is a GREAT value despite what others may say. You can get a (good) 750GB HDD for $50; a good SSD starts at around $200 for the 128GB size, and is realistically going to be closer to $250 (at least in the US). The Apple SSD is a SATA2 and is made by Toshiba. The NAND 32nm memory used is good and it isn't a slow drive. Faster SSDs do exist, but the difference they make in real world computing is debatable.

I run about 30 GB of music on my MBP 128 SSD and large stat files I am using about 65GB. You could not pay me to ever us another HDD.

 

[vincenz]

The cool thing to do these days; all the cool kids are doing this:

(order the largest capacity SSD you can afford from Apple directly, 128, 256, or 512) + (Maxugrades, OWC, or MCE Optibay kit to allow you a precious second drive with enough capacity to allow early SSD adoption at reasonable prices) + (750GB 7200 RPM Scorpio Black) = Fastest, snappiest speed combined with enough non-external capacity storage to make it work while still being a mobile laptop where you dont have to worry about an external hard drive.

Then just buy a 2TB External Thunderbolt drive and it will behave exactly like a 3rd mass storage hard drive. Same speed and read write times and everything.

In the event of an emergency you replace the optical drive and return it to factory settings.

That makes the computer sound like a Frankenstein monster.

 

[CHSeifert]

Do like I did in my MBP 15.

Buy the 256 SSD or if you can't afford, get the 128 SSD.

Then save up for the 500 GB Seagate Momentus XT hybrid HDD/SSD drive and place it in the optibay for data storage.

You don't really need the DVD unless you burn a lot of stuff on the run.

 

[Criticalmass]

Curious: How much hotter does a 7200rpm drive run over the 5400 rpm? I have a 7200 Momentus XT in a Dell XPS 15 and it runs super hot with a lot of disk activity. It exceeds the max temp by 1-2C usually. (61-62c). And am hesitant about putting a faster drive in the MBP because of it.

 

[JTToft]

Curious: How much hotter does a 7200rpm drive run over the 5400 rpm? I have a 7200 Momentus XT in a Dell XPS 15 and it runs super hot with a lot of disk activity. It exceeds the max temp by 1-2C usually. (61-62c). And am hesitant about putting a faster drive in the MBP because of it.

- My Hitachi 7200 RPM drive is very cool. It's at 34 degrees celsius at the moment, but I am not doing a whole lot right now. I don't think I have ever seen it above 40 degrees - certainly not above 45.

 

[Criticalmass]

- My Hitachi 7200 RPM drive is very cool. It's at 34 degrees celsius at the moment, but I am not doing a whole lot right now. I don't think I have ever seen it above 40 degrees - certainly not above 45.

Thanks, i'm not a big fan of hitachi for reliability but i've heard a few people mention that these drives are quiet and don't get too hot. After dealing with the XT, I won't be buying another one, that's for sure.

 

[ranviper]

I'm ordering my MBP in about 12 hours time and I'm not sure which route to go down. I am ordering a 2.2ghz 15'' AG.

I have 50GB of music, I want to install OSX and Windows 7. I have 1000GB of videos but they don't need to all be on the laptop.

Do I go for:
a) 750GB @5200RPM
b) 500GB @7200RPM
c) Apple SSD 128GB (for £80)

I was leaning towards the SSD and having a USB harddrive but in reality, does having all my stuff stored on an external USB drive defeat the purpose of having an SSD?

Does an optibay void your warantee? I would consider this if it didn't mess with my apple care.

You may not want a SSD, as although fast, having ALL your information on an external drive may make it rather inconvenient, especially if you head out and want to watch a movie on the run.

However you can have the best of both worlds. WD makes a 7200rpm 750GB Hard drive, the scorpio black. I have one, its quite quick and lots of space.

You can also get a seagate hybrid drive, has a few gigs of solid state for boot up times, and also has a good 500 gigs of regular drive. Good stuff, but I prefer a bit more space, as the hybrid doesn't really make much of a difference. Cheers.

 

[carreragt7]

i just played with the macbook air 11" today at bestbuy.

To be honest i was not that impressed with the boot times and application loading.

I timed the MBA and it took 20 seconds to boot. It took my MBP 13" i5 29 seconds (5400 rpm drive.)

Yeah, something must have been up with the store display. I've owned both models of the 11" Air (and 13, actually) and the bootup time was 15 seconds or less. Of course my new MBP with SSD boots in roughly the same time and has a lot more power available. But the Air sure was super portable.

I've got a 128gb OCZ Vertex in my HD bay, and my 750gb 5400rp, HD in an optibay. Seems to be working alright for now.

 

[Tonepoet]

If none of the externals look good, perhaps you could buy an internal+enclosure. The assembly isn't too complex, certainly easier than Optibay at the least.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Optibay is just as easy as anything really. Pretty much the same over-all work you would put in for replacing a hard drive or RAM. The hard part is still gonna be the lid screws and managing them; whether it's RAM, HDD, or Optibay.

Whats so hard about unscrewing two more screws after you've already unscrewed 20, and then plugging in a hard drive into an adapter that gets shipped to your doorstep?

Everybody acts like optibay is surgery when it's more like unplugging one drive, then plugging in another.

 

[iMackPro]

hmm i hope so b.c i just ordered the owc sata III 120 gb ssd. I hope its worth the $$$

apple airs have a LOT of stuff on their laptop that most people wont have on start up, like running "how to" videos, and massive libraries. Not to mention the hundreds of apps they have for people to play with, and theres no telling how many of those are activated upon start up!