256GB SSD vs. 5400 RPM 500GB SATA

[kokesh]

Hi all,
I'm going to college in a few months and need a new laptop (12" iBook G4 is what I have now). I have been strongly considering a MacBook Air for the last few months, but I knew I should wait to see what the refreshes turned out to be. Obviously, the MBA got the s*** end of the stick today compared to the new 13" MBP. So, now I'm leaning towards the MBP though I still haven't decided.

Anyway, from what I've read and seen with MBAs, the SSD is a HUGE improvement because its HDD option is 4200 rpm. So I was hoping on the MBA refresh today having a 256GB SSD. I probably would have bought it without much second-guessing if that were the case.

Since that didn't happen, I'm considering a 13" MBP with either a

• 256GB SSD
• 500GB HDD 5400 rpm

versus the Rev. C MBA with 128 GB SSD.

My questions are these:

1. Is there much need to spend the extra money to upgrade to a SSD on the MBP? Money is not an issue per se; on the other hand, HD space is not a huge issue for me either. I've been surviving on a 30GB iBook HDD for 5 years now! I think 128 GB is pushing it, but 256 should be more than ample.
2. Is it possible to upgrade the MBA to a 256GB SSD once SSDs in the smaller form factor are released?

Basically, now that there's a 256GB SSD option in a 13" MBP, I'm wondering if there will be a great marginal benefit as there is in the MBA. I'm fairly unfamiliar with UMB and UMBP, as I've only really been considering the MBA.

Thanks for your help.

 

[pdxflint]

Go for the 500g HD. Believe me, you'll be glad you did. I replaced a 120gig drive 2 months ago, and now I've got close to 280gig already on my 500gig drive. It's really easy when you have the room to start doing a lot more with your machine - video editing, music production, downloading HD video, music and photo storage using RAW files... shooting video (my little Lumix camera will shoot 848X480 video (16x9) clips) and it's amazing how quickly they grow to multiple hundreds of megs...)

Also, just load up on RAM. Big HD, lots of RAM. This will take you further than anything else as you enter college. Just be sure to get an external drive (500g) to be your backup in case the drive fails... they're around $120 today from either Seagate or WD.

 

[dr. shdw]

SSD. Get a big ext..