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About to order MBP, quick HDD question.

W

WestC07

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 7, 2011
19
1
Hello everyone, first post here.

I'm a long-time PC user about to finally make the move to Mac and couldn't be more excited.

My goal is to be "future-proof" for as long as possible so I've decided to go with the high-end 15" MBP with the 2.2Ghz processor. My everyday use is photo editing, word processing and other school-related stuff, music listening, and web browsing. The only gaming I would ever do is Minecraft and possible Counter Strike Source.

I'm a college student and can get the Apple discount. Thing is, the MBP is still about $100 cheaper on Amazon.com BUT the Amazon model comes with the 5400RPM 750GB drive. I'm not really interested in SSD right now... that'll come in the future when the prices drop a bit without a doubt.

So.. question is: Is it alright to go with the high end 15" model with the 5400RPM drive from Amazon, and purchase the Western Digital Scorpio Black HDD 7200RPM separately? If all of my research I've done on the forums here is correct, the WD Scorpio is actually a better drive than the Apple 7200RPM anyhow right?

Theoretically if I order from Amazon I could get the MBP 15" + the WD 500GB 7400RPM drive separately and still be cheaper than the Apple.com price. So would you recommend this as the best decision?

Thanks in advance for the replies!
 
If it's going to save you money, and you get a "free" spare hard drive (the one it would come with from amazon, I'd say go for it. It's ridiculously easy to change the hard drive so I wouldn't worry at all.
 
NikFinn said:
If it's going to save you money, and you get a "free" spare hard drive (the one it would come with from amazon, I'd say go for it. It's ridiculously easy to change the hard drive so I wouldn't worry at all.
Click to expand...

This. Definitely don't get a super cheap enclosure for the extra hard drive, as I did that and it just didn't work well and eventually quit.
 
alust2013 said:
This. Definitely don't get a super cheap enclosure for the extra hard drive, as I did that and it just didn't work well and eventually quit.
Click to expand...

Really? I bought a $10 one from newegg and it works great. Another thought, if the drives are the same size, use the spare one as a Time Machine.
 
OWC's Express enclosure is nice looking, cost $20, and has a 1 year warranty.
 
Thanks for the heads up! I'm not going to order the replacement drive at the same time as the laptop anyhow, I'm just anxious to go ahead and get the thing.

And thanks for the many quick replies as well. I look forward to hanging around the forums for a while.
 
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