Advice on 13" MBP / SSD

[kgrad5]

Hi All,
Looking for advice on purchasing my first MBP. The computer will be for both personal use and a business machine. Since you can only develop for iPhone/iPod on mac it appears I need to buy myself a mac. I am going for speed and portability. I also might play a game or two on it. My plan is to buy myself a macbook pro 13" 2.26 ghz with 4g Ram. My main question is with the harddrive.

From the little research I have done it appears that the general consensus is to not buy the SSD offered stock with the macbook, but to buy your own and install it yourself. I am fine with this, I have found a decent price on an Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2C1 from newegg. My questions are thus: If I install the SSD myself will I in any way avoid my warranty/applecare? I heard that the new macbooks have lowered their sata speeds to 1.5gps, is it even worth it to get an SSD? Or should i just not bother and get a 250gb stock hd. Is the 13" too small to program on consistantly? will I be annoyed? Any other tips/tricks/advice for a first time buyer?

Thanks!

 

[tofagerl]

OK, quickly:

Warranty: Not going to be faulted
SATA 1.5gbit: Nope, that was a firmware fix
The Intel SSD: Last generation, the "2" model is cheaper and faster.

 

[kgrad5]

Thanks for the quick reply tofagerl! I am confused, doesnt the G2 in the product i linked stand for generation2?

 

[krimsen]

Regarding the 13" screen and programming:

I used to have a 12" Powerbook as my only computer during university and for programming I would really get an external display if you can afford it. You won't need fancy panels, a $200 display will do it.

My next setup to be purchased around November will be a 13" Macook Pro or Air and a large external display, too.

 

[netb0y]

I am doing the same thing. I ordered the low end 13" and plan to install an Intel X25-M. The problem is finding a decent price for the 80GB drive. I have found it for around $230 on both macmall and ecost. But after I placed my order at both stores it went from In-Stock to Backordered. I found another online retailer selling the drive for $250 + $10 off coupon and will post a link if I can get one shipped tomorrow.

Also, the model number you have in your original post is the "2" (second gen) drive that tofagerl mentioned... SSDSA2MH160G2C1

 

[rgarjr]

I'm running the X-25M G2 right now on Windows 7 on my MB and it smokes. Really fast drives.

There's a really good deal on buy.com for these drives right now

 

[kgrad5]

I am doing the same thing. I ordered the low end 13" and plan to install an Intel X25-M. The problem is finding a decent price for the 80GB drive. I have found it for around $230 on both macmall and ecost. But after I placed my order at both stores it went from In-Stock to Backordered. I found another online retailer selling the drive for $250 + $10 off coupon and will post a link if I can get one shipped tomorrow.

Also, the model number you have in your original post is the "2" (second gen) drive that tofagerl mentioned... SSDSA2MH160G2C1

Thanks for clearing that up netb0y, I saw it for 230 on buy.com (you might have needed the bing discount, dunno) can you put 2 ssd's in a single MBP? Or are you just using 1 80gb?

 

[rgarjr]

yeah you can install 2 drives, but you need to remove the superdrive in order to place the other drive in there.

 

[tofagerl]

Woops, my bad. I guess I followed a bad link when I searched on the model#.

 

[netb0y]

Thanks for clearing that up netb0y, I saw it for 230 on buy.com (you might have needed the bing discount, dunno) can you put 2 ssd's in a single MBP? Or are you just using 1 80gb?

I was buying just one 80gb because the prices are so high right now for the larger drives.

I just ordered one from buy.com. I had ordered one from capitolsupply.com on Thursday last week but it still hasn't shipped. I see that thenerds is claiming they have 293 in stock on their site.... Hopefully I get one of the drives sooner or later.

 

[xhambonex]

About applecare...

Technically yes putting in your own HDD or SSD voids your warranty. The old MBP's (15") had a place you could do an easy swap but the new MBP's, including the 13", require that you remove the bottom of the case (or something that isn't just releasing a latch that opens up to the batter).

However I called applecare and the guy told me "to put in your own drive and if you have any issues put the original back in the computer and then go to apple for repair."

I will say that the majority of the people I know with MBP's have had some sort of hardware issue and had to have apple fix it. If Apple goes in and sees the SSD in there isn't the one that shipped they could simply say you broke something...

 

[akbc]

About applecare...

Technically yes putting in your own HDD or SSD voids your warranty. The old MBP's (15") had a place you could do an easy swap but the new MBP's, including the 13", require that you remove the bottom of the case (or something that isn't just releasing a latch that opens up to the batter).

However I called applecare and the guy told me "to put in your own drive and if you have any issues put the original back in the computer and then go to apple for repair."

I will say that the majority of the people I know with MBP's have had some sort of hardware issue and had to have apple fix it. If Apple goes in and sees the SSD in there isn't the one that shipped they could simply say you broke something...

No, that's not the case and that guy who answered your question at Apple could've made a mistake.

HDD and RAM are user-serviceable parts and are covered by warranty as long as you do not touch/harm any other components in the process.

I have upgraded my MBP's HDD to a 256GB Samsung SSD and I took it back for repair and they didn't say anything. They even complimented on how fast my system is and we talked about the whole SSD stuff at the service centre.

So, to make things short:

MacBook and MacBook Pro's HDDs are user-serviceable and there should be nothing to worry about with AppleCare as long as you do not touch other parts inside your computer

 

[1ede2]

AKBC, can you please help me! I don't see any contact info but I'm try to get a response on your old thread, "iTunes does not display Asian characters correctly." Please check it and help me out!

 

[netb0y]

For those looking for these Intel drives, I was finally able to get a drive from pcnation.com (bing, direct). I ordered on Monday, drive shipped out on Tuesday, and the tracking information says it will be delivered today. Not bad for free shipping. Total cost was $242.44 - $6.79 (bing cashback) = $235.65.

I had tried each of the following retailers unsuccessfully. Each one had the 80GB 2nd Gen drive listed as "In Stock" at the time I placed my order but eventually changed the status to backorder...

• buy.com
• ecost.com
• capitolsupply.com