Battery life drop when using 7200RPM drive in MBP

[gumbyx84]

Hey all. I am currently looking into getting a new HD for my MBP. One thing I have been questioning is if I should get a 5400 or 7200 RPM drive. I know 7200 RPM can give me a performance boost (small, but noticeable) but I worry about the extra power drain said drive would cause. Has anyone here upgraded to a 7200 RPM drive in a Mid-2008 MBP and, if so, how is your battery life. Currently I am at 98-99% charge level, which lasts about 5 hours with Wifi off and 3-4 with it on.

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

 

[dr. shdw]

Hey all. I am currently looking into getting a new HD for my MBP. One thing I have been questioning is if I should get a 5400 or 7200 RPM drive. I know 7200 RPM can give me a performance boost (small, but noticeable) but I worry about the extra power drain said drive would cause. Has anyone here upgraded to a 7200 RPM drive in a Mid-2008 MBP and, if so, how is your battery life. Currently I am at 98-99% charge level, which lasts about 5 hours with Wifi off and 3-4 with it on.

Thanks ahead of time for your input.

I get 2 hrs with heavy use..

 

[iShater]

I believe barefeats.com has some comparisons of battery life of such drives.

It depends on the drive:

link1 read the power section.

And dig around there.

 

[hellchicken]

I bought my new MBP with a 7200 RPM HD. I don't have it optimized for power savings and I get about 3 hours on it. Hope this helps.

 

[tecknical]

it all depends on the hard drive and the power consumption. my 5400 rpm takes 1.8W for read/write and .55 idle

a 7200RPM WD takes 2.1 for read write and i think .7 for idle, so battery life would be affected

 

[kastenbrust]

Upgrading from a 5400RPM drive to a 7200RPM drive will actually extend your battery life if you use a good quality brand for the upgrade, i'm not going to explain the science why but if you really want I will.

In the link iShater wrote above it proves my point.