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Get an an SSD or normal Hard Drive?

D

denm316

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 16, 2003
338
0
Philadelphia
Hello All,

I have a quick question about the Hard Drives in the MBP. I currently have a Rev B. MBA with the 128GB SSD. The things I love about it are how quick and it powers on and the general snappiness of the machine itself.

I am looking to replace my MBA with a new i5 MBP, probably the middle grade one for $1,999. I need more space and need something to handle some things that the MBA cant.

I am curious is it really worth it to spend the additional $1,300 to get the 512GB SSD drive, or is this just insane. I have read mixed reviews on SSD' s and wonder if it is really worth it or am I just as good sticking with the normal 500GB hard drive.

Your opinions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
-Dennis
 
If you are comfortable opening the computer, why not just get the 500GB HDD and then replace the optical drive with a 80GB Intel SSD? Or you could replace the optical drive with the 128GB SSD from your air.

If not, why not get the 128GB SSD from Apple? Do you need 500GB of storage accessible all the time? You could also consider external storage until SSD prices fall.

Whatever your case, there is no way the 512GB SSD is worth $1300.
You could buy another computer for that price.
 
I think that HDDs (in laptops) are dying. Coming from an MBA w/SSD you will surely miss having the SSD.

The good news about your MBP is that the drive is user upgradeable (unlike your MBA). There is no way that I would spend $1300 since you can buy a great SSD for a fraction of that cost. Instead, I would configure the MBP with the smallest HDD possible, and then swap. I would keep the original drive in reserve just in case you need to bring the MBP in for service.

/Jim
 
flynz4 said:
I think that HDDs (in laptops) are dying. Coming from an MBA w/SSD you will surely miss having the SSD.

The good news about your MBP is that the drive is user upgradeable (unlike your MBA). There is no way that I would spend $1300 since you can buy a great SSD for a fraction of that cost. Instead, I would configure the MBP with the smallest HDD possible, and then swap. I would keep the original drive in reserve just in case you need to bring the MBP in for service.

/Jim
Click to expand...

I second that, unless you can't fit all your essential apps/media on the largest SSD that you can justify purchasing. SSDs are the future and I would not consider purchasing a new computer unless I had already added an SSD to the price. Buy the MBP with the smallest HDD available, swap in a 3rd party SSD, not gonna recommend which brand because there are hundreds of threads on that, and then just use the old HDD for time machine.
 
btownguy said:
You can have both...cheap:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591

Benchies have proven this to be a great performing drive. Mine gets delivered tomorrow.
Click to expand...

lol...unless you can fit all your boot apps on that...then its useless.

only 4gb of ssd.

it chooses what goes on it (even though it does a good job) it cannot fit it all on there, therefore it has to rely again on spinning disks...which are slow.

SSD + HDD combo using optibay...all the way.
 
MacModMachine said:
SSD + HDD combo using optibay...all the way.
Click to expand...

How do you setup Time Machine in that configuration? Do you have to choose which drive (SSD or HDD) Time Machine backs up? That's my main concern with having 2 physical drives in my laptop.
 
btownguy said:
How do you setup Time Machine in that configuration? Do you have to choose which drive (SSD or HDD) Time Machine backs up? That's my main concern with having 2 physical drives in my laptop.
Click to expand...

time machine will backup any volumes you want.

mine automatically backs up both the ssd and hdd.

its not really an issue.
 
My main reason for wanting the larger drive is to keep all my media on the laptop. I like to have it all on there and then have an external drive strictly as a backup. Keeps it easy making sure everything is perfectly backed up with not a lot of headache.

I also thought the $1,00 price tag for the SSD was a little outrageous and was pretty sure one could be had for a better price.

I will be selling the MBA once I but the MBP, so hopefully what will offset the majority of the cost.
 
Get an afermarket SSD that will be much faster and have better wear leveling then that of what the Apple provided SSDs will offer you. Look into the OWC Mercury Extreme series or the Patriot Inferno's, even the OCZ LE is a better drive.

There are some current reviews of the OWC drives around, let google help you find them.

Regards
BC
 
I've always thought that SSD's cost waaaay too much. If you think about it, you are investing 75% of the money you spent on a laptop to purchase a harddrive with smaller storage space. I believe that an extra couple hundred invested in a Core i7 processor and some more RAM is better spent. Also, as far as I know, SSD's still have the trouble of degrading over time. If you plan to keep your MBP around for a while, this may not be the best choice.
 
Definitely buy with the default hdd option and upgrade to an SSD of your own choosing. It took me all of 10 minutes (with the right tools) to swap in a 160GB Intel SSD and I couldn't be happier.
 
OpenLaszlo said:
I've always thought that SSD's cost waaaay too much. If you think about it, you are investing 75% of the money you spent on a laptop to purchase a harddrive with smaller storage space. I believe that an extra couple hundred invested in a Core i7 processor and some more RAM is better spent. Also, as far as I know, SSD's still have the trouble of degrading over time. If you plan to keep your MBP around for a while, this may not be the best choice.
Click to expand...

First off, there are many people that say Apple products cost way too much as well. If you are buying a Macbook in the first place, cost most likely is not a primary concern.

Second, a good SSD can be had for around 300.00... unless I am missing something that is not 75% of even the lowest end macbook pro 13 which sells for 1199.00. I can only speak from personal experience and once you use an SSD you wont even want to deal with a 5400/7200 RPM HDD again. In the end, do what works for you. If you have a need to carry around 15K Lossless songs and 50 Blue-Ray DVD Rips then an SSD isn't right for you at this point in time.

Lastly, you should do a little research on current Gen 3 SSD technology. The new Sansforce drives do not degrade over time and have plenty of padding to deal with any bad blocks that may arise over the 5 or so years you will be using them.
 
Thank everyone for your input

I take there really arent any downsides with SSD, except of course for the higher price?
 
BobbyCarbn said:
First off, there are many people that say Apple products cost way too much as well. If you are buying a Macbook in the first place, cost most likely is not a primary concern.

Second, a good SSD can be had for around 300.00... unless I am missing something that is not 75% of even the lowest end macbook pro 13 which sells for 1199.00. I can only speak from personal experience and once you use an SSD you wont even want to deal with a 5400/7200 RPM HDD again. In the end, do what works for you. If you have a need to carry around 15K Lossless songs and 50 Blue-Ray DVD Rips then an SSD isn't right for you at this point in time.

Lastly, you should do a little research on current Gen 3 SSD technology. The new Sansforce drives do not degrade over time and have plenty of padding to deal with any bad blocks that may arise over the 5 or so years you will be using them.
Click to expand...

For what denm316 was saying, he is looking for a 512GB SSD. I doubt you can find any for less than a grand. When you are talking about that much cost, the price does matter.
 
denm316 said:
Thank everyone for your input

I take there really arent any downsides with SSD, except of course for the higher price?
Click to expand...

performance degrades unless the SSD has its own built in garbage collection OR it supports TRIM and the OS supports TRIM.

OSX does not have TRIM support.
 
Dennis: yes it is insane.

But here is the difference between a 500 GB 7200 RPM drive and an SSD:
 

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