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Get the 120 gig HD or 160 gig HD?

L

Lopes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 23, 2003
277
124
Hi, I'm trying to decide between MacBook Pro options and am not sure what to do. Do I get a refurb C2D MBP with the original 120 gig drive, or do I buy a new custom one with the 160 gig perpendicular drive?

In other words, what is the real performance increase between the two drives?
 
Get the 160GB harddrive if you are going to have a lot of files on your computer like Movies (HD) or a lot of gaming (from Discs). Otherwise the 120GB is fine for you.
 
i guess I should have added that I'm a graphic designer who will be making extensive use of CS2 and CS3 once it comes out. Does a perpendicular drive help as much as you're saying? I don't know the peticulars about the technology.
 
Lopes said:
i guess I should have added that I'm a graphic designer who will be making extensive use of CS2 and CS3 once it comes out. Does a perpendicular drive help as much as you're saying? I don't know the peticulars about the technology.
Click to expand...

I think so but no sure. For your uses, I would say get the 160GB Harddrive (if you plan on making a lot of stuff in CS2/CS3 and you will appreciate it).
 
If you need a bigger HD then just get a WesternDigital portable HD or two for the money you will save. I don't know much about refurbs so if you trust it and the only diff is the HD size and the price. Can you add apple care to a refurb? I have 160Gb and a 80Gb portable and a 2Gb flash and I still want more space and I use the same apps. If you can add applecare to the refurb then thats whst I'd get and save some cash for toys.
 
Yeah you can get applecare on refurbs. I'm just curious about performace increases in say using photoshop with the, what I believe to be, faster 160gig perpendicular harddrive. Taking the extra space out of the equation, is the performace worth the price?
 
The rpm of the HD increases the Apps open time but CS2 takes a long time to open no matter what. Are you talking C2D or CD this is far more important. What is the diff in price? The HD size seems like the least important issue as I think the both spin at 5400 rpm. Are you talking 15" or 17"? (edit) Sorry I see its C2D. Think of it this way if the only diff is HD size then whatever the price differance is, Say $300, is what your paying for 40 extra Gb. $300 is a lot of external Gb and in your line of work back up is more important.
 
I do a lot of Adobe CS2 stuff too...get the 2.33 ghz macbook pro with 2 or 3gigs of ram and a 160gb 5400rpm hard drive. I also highly recommend an external 250gb hard drive.
 
mattibek said:
If you need a bigger HD then just get a WesternDigital portable HD or two for the money you will save. I don't know much about refurbs so if you trust it and the only diff is the HD size and the price. Can you add apple care to a refurb? I have 160Gb and a 80Gb portable and a 2Gb flash and I still want more space and I use the same apps. If you can add applecare to the refurb then thats whst I'd get and save some cash for toys.
Click to expand...

What you said about external drives is true, but I do not think you have to fall in love with WD, at least not to the exclusion of others. Certain people have preferences, and one failure can spoil their party for many years. I think Seagate, WD, Hitachi and Maxtor all make decent drives. I can also recall a period when each had its' manufacturing issues. However, on the whole they are all pretty good.

As it turns out, I just returned from Fry's having purchased two externals. Both are Seagates:

320GB - USB 2.0 - $149.00
500GB - USB 2.0 - $209.00

My department (IT) maintains a small inventory of loaners. These two are for use with Dell/HP. For our Macs, I purchase LaCie FW800/FW400/USB 2.0 Triple Interface. I am hoping that someday one will fail and I can see what drive is in there. What I noticed at Fry's, the cost for a 160GB drive was about the same as the 320GB. The 120GB drives were ~$129.00. So, I do not see much advantage in buying the lower capacity drives.
 
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