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Considering I use a 5400RPM 250gb drive in my MBP, as well as two 160gb 5400rpm bus powered USB externals for scratch disks when editing video in FCS2 with no problem, I'd say if you need the space, go ahead with the 5400rpm.

7200rpm should be a little more snappy, but i wouldn't deem it worth it over a dramatic decrease in space.
 
Depends what you're using it for. I'm upgrading mine on tuesday with a 200 gig 7200 drive for video editing.
 
I would personally go for more space, but it depends on what you use your laptop for. Also, the faster the hard drive, the more heat it puts out. If you need lots of space, I'd just recommend getting an external hard drive if you can live with that.
 
I am thinking internally a 7200 RPM drive for slightly faster boot time and application loading,

And then an external drive for whatever stuff I have that would need more space. Movies ect.
 
If all you need is space, then get an external drive. If you want speed, then 7200 with the largest memory buffer available.
 
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