HD advice - MBP

[mthao00]

I have a Hitachi 7k200 7200rpm HD installed now. The original Fujitsu 120gb 5400rpm HD is stored away. After installing and using Leopard, I've noticed a decrease in battery life and the noise of the HD is quite louder than the Fujitsu (obviously - faster drive).

My question is would people recommend a slower internal drive and then a faster and bigger FW 400/800 external 7200rpm HD to use as a scratch disk (video, audio, and misc files)? Or just use the faster one internally?

I'm planning on using Carbon Copy to clone and then swap back the Fujitsu HD. It may run a little slower but it's quieter and will, I hope, increase battery life.

Advice... BTW, I do video, audio, and photoshop work as an expensive hobby. Thanks in advance.

mT

 

[admiraldennis]

Random access speed (the benefit provided by a higher RPM) is much more valuable on a boot drive, as it speeds up booting and other system processes. RPM does not dictate maximum transfer speed.

I'd honestly be surprised if your 7200rpm drive was actually decrease your battery life by more than a minute or two at most. Modern-day 2.5" 7200rpm drives pull a negligibly more power than their slower counterparts.

 

[mthao00]

I guess I should stick with the Hitachi then huh? Man, it is louder and that kind of annoys me. Seems like the HD fan is always running. Oh well, I'll stick with with the benefits of the fast drive and use the Fujitsu as an external scratch. Cool, thanks.

What's the answer to my battery life problems? Yes, calibrated (many times) and had the battery replaced back when Apple was doing their battery replacement program.

mT

 

[iW00t]

Do you need mobility all that much? Sell the MacBook Pro and get a Mac Pro?

I find it very amusing how people seem to have this idea that the MacBook Pro is supposed to be an extremely powerful computer, it isn't.