HDD + SSD? or SSD only?

H

hussaindo

macrumors newbie
Hello,

I'm considering buying the new iMac.

but can you please tell me what's the difference between HDD+SSD and SSD alone?

Does it mean that I will get two hard disc icons in my desktop if I buy HDD+SSD iMac?

I'm confused can some when clarify this issue for me. Thanks!
 
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You will hbe 2 built in drives - one being a hard disk drive and the other being a solid state drive. Most people, including myself, use the solid state drive for the operating system and the applications, nothing more. The reason for this is because the solid state drive is MUCH faster with loading. Your computer would boot up in about 22-25 seconds and applications will launch within a second or two. People who do this also use the hard disk drive (the 1tb drive) for files, movies, music, etc... Mainly because of file size but also because it doesn't matter how long it takes to load a movie, a song, or a word document.

If you need the speed, get it - it's worth every penny. It you don't need the speed you may feel like you wasted a few hundred bucks for your computer to start up 10 seconds quicker.
 
I don't own one yet, but if I'm not mistaken, just the HDD will show in your desktop.

Any drive additional to the OS boot drive should mount accordingly to the desktop.
 
I bought full BTO of 27 iMac mid 2011
except HDD

I only buy SSD alone

the benefit are :
more quite
more durability
use less watt for power supply

I plan to buy external firewire 800 hdd
or use thunderbolt SSD if it become cheaper
 
Snow Leopard by default doesnt display the two drives on the desktop, well not atleast with mine.

If youre getting the SSD why not put the little extra $150 for the 2TB? that way you can spread out files there and not mess around with externals. Thats what I wanted to get away form with using my 128GB SSD on my MBP and always lugging around a external.


By default i believe it is the SSD is named Macintosh HD and the Mechanical drive is Macintosh HD 2
 
abilina said:
I bought full BTO of 27 iMac mid 2011
except HDD

I only buy SSD alone

the benefit are :
more quite
more durability
use less watt for power supply

I plan to buy external firewire 800 hdd
or use thunderbolt SSD if it become cheaper
Click to expand...

I was thinking of going this route too; SSD only BTO. I really do want an external TB SSD also but I'm still waiting to see announced products. I don't want a RAID system either. I just want a simple, single drive enclosure.
 
An advantage of having both drives bult in means that you can install the os on both drives, in case one fails. This way you would have less down time and both of the internal drives are going to be much faster than external booting off of FireWire or USB.
 
question

If I go with SSD, and decide it isn't enough, will Apple install the second HDD at the apple store or other means without compromising the warranty?
 
I have two icons on my desktop, and two icons in Finder's Sidebar.

My SSD is used for the system (including paging of course), apps, various workspaces that default to the startup drive, and I keep recently created files and my Aperture Library there as well. Recent photos are kept within the Aperture Library, older ones are on the HDD as referenced Masters.

iTunes files are on the HDD.
 
rj86 said:
That's probably a question for your Apple store to answer in all honesty.
Click to expand...

well, I did just that and I received the answer I knew I would get but hoped I wouldn't-you are stuck with whatever you decided. If you get an SSD only, you are stuck with that decision unless you take matters into your own hands and break Apple's warranty.

For as many reasons I like Apple, I hate their strangle-hold on consumers. Why should I be punished for making a decision that I wasn't sure of esp when you offer the very thing I would be asking for. All I'm asking is if they could install a hdd after the facf. Hell, charge me the full price of the drive + a 100% markup. It would seem that they should be willing to accommodate me as a consumer since I'm helping to fund their world dominance.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just growing more and more disgruntled with the way that company runs.
 
pandamimicom said:
Compared to electromechanical HDDs, SSDs are typically less susceptible to physical shock, are silent, and have lower access time and latency, but are more expensive per gigabyte (GB) and typically support a limited number of writes over the life of the device.
Click to expand...

OCZ rates their economy drives at over 2,000,000 hours mtbf. (228+ years). In the past two years I haven't seen an SSD rated at under 1,000,000 hours mtbf. Even a few years ago when drives were rated by write cycles, they still had a life expectancy of 50 years or so.

Modern SSDs are so much more reliable than conventional hard drives that it's not even funny.

Now, my iMac is a late 08. I can't hear the internal drive. Is it because of background noise, my age, or is the hard drive not noisy to begin with?
 
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