How is the 500gb hard drive in the 2011 5,2 Mac Mini? (Vs WD scorpio black)

[troy14]

Hello,

I just purchased a used 2011 Mac Mini 5,2 from eBay with 16gb of ram and the 500GB hard drive. Was tired of always plugging/unplugging all the cables to my monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, etc. whenever I came home from school.

I have a 2010 Macbook Pro with a western digital scorpio black 7200rpm 750gb hard drive that I replaced myself.

At first the extra vibration/noise didn't bother me, but now it is. I also think it is hurting my battery life (but could be my imagination?). Nevertheless, I won't need the 750GB of space on my laptop anymore and would rather have it on my desktop.

Since both hard drives are 2.5'', I can swap them correct? How is the performance of this hard drive in the Mini? Will it be louder / drain more battery or anything I should be concerned about?

 

[Ice Dragon]

A solid state drive is better than both of them. The WD Scorpio Black iirc is 7,200rpm hence the extra noise and vibration. The default drive is slower and makes less noise at 5,400rpm.

 

[Omnius]

the 500gb drives from the 5,1 and 5,2 minis are stunningly quiet. They run at 5400rpm which should result in less noise and vibration.

If you're swapping drives about you should seriously consider getting a SSD for the laptop. It'll be silent, cool and blazing fast. Then an OWC data doubler kit and just put your 750gb HD inside the mini so you have 1.25 TB total in the mini.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for the 5,2 mini?

 

[troy14]

the 500gb drives from the 5,1 and 5,2 minis are stunningly quiet. They run at 5400rpm which should result in less noise and vibration.

If you're swapping drives about you should seriously consider getting a SSD for the laptop. It'll be silent, cool and blazing fast. Then an OWC data doubler kit and just put your 750gb HD inside the mini so you have 1.25 TB total in the mini.

If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for the 5,2 mini?

Thanks! I considered the SSD but I don't really need the increased speed, my laptop will be for class only now which consists of typing notes on MS Word while multitasking facebook, twitter, instagram, and any other social networking website. Reality though, the price is not worth it to me for something I don't need or want. Maybe eventually, but spending another $130 or whatever it is for only 128gb isn't appealing to me.

The extra storage / speed, while making my laptop quieter / better battery life is a win/win for me. I have a Readynas Ultra 2+ with 2 2tb HD in raid 1 so I have plenty of extra storage should 750gb not be enough, making the data doubler unnecessary as well

I picked up the 5,2 mini for about $535 shipped. Came with a copy of Mountain Lion and 16GB ram, but no box. Figured I could live without the box for a price like that, although it was a very hard decision considering I can get a brand new mini for $560.

 

[Omnius]

It's not a bad deal but a refurb 2012 would likely have been a better value. For example I bought a 5,1 mini with 3gb ram for 350. It was dusty and oddly dirty. It had unmatched ghetto ram. It came with a track pad with a big crack in it that was functioning perfectly despite the crack.

I've since cleaned it, put in 8gb of crucial ram, added a 1tb additional 5400rpm WD HDD and its great. All told Its an excellent htpc.

 

[troy14]

It's not a bad deal but a refurb 2012 would likely have been a better value. For example I bought a 5,1 mini with 3gb ram for 350. It was dusty and oddly dirty. It had unmatched ghetto ram. It came with a track pad with a big crack in it that was functioning perfectly despite the crack.

I've since cleaned it, put in 8gb of crucial ram, added a 1tb additional 5400rpm WD HDD and its great. All told Its an excellent htpc.

Got me all scared now!

The prices of this Mini have been pretty high on eBay. I'm pretty confident if I get it and I don't like it then I may put it back up and get more/almost all of my money back. I can then go buy a new or refurbed 2012 or even wait for 2013 model and chalk up the money lost as a lesson learned.

 

[Omnius]

Got me all scared now!

The prices of this Mini have been pretty high on eBay. I'm pretty confident if I get it and I don't like it then I may put it back up and get more/almost all of my money back. I can then go buy a new or refurbed 2012 or even wait for 2013 model and chalk up the money lost as a lesson learned.

I've found that e-bay prices on macs are often substantially higher than equivalent second hand brick and mortar shops and craigslist sales. Much of this has to do with the cost of shipping ebay goods and that sellers on ebay set higher reserves knowing that ebay and paypal take a decent chunk off the top.