How much HD space is enough?

[umdjb]

I am planning to buy a MB and I was wondering how much hard drive space I should allot myself.

I am going to buy the 2.0ghz model with 80 GB Hard drive. If I plan to run windows parrallel or boot camp and need to partition it how much hard drive space should I allow for if I use my computer for itunes, light photo viewing, MS Office, and web browsing. I am currently using about 35gb of my 160gb hard drive on my desktop.

Thank you

 

[phungy]

How much music do you have and do you plan on getting more on a regular basis?

I stopped downloading music a few years ago so my storage hasn't increased much.

If you get the 160, you may only have ~135GB free after a full install of OSX.

As for Parallel with Windows, you would probably be safe getting at least a 120GB. That way you have about 100GB free. Split it evenly and have 50GB for OSX and 50GB for Windows. Just a suggestion.

Instead of a huge HD, I opted for a faster one. Using my external as the huge HD.

 

[umdjb]

I currently have about 10gb worth of music on itunes and regularly download a new song or two about once a week. So not too much heavy downloading.

I am definitely considering the larger 120gb HD option. However, how did you get a faster HD rather than a larger one. I thought all the Apple HDs run at 5400rpms?

 

[jsw]

I am definitely considering the larger 120gb HD option. However, how did you get a faster HD rather than a larger one. I thought all the Apple HDs run at 5400rpms?

You are correct; as of today, only the MBP's offer faster drives (which might change next week), although the 200GB drive is 4200 RPM for both the MB and MBP (there isn't a fast 200GB laptop drive, yet).

You can, of course, always get the stock HD and buy your own 7200RPM drive. Installation is easy enough in an MB, and you could use the stock one in an external enclosure to help with backups.

 

[phungy]

I currently have about 10gb worth of music on itunes and regularly download a new song or two about once a week. So not too much heavy downloading.

I am definitely considering the larger 120gb HD option. However, how did you get a faster HD rather than a larger one. I thought all the Apple HDs run at 5400rpms?

Purchased off Newegg. Seagate Momentus 100GB 7200rpm for $145. A bit pricey but 5 year warranty.

 

[stevento]

I am planning to buy a MB and I was wondering how much hard drive space I should allot myself.

I am going to buy the 2.0ghz model with 80 GB Hard drive. If I plan to run windows parrallel or boot camp and need to partition it how much hard drive space should I allow for if I use my computer for itunes, light photo viewing, MS Office, and web browsing. I am currently using about 35gb of my 160gb hard drive on my desktop.

Thank you

it seems to me that you should get the 2nd revision macbook black.
it used to be that you pay $1500 for 60 G and 512kb
but now it has a new processor, 1G Ram and 120 G standard and you pay extra for whatever you need beyond that (which you wont)

but if you're going to put vista on there, i'd recommed 1.5 G of ram.
because vista premium (which is awesome) requires 1G of ram and OSX aint the most ram efficient. so running them both at the same time with applications in both you might need 1.5 or 2 G ram.

 

[emptyCup]

If your desktop is a Mac and you are only using 35 GB then you should be fine. Allow at least 10 GB for a Windows partition. Plan on leaving about 10 GB of disk free for system use. Music, or most especially video, can use a lot of space. If your use on your current machine has leveled off at 35 GB I do not see a problem. If you plan on doing new things it might be worth the $150 to get the larger HD.