How much of a difference does the SSD really make?

[Dtp8513]

I am a pretty novice user- I am going to be learning photoshop though soon and other things related to digital photography (just picked up a cannon t2i)


Anyways... whats the story with the SSD? The price jump from the 128-256+ is insane and I really enjoy keeping my files on one machine. That being said, what are the real benefits of SSD? Would I benefit that much?

Right now im looking at the model 2.2ghz 15 inch 750gig...

 

[Tamasi]

Isn't the jump to the 128gb SSD on that model only like 100usd or something (even without any discount)?

SSD is great, I recommend you to get it. A better option may be to get a third-party optibay solution.

 

[-Ryan-]

I have just purchased and installed my first SSD in my new 13" Macbook Pro. I think this is the most worthwhile part of my upgrade. For more information, check a post I just made here, which highlights a number of positives I have noticed already from my new SSD.

 

[derbothaus]

2nd vote for optibay boot at 100GB or so and the 750 for storage and user account. But just getting the 7200RPM drive should show a bit of speed increase. If you are a novice user you could always wait a year or so before praising the SSD. If you have the funds...do it. I am waiting for Sandforce-2500 later in the year before spending 600.00 per SSD.

 

[holmesf]

I am a pretty novice user- I am going to be learning photoshop though soon and other things related to digital photography (just picked up a cannon t2i)


Anyways... whats the story with the SSD? The price jump from the 128-256+ is insane and I really enjoy keeping my files on one machine. That being said, what are the real benefits of SSD? Would I benefit that much?

Right now im looking at the model 2.2ghz 15 inch 750gig...

SSDs offer order of magnitude speed improvements for application launching and bootup. This dramatically changes how fast a machine feels, so much so that the 1.4GHz Macbook air can feel as fast as a midrange Macbook Pro simply because it has an SSD in place of hard disk. If you can stomach the higher price and lower capacity, it is probably the best upgrade you can make to a system.

Not to mention the fact that SSDs operate completely silent.

 

[KPOM]

Once you use a computer with an SSD you will never go back to a HDD.

That said, there are better deals than Apple's SSD custom order. I'd suggest getting a reputable third party drive. Do a little bit of research on SSDs (those with SandForce controllers perform particularly well) and purchase a replacement 2.5" drive for your MacBook Pro. You can then buy an enclosure for the hard drive that comes with your Mac and use it for backup purposes.

 

[vincenz]

The whole computer will feel faster when apps launch. It won't help processing power much, but for everyday use, your computer will feel much faster.

 

[ender land]

The optibay SSD for HD and apps with 750gb main hard drive are my "upgrades" I intend to sometime do for my 2010 13" mbp.

 

[holmesf]

Once you use a computer with an SSD you will never go back to a HDD.

That said, there are better deals than Apple's SSD custom order. I'd suggest getting a reputable third party drive. Do a little bit of research on SSDs (those with SandForce controllers perform particularly well) and purchase a replacement 2.5" drive for your MacBook Pro. You can then buy an enclosure for the hard drive that comes with your Mac and use it for backup purposes.

This is true. I highly recommend SSD drives from OWC. They have thus far performed much better than Apple SSD drives, and are based on the SandForce controller.

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/Mercury_Extreme_SSD_Sandforce/Solid_State_Pro