How much space will all this take up? / HD question

[karansaraf]

I want a MBP with a SSD instead of a standard HDD.

I'm trying to decide between a 128GB and 256GB, but because of the large difference in price, am considering a 128GB, as long as all the things I want to be stored on the MBP will fit, with some extra space.

I have about 30GB of music that I want to be stored on the laptop itself, most of my other files and documents can go on my external HD.

So what I need to know is how much space the following takes up so that I can figure out whether I'll have enough:

- OSX
- Photoshop CS5
- Lightroom 3
- iLife
- iWork
- MS Office

Obviously I'll have many many other applications, but they will be smaller in size than the above, so I should be able to fit them all on with the spare space I have. What I am trying to figure out is how much space all the above will take up, which in addition to my music will tell me how much spare space I have. If that is an acceptable amount, then I might just go for the 128GB. If not, then I'll have to think about 256GB, or perhaps just go with 500GB@7200 and then upgrade at a later date when I can afford it/when SSDs go down in price a bit.

 

[Lenas]

Well, how much spare space do you need? You will definitely be able to install all of those programs as well as all your music, but what about the future? I personally don't like having HDD's smaller than 500GB, which is why I haven't gone SSD yet. I also like to store movies and games as well, however.

 

[bozz2006]

That list of applications shouldn't take up any more than 30GB, tops. I'm thinking around 22-25GB. I have OSX, Adobe Creative Suite 3 (master collection) iLife, Office, and a bunch of other stuff and it takes up less than 30GB.

 

[karansaraf]

Thanks bozz.

Well, how much spare space do you need? You will definitely be able to install all of those programs as well as all your music, but what about the future? I personally don't like having HDD's smaller than 500GB, which is why I haven't gone SSD yet. I also like to store movies and games as well, however.

Yeah, I like bigger capacities too. However, I probably wouldn't need much more than that, since all of my movies/TV shows/documents/work etc are all on my external HD even though my current laptop has 500GB of storage.

Having said that, I'd much rather have the 256GB as it's been many years since I had as small a HD as 128GB and it just seems so puny!

I'll have to have a think.

 

[DustinT]

One thing to keep in mind is that SSD's don't like to be filled to their capacity. They tend to slow down once they are above 80% roughly. So, going that high once in a while is fine but planning on filling up an SSD to that capacity permanently will result in some performance loss.

 

[karansaraf]

Yeah, I figured as much, which is why I am trying to calculate how much free space I will have, thereby giving myself a buffer.

I think if I have a 128GB SSD, I would not want to put more than 90GB worth of information on it at any one time, which is doable, considering music + the above programs have been estimated at about 60GB so far. However, it would just be an extra convenience to have a 256GB instead, but that is considerably more expensive, so that is where I have to consider my decision!