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Is 128GB hard drive big enough for boot camp(or other dual boot)?
- Thread starter kulimer
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Well what kind of space are you using right now? But in theory you'd choose how much space you want W7 to have... So if you did 50/50; you'd have about 50 or so usable gigs per partition.
It is likely enough room, but if it isn't, remember that you always have the option of expanding via the SD card slot. You can get a 64GB card for $100. It's a bit pricey, but if you need the storage, it is an option.
EDIT: Hell, you could double your storage with a 128GB card. Still cheaper than buying the 256GB Air.
EDIT: Hell, you could double your storage with a 128GB card. Still cheaper than buying the 256GB Air.
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I have Windows Vista on my laptop. I have used 85.7 GB so far without programs like photoshop. Do you have boot camp? How much storage did it take?
If you're using that much room on the Windows side alone, you'll probably run out of space with a dual-boot solution. Your best bet would be to go for the 64GB SDXC card(IMO). Store all your files on that, then you'll have the flexibility of being able to put it into another computer if you should need to.
It is likely enough room, but if it isn't, remember that you always have the option of expanding via the SD card slot. You can get a 64GB card for $100. It's a bit pricey, but if you need the storage, it is an option.
EDIT: Hell, you could double your storage with a 128GB card. Still cheaper than buying the 256GB Air.
Thanks for pointing that out, I will think about it. External storage means carrying more things. Will it be slower if you install programs on external storage?
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I have had my Sony Vaio for almost 3 years, things have added up. I think 85.7GB should be a good estimate, after I get rid of some junk, and install some other things.
Well, you can keep the card sitting inside the Air for most of its life if you want to. It is slower, but if you just store your files on it, then the only time it'll matter is when you save the data, and load it. It's a bit like the harddrive/SSD solution in larger laptops and desktops. Slow drive for your files and fast SSD for OS and apps. I think keeping the programs on the SSD would be a good idea, and just migrate what documents you can to the SD card. Just a thought anyway.
I'd go with 256GB. No one ever complained about having too much SSD. I have 70GB free on mine after installing Windows 7.
Use it to store files. PDFs, the photos that you can move onto the SSD when you want to edit in photoshop (read/write speeds too low to edit).
*points to pile of crying wallets* I beg to differ.
PS, I'm either going to get a 128gb ssd or hope that Santa's awesome this Christmas.
I don't plan to store much media either, I will use this primarily for grad school.
*points to pile of crying wallets* I beg to differ.
he he, well, complaining about being broke is not the same as complaining about too much SSD.
These threads all boil down to the same question - how much computer can you afford? Apple is not known for making their stuff upgradeable (easily). So your best bet is to get the fastest system with the most memory and most storage you can afford. Some people like to save a few bucks on principle. That's ok too. I for one prefer never to wonder whether I could have used those few extra GB or couple hundred MHz. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. But this, of course, is just me. YMMV.
of course, I better not,
I am paying $1600+tax for top of the line.Back to my question, is 128GB big enough for dual boot? Anyone who has it, please comment. Especially, math and engineering students.
I'd be willing to wager that when ThunderBolt enclosures are more easily accessible, MBA space issues will only remain for those adamant about not carrying around an external HDD. I have a 128GB Air. All my media is on an external, and as long as I'm content on not installing games, I have more than enough space for productive software (SDKs, IDEs, etc). I currently have it partitioned 30GB OSX and the rest Windows.
30GB, is that enough? what programs do you have on your OSX? btw, when you have MS Office, is it shared on both systems, or separately?
I would imagine that it is separate since logically, they do not interact with each other. Windows just needs bootcamp for the drivers.
To be completely honestly, I don't do anything on my OS X side - nothing productive anyways. I have xcode installed, openoffice, and a few other minor applications.
I think the only way for you to decide if 128gb is enough is by determining what programs you intend to install and on which side. If we want to generalize, most math/engineering applications (matlab, CAD) only take 1-5 GB. At most, it will take around 10GB (maya). Do you have a giant list of programs you intend to install? If not, 128gb is plenty. If you do, then maybe the MBA isn't the best option.
To be completely honestly, I don't do anything on my OS X side - nothing productive anyways. I have xcode installed, openoffice, and a few other minor applications.
I think the only way for you to decide if 128gb is enough is by determining what programs you intend to install and on which side. If we want to generalize, most math/engineering applications (matlab, CAD) only take 1-5 GB. At most, it will take around 10GB (maya). Do you have a giant list of programs you intend to install? If not, 128gb is plenty. If you do, then maybe the MBA isn't the best option.
I don't have a list of programs, I assume there will only be more.
Matlab takes up the most memory among all programs so far. Is that a good indication for 128GB?How much memory did the boot camp program take up? How much VIRTUAL memory did OS X, and Windows each take up?
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Of course, I'd love to buy them all. Who cares if it is 128GB or 256GB
I don't have a list of programs, I assume there will only be more.
How much memory did the boot camp program take up? How much VIRTUAL memory did OS X, and Windows each take up?
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Of course, I'd love to buy them all. Who cares if it is 128GB or 256GB
You can change the Virtual memory consumed by Windows very easily, but I wouldn't recommend it since this machine only has 4GB of RAM. Had it been 8GB (I wish), you could have disabled virtual memory without worries. Typically speaking, it reserves the size equal to your RAM. To save more on space, you can disable hibernation and delete the associated files.
Here is MatLab's system requirement for size:
1 GB for MATLAB only,
34 GB for a typical installation
Just remember to delete the installation files, or you would end up with double that.
This is my first Mac. I am not familiar with space manipulation for OS X, so maybe others can chime in and provide suggestions.
I think you need to give some serious consideration as to the side you will work off of primarily. If Windows is your main OS, I might even consider wiping OS X all together and just use the Air for purely Windows. I thought about it, but OS X does offer a nice user experience.
You can't do that. When you slide the key over that shows you the differences, there's a limit that OS X will always take.
When you use Bootcamp to install Windows, there is a screen where it asks you how much space you wish to allot to Windows. This is presented with a "slider." Presumably, he means that the slider will stop when exceeding what OS X permits.