I really want to get a SSD for my Macbook Pro that I plan to buy and I'm particularly fond of the Intel X25-M. Do you think that 80GB is enough for a drive that I'm booting from? I've got a 140GB Itunes library full of music on an external hard drive. I'm mostly going to be using the Macbook for browsing the internet, itunes, running iwork, and very light photoshopping. I'm just scared that 80GB might not be that much space. I'm currently running Windows 7 RC and have only used about 30GB of my hard drive because I'm using an external for all my storage. Do think 80GB of storage would be safe?
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Is 80GB enough for a boot drive?
- Thread starter Belm
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80 GB isn't going to be "dangerous" ...
If you insist on getting an SSD, either shell out for a larger one or get a 500 GB platter drive.
If you insist on getting an SSD, either shell out for a larger one or get a 500 GB platter drive.
80 GB should be fine. The OS is about 10 GB and your apps will most likely take about 10 GB too. Add to that space for temporary files and whatnot (let's say 5 GB) and you still have plenty of space for storage. It might be a bit limiting if you plan to use both OSX and Windows 7 on it though.
It's a bit tight, I am using the x25-m 80Gb, it's just for casual use as I have a work PC laptop. I only have about 8Gb free and have to be careful to delete downloaded stuff to keep some of the disk free.
I have about 14Gb of music on here and 14Gb of photos. The total size of my home directory is about 40Gb, amazing what space some of the Mac OS system takes up (such as the sleep image).
Overall I think it's worth the sacrifice, I love my X25-m!
I have about 14Gb of music on here and 14Gb of photos. The total size of my home directory is about 40Gb, amazing what space some of the Mac OS system takes up (such as the sleep image).
Overall I think it's worth the sacrifice, I love my X25-m!
...I'm putting either a 64 or 80 GB SSD into my netbook but I wouldn't recommend anything that size for a macbook unless you remove the optical drive and put a second HDD in it...
@ miles01110 - I would get a larger SSD if I had $1500 to spend but I don't. I originally wanted to get a 500GB Scorpio Blue but, I've been reading about problems with the newer Macbook Pros. Reading these boards makes me really indecisive 
@ kasakka - I don't plan to put Win 7 on it. Thats just what I'm running on my desktop right now.
@ tibi08 - Thats what I'm thinking. It may be a tight fit. And I think it would be kind of inconvenient to carry around an external all the time for iTunes. I'm too scared to take out the optical drive and add another hdd but that would be perfect.
@ kasakka - I don't plan to put Win 7 on it. Thats just what I'm running on my desktop right now.
@ tibi08 - Thats what I'm thinking. It may be a tight fit. And I think it would be kind of inconvenient to carry around an external all the time for iTunes. I'm too scared to take out the optical drive and add another hdd but that would be perfect.
I would get a larger SSD if I had $1500 to spend but I don't. I originally wanted to get a 500GB Scorpio Blue but, I've been reading about problems with the newer Macbook Pros. Reading these boards makes me really indecisive
Personally, I think there are some big SSD price drops and size increases round the corner.... early 2010 might be a better time to upgrade.
I originally wanted to get a 500GB Scorpio Blue but, I've been reading about problems with the newer Macbook Pros. Reading these boards makes me really indecisive
Don't let the boards stop you from buying it. It almost always works, but your not going to have people making threads about how great there drive is working compared to threads about how its malfunctioning.
I have it, and it works fantastic.
If you're currently using only 30GB for your OS needs and that's enough then 80GB would be enough for you no matter if you use win7 or osx.
@ miles01110 - I would get a larger SSD if I had $1500 to spend but I don't. I originally wanted to get a 500GB Scorpio Blue but, I've been reading about problems with the newer Macbook Pros. Reading these boards makes me really indecisive
@ kasakka - I don't plan to put Win 7 on it. Thats just what I'm running on my desktop right now.
@ tibi08 - Thats what I'm thinking. It may be a tight fit. And I think it would be kind of inconvenient to carry around an external all the time for iTunes. I'm too scared to take out the optical drive and add another hdd but that would be perfect.
No according to what he says.
It should be fine really, as long as your not using it as a main computer, in which case 80GB May be a little low.
Also in a year or two I imagine the prices of SSD's will drop....
Its your call buddy.
Also in a year or two I imagine the prices of SSD's will drop....
Its your call buddy.
I think you should be fine as long as you dont accumulate to much stuff. You mentioned that you have an itunes collection in excess of 100gb's on an external already, so you should be fine storing things on it.
I have been wrestling with the idea as well. If I do it, my 320gb 7200rpm drive is staying and the superdrive is coming out.
I have been wrestling with the idea as well. If I do it, my 320gb 7200rpm drive is staying and the superdrive is coming out.
Belm,
I'll be doing exactly what you are doing. I'm going to get the 80 GB Intel X25-M G2. It will be plenty for Leopard, and Snow Leopard reportedly uses less space than Leopard. When I looked into it, people are saying it's anywhere from 10-25 GB. Just to be safe, I think you can safely assume that it will definitely be under 40 GB. Even with Photoshop installed, I am pretty confident that it will be under 40 GB.
Most people need huge storage because of their media files. These files can be left on your external hard drive. You can take the internal hard drive that's currently installed on your computer and put it into an external enclosure.
I'm an academic scientist and use my MBP as my main computer. I've also been using the Intel X25 80GB since it came out. 80 GB is more than enough space for me, and I only use about 50 GB of it. It all depends on what kind of files you like to keep around. All my music and TV shows are on another computer. So, to the OP, I think you'll have more than enough room if you stick to your current space management strategy.
My mbp came with a 120 gb drive. 30 of it is bootcamped, 80 is for osx, and 10 is lost in formatting. 80 will turn into about 74 probably after formatting. It's tight but doable with an external drive. Just keep anything you don't need on the external and you should be ok.
I don't know what programs you folks run but with Office taking a few gigs and CS4 taking another chunk, 80GB gets burned through rather quickly; if you run BootCamp it gets filled even faster.
I do have things like CS4 and a few games installed and still my Applications folder is around 13 gigs at the moment. If you only have OSX and your apps on a SSD you still have lots of space for things like temp files, user files etc. With two operating systems it'd be too small.
There's not a huge benefit in having all your data files (things saved from apps, music, videos etc) on a SSD so you should have those on an external drive or just replace the optical on a Macbook.