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MacBook Pro 15" i5 - To SSD or Not?

A

AluminumMB

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 11, 2009
170
5
I got a MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2010) - 2.4GHz Intel i5 with upgraded 8GB DDR3 RAM. It is using the standard 320GB 5200RPM hard drive. I am seriously considering upgrading the hard drive to SSD as it is my only and primary computer which I use on a daily basis. Is it worth upgrading the SSD on this macbook pro? or should I wait a year and buy the new macbook pro?

Let me know your thoughts
 
AluminumMB said:
I got a MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2010) - 2.4GHz Intel i5 with upgraded 8GB DDR3 RAM. It is using the standard 320GB 5200RPM hard drive. I am seriously considering upgrading the hard drive to SSD as it is my only and primary computer which I use on a daily basis. Is it worth upgrading the SSD on this macbook pro? or should I wait a year and buy the new macbook pro?

Let me know your thoughts
Click to expand...

What are your storage demands like?
 
AppleGoat said:
What are your storage demands like?
Click to expand...

Yes. It's worth it as long as you use a generally lower amount of hard drive space. At today's prices only 256GB SSD's and under are really affordable for most people, so this is why it is important to know your usage. If you're using over 256GB currently I really would not advise an SSD unless you plan on being able to spend over $4-500.
 
mgartner0622 said:
Yes. It's worth it as long as you use a generally lower amount of hard drive space. At today's prices only 256GB SSD's and under are really affordable for most people, so this is why it is important to know your usage. If you're using over 256GB currently I really would not advise an SSD unless you plan on being able to spend over $4-500.
Click to expand...

yea, the ssds are great but unless you have the money its' really not worth it. I'd just stick it out with the regular hard drive then in a year or 2 when prices have come down some begin to look into it.
 
I have a SSD for my OS and a larger HD for everything else. This is because of the cost as described in the other posts. In order to do this I took out my CD drive and replaced it with the HD. I think that this is the best way.
 
Sc00tr said:
I have a SSD for my OS and a larger HD for everything else. This is because of the cost as described in the other posts. In order to do this I took out my CD drive and replaced it with the HD. I think that this is the best way.
Click to expand...

on what computer?
 
AluminumMB said:
I got a MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2010) - 2.4GHz Intel i5 with upgraded 8GB DDR3 RAM. It is using the standard 320GB 5200RPM hard drive. I am seriously considering upgrading the hard drive to SSD as it is my only and primary computer which I use on a daily basis. Is it worth upgrading the SSD on this macbook pro? or should I wait a year and buy the new macbook pro?

Let me know your thoughts
Click to expand...

Spend the most money were you spend the most time.

I use my MBP for 10+ hours a day sometimes 6+ days a week. I derive 100% of my income from the work I do on this system.

The speed increase I garnered from upgrading to a SSD was so great, that I'll never, ever go back to a spinning disk as my primary drive even if the prices of SSDs double.

-RB

PS - I went with the OCZ Agility 3 480G and moved my 1T 5400 to the optical drive bay. It is now used as a datastore while all my apps and most frequently used data is on the SSD.

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refurbished said:
True. I have an SSD for my applications and keep my music and movies on the original 320GB drive in an optibay.
Click to expand...

What method did you use to point OS X out to the 320G for movies and music? Did you do a link (ln -s) or some other method?
 
RedneckBob said:
[/COLOR]

What method did you use to point OS X out to the 320G for movies and music? Did you do a link (ln -s) or some other method?
Click to expand...


I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.

All the files were already on the 320 drive so I didn't have to do anything.
 
AluminumMB said:
Is it worth upgrading the SSD on this macbook pro?
Click to expand...

Your current machine has nothing to do with the decision. (You can always transfer the SSD to a newer one).

Your dilemma is applying a monetary value to how fast you need your machine to read/write data. Nobody can decide this for you.

Take me for instance. I might have to edit up to 1000 RAW photo files for a project. The time I save by going in and out of photoshop for these files is probably at least 1-2 hours saved vs. loading them from a conventional drive. So... the SSD pays for itself.

That's what I told the wife when I bought it anyway :D
 
refurbished said:
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.

All the files were already on the 320 drive so I didn't have to do anything.
Click to expand...

I want to store my iPhoto and iTunes directories on the traditional disk drive as I don't have enough room on my SSD for them.

I'm about to try hard-linking (ln -s) from the SSD to the traditional drive, but that has some issues (like losing the directories from finder's sidebar).

Was curious if you have a setup like this and if so, what method was used to tackle the split up of directories between the two drives.
 
AluminumMB said:
I got a MacBook Pro 15" (mid 2010) - 2.4GHz Intel i5 with upgraded 8GB DDR3 RAM. It is using the standard 320GB 5200RPM hard drive. I am seriously considering upgrading the hard drive to SSD as it is my only and primary computer which I use on a daily basis. Is it worth upgrading the SSD on this macbook pro? or should I wait a year and buy the new macbook pro?

Let me know your thoughts
Click to expand...
What sort of tasks do you perform with your MacBook Pro?
 
RedneckBob said:
Spend the most money were you spend the most time.

I use my MBP for 10+ hours a day sometimes 6+ days a week. I derive 100% of my income from the work I do on this system.

The speed increase I garnered from upgrading to a SSD was so great, that I'll never, ever go back to a spinning disk as my primary drive even if the prices of SSDs double.

-RB

PS - I went with the OCZ Agility 3 480G and moved my 1T 5400 to the optical drive bay. It is now used as a datastore while all my apps and most frequently used data is on the SSD.

----------



What method did you use to point OS X out to the 320G for movies and music? Did you do a link (ln -s) or some other method?
Click to expand...

Awesome, so you disregarded the optical drive and installed a HD drive instead? That's pretty cool. Does it weigh less because of it?

Which MBP do you have?

I decided to wait for boxing day to buy a SSD drive for my MBP

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Mersailios said:
What sort of tasks do you perform with your MacBook Pro?
Click to expand...

I use it everyday for work....I also use it for photoshop and everything else
 
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