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ademuth93

macrumors regular
Original poster
I'm heading off to college in the fall of next year and I have a feeling I'll be buying a MacBook Pro; I'm already saving some cash for this purpose.

My question is whether I should be getting a 128 Gb SSD or a 500 Gb 7200 RPM disc. Speed is the real issue as I don't expect to take up much more than 50 Gb.

So, should I go SSD or not?
 

alust2013

macrumors 601
Feb 6, 2010
4,779
2
On the fence
I wouldn't recommend apple's offerings for an SSD too highly, I have heard they arent the fastest. If you really want one, I would get a 160GB Intel when their 3rd generation drives come out. They are known to be good drives and very fast too. As far as SSD vs. HDD, that's a personal question. I can't rationalize spending 7x what I paid for my 7200 RPM drive to get some thing half the size with the only benefit being speed. Sure it's great, but is $250 of your money worth booting and loading applications faster?
 

sn0warmy

macrumors 6502a
Mar 26, 2009
630
75
Denver, CO
Why decide on one when you can have both?:D

Step 1) Buy Macbook Pro with standard HDD

Step 2) Buy THIS Intel X-25M SSD.

Step 3) Buy THIS Optibay optical drive replacement for a second harddrive.

Step 4) Install the SSD into the Optibay drive and enjoy having a fast SSD boot drive with a large secondary storage drive built in as well.

Detailed installation instructions found HERE.
 

munkery

macrumors 68020
Dec 18, 2006
2,217
1
I would buy the MacBook pro with the HDD. Then, I would upgrade to an SSD. Either the intel drive stated above or a sandforce based drive, such as this, come highly recommended.

If you want to keep your optical drive, I would get one of these to make the internal HDD into an external HDD.
 

sbddude

macrumors 6502a
Sep 27, 2010
894
4
Nor Cal, USA
I would buy the MacBook pro with the HDD. Then, I would upgrade to an SSD.

If you want to keep your optical drive, I would get one of these to make the internal HDD into an external HDD.

That is the most expensive USB 2.5" enclosure I have seen. Most are $10-20. I paid $10 for mine from Amazon.
 

CaoCao

macrumors 6502a
Jul 27, 2010
783
2
IMO evaluate your options in nine months (July) and figure out what's best then
 

munkery

macrumors 68020
Dec 18, 2006
2,217
1
That is the most expensive USB 2.5" enclosure I have seen. Most are $10-20. I paid $10 for mine from Amazon.

I knew RocketFish made one so I went to that website to provide an example. I was suprised by the price as well as Best Buy has RocketFish enclosures for $25.

I think waiting for the next Gen SSD drives is a good idea as well. If not to buy the latest but to get this generation at cheaper prices.
 

rkmac

macrumors 6502
Jun 22, 2009
413
0
JAFA, New Zealand
Why decide on one when you can have both?:D

Step 1) Buy Macbook Pro with standard HDD

Step 2) Buy THIS Intel X-25M SSD.

Step 3) Buy THIS Optibay optical drive replacement for a second harddrive.

Step 4) Install the SSD into the Optibay drive and enjoy having a fast SSD boot drive with a large secondary storage drive built in as well.

Detailed installation instructions found HERE.

This is a good guide, however I can personally recommend OWC for both of those upgrades. They have some very good SSDs and OptiBays.
Make sure you dont waste the money on an apple SSD, as you can get some much faster SSDs from other retailers.
 

henry72

macrumors 68000
Jun 18, 2009
1,521
911
New Zealand
I would buy the MacBook pro with the HDD. Then, I would upgrade to an SSD. Either the intel drive stated above or a sandforce based drive, such as this, come highly recommended.

If you want to keep your optical drive, I would get one of these to make the internal HDD into an external HDD.

Newegg is selling the OCZ Vertex 2 really really cheap... Wish I'm in U.S atm :D
 

sn0warmy

macrumors 6502a
Mar 26, 2009
630
75
Denver, CO
This is a good guide, however I can personally recommend OWC for both of those upgrades. They have some very good SSDs and OptiBays.
Make sure you dont waste the money on an apple SSD, as you can get some much faster SSDs from other retailers.

Agreed. I've heard OWC makes great SSD's.
 

stphnman20

macrumors regular
Jun 23, 2010
212
1
I just picked up my MBP this pass Monday. I got it with the standard HDD which is 5gb 5400prm. I'm going to upgrade it here pretty soon with an SSD. I didn't get the SSD that Apple was offering as it was to damn expensive. But for a reasonable price, I would have gotten it. So if you have the cash, then by all means.
 

DePaulBlueDemon

macrumors 6502
Sep 27, 2010
250
40
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

You still have a year left. SSD prices will continue to fall, speeds will continue to increase, new models will be released. There's no point in deciding now.
 

mmomega

macrumors demi-god
Dec 30, 2009
3,879
2,089
DFW, TX
My MBP came with a 320GB which is plenty "huge" enough for my needs but I feel the need for speed.

Like some have mentioned you can do, remove the superdrive and put the stock drive in its place, I never use mine ever. Installed an Intel X25M and haven't looked back. It was quite a performance boost on the laptop.
 

mac8867

macrumors 6502
Apr 5, 2010
457
22
Saint Augustine, FL
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

You still have a year left. SSD prices will continue to fall, speeds will continue to increase, new models will be released. There's no point in deciding now.

SSD prices have been going up through 2010. Just beware. I bought my 250GB OCZ Vertex in April for $450. They sell for close to $700 today.
 

AlexMaximus

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2006
1,174
530
A400M Base
Seagate Momentus XT

I originally got my MBP 17´ with the 500 Gig, 7200 rpm drive. Just a week ago I swapped it out for the Seagate Momentus XT version of it. And to tell the truth, I would have never thought about such an increase of speed.

This is my advice: Go for the bloody standard drive and swap it out with the Momentus XT the day you get it. Best choice ever made. Do not go for any apple HD upgrade during the ordering process.

:apple:
 

wakeborder556

macrumors regular
May 31, 2008
101
6
I agree w/ the dual harddrive set up, I'm in college and it provides the best of all worlds. Large space and hauls.
 

CmdrLaForge

macrumors 601
Feb 26, 2003
4,632
3,110
around the world
Here is what I think. SSDs are still very expensive (cost / MB) I would go for now with the biggest 7200 rpm drive and in 2 or 3 years exchange it with an SSD. This will give your old Mac a very nice boost and the prices should be better then.
 

Sirmausalot

macrumors 65816
Sep 1, 2007
1,135
320
Stupid Discussion and Stupid Answers

1. He says that he values speed over space. So it's a no brainer because he answered his own question.
2. It appears many posters here have never used an SSD. It's a stunning increase in speed and I find it frustrating waiting for my iMac to boot and open programs now that I have an SSD in my Macbook Pro. So saying it doesn't make much of a difference is just wrong.
3. Prices on SSDs are continually dropping. Some of the newer higher performance drives are more expensive than their same GB counterparts. But all in all, prices per MB are declining.
4. A year away is a ridiculous amount of time to consider options as costs/space and other factors will completely change the equation.

The best advice above (for anyone buying next week after the Apple con-fab) is get the lowest space SSD you can get away with (to save on cost) with the expectation that you can upgrade your SSD in a year or two for more space and higher performance if need be as prices are dropping. The optibay and external HDD are good solutions and solid advice. The 60GB drive for less than 100 bucks is a great place to start.


Here is what I think. SSDs are still very expensive (cost / MB) I would go for now with the biggest 7200 rpm drive and in 2 or 3 years exchange it with an SSD. This will give your old Mac a very nice boost and the prices should be better then.
 
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