MacBook Pro: Thoughts on 160 GB 5400 rpm vs 200 GB 4200rpm drives

[Argelius]

I'm trying to decide between getting a 15" MacBook Pro with the160 versus the 200 GB drives. Just curious what people's thought are the pros and cons of going with a larger, but slower drive.

Here's an excellent head-to-head test which appears to be basically a toss up. Their conclusion:

CONCLUSIONS
These latest test results reveal that,
a) The 7200rpm drives are the fastest when empty...

b)... but if you have 74GB of data on each of the drives, the 4200rpm drive was actually faster. That's because 74GB of data puts the 7200rpm drive at 80% capacity while the 200GB 4200rpm drive is only at 40% capacity. (See "74G Mark" graphs above.)

I suppose this should answer my question -- but thought I'd see if anyone has other thoughts about this.

Thanks!

 

[Silentwave]

Remember that test is for the 100GB drives. The 160GB 5400RPM is not only going to have a closer amount full to the 200GB, but it is also a Perpendicular Recording drive- which makes it even faster.

Honestly I wouldn't go with the 200GB, though some of what I do does like better disk throughput... so it depends on your application.

 

[Argelius]

Remember that test is for the 100GB drives. The 160GB 5400RPM is not only going to have a closer amount full to the 200GB, but it is also a Perpendicular Recording drive- which makes it even faster.

Honestly I wouldn't go with the 200GB, though some of what I do does like better disk throughput... so it depends on your application.

Excellent points. Thanks.

 

[FFTT]

This trend to have your entire life on your laptop is asking for tragedy if your HD ever fails and even the best one's do.

The 160 GB perpendicular drive is the favorite, but you'd still want a good fast external back-updrive.

You might consider just getting the stock HD and buying a My Book Pro 250GB
7200 RPM external drive from NewEgg.

 

[MovieCutter]

200GB hard drive in my MacBook Pro, and I cut HD video no less....been working great for the past couple months, no complaints. Owned MBPs with 7200RPM and 5400RPM drives, I don't notice any significant difference, except for the fact that I have a LOT more storage space than I used to.