New Macbook Hard Drive ?

[marioman38]

I've got a 5400rpm in my 17" MBP, and never noticed it being particularly slow, but again, I've never had a 7200rpm to compare.

How much battery life does the 7200 suck? An extra 20min?

I heard that a higher capacity (500GB) 5.4k drive will be just as fast as a lower (250, 320?) 7.2k drive due to the density of the disk making relative read/writes faster, and keeping the increased battery time.

Comments?

(It would be an aftermarket replacement for the 160GB 5.4k on the 13"MBP)

 

[Philflow]

If you read this review you will know what to buy:
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/17010

It will also answer your questions.

 

[marioman38]

Thanks phil, just what I was looking for!

 

[BlizzardBomb]

Yup, 20 mins is about the average. And you are correct about the large 5,400rpm drives being almost as fast as smaller capacity 7,200rpm drives.

 

[andrew upstairs]

If you read this review you will know what to buy:
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/17010

It will also answer your questions.

Well, that article was an eye-opener. Thanks for the link.

 

[eVolcre]

Sometimes I really hate these forums.

I just ordered the 320GB WD Scorpio Black 7200. I didn't want to go higher than 320 for the MBP13 internal. I did compare it to the 500GB Blue version and performance is the same according to everyone.

THEN, I find this thread that talks about a 20 min reduction in battery life. That is a compelling reason to go with the 500GB 5400 drive.

Should I cancel the order for the 320GB 7200? Does it really suck up that much more battery? 20 minutes out of 5 hours (estimated) is almost 8%. That's a lot.

eV