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New MBP 13" Questions...

C

ChopinGuy

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 6, 2011
40
1
So I just picked up a new 13" 2.3 i5 for work and I have a couple of questions that relate to 1) hard drive 2) using an external monitor.

First with the hard drive -- I want to put a better performing drive in but am reluctant to SSD due to all the constant problem and compatibility issues you see. I was thinking a Kingston V+100 drive as they have the Toshiba controller or getting the 500gb Seagate Momentus XT 'hybrid' which would certainly have advantages over the internal 5200rpm but would suck more power.

Second with the external monitor -- just want to get a decent 24" wide-screen display to use. Was looking at the Asus VE248Q as it has a display port input which would be an easy miniDP to DP cable connection. Is it also possible to connect an external monitor with HDMI -- I assume that DVI-D or the DisplayPort would be the way to go?

Thanks for any input and help...
 
The key to compatibility with the SSD is to get a SATA II SSD like the Kingston you mentioned. The Samsung 470 and Intel 320 also seem to do well.

Almost all the troubles you read about with SSDs is users trying to make a SATA III SSD work.
 
I can't help you with the monitor (never had one :S). However, I have the Momentus XT and I really recommend you this drive. It incredibly improves the performance of the common tasks, like booting the machine (my experience: 45 seconds with stock 5400rpm drive, 15 seconds with momentus xt) and it doesen't suck much more power than the stock HD.

If you decide to buy the momentus xt, be sure to get one with SD26 firmware. It seems that older firmwares had some problems
 
NorthDakota -- how do you know what the firmware is when purchasing it ??? I have read mixed reports about it really having a hit on battery life and you seem to have not taken a hit. Anything will be an improvement over the standard 5200rpm drive. I'll be interested to see your answer on how to know what firmware is coming on the drive when you purchase it...
 
As for external displays, both Apple and third-party manufacturers make several different adaptors. They have Mini-DisplayPort to VGA, Mini-DisplayPort to HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort, Mini-DisplayPort to DVI etc etc. The options are all there, so you don't necessarily have to look for displays that have DisplayPort. Personally, I use the Mini-DisplayPort to VGA with both my 22" Vizio HDTV and a projector at church. The adaptor also carries audio to my Vizio, so that is very useful. And finally, Amazon and Monoprice are good websites to check out for the adaptors! Hope that helped :D
 
Well I was choosing display port for the simple reason that I don't want to have to use an adapter -- just want one clean cable to connect to the display -- from what I seen the only actual cables that are available without use of an adapter are miniDP to HDMI and miniDP to DP. If there are indeed single run cables for miniDP to DVI or the sort I missed that...
 
ChopinGuy said:
NorthDakota -- how do you know what the firmware is when purchasing it ??? I have read mixed reports about it really having a hit on battery life and you seem to have not taken a hit. Anything will be an improvement over the standard 5200rpm drive. I'll be interested to see your answer on how to know what firmware is coming on the drive when you purchase it...
Click to expand...

The firmware version is written on the HD's label (the one with all the specs). I've just asked the shop to ship me the correct version ;)

For the technical problems, I think that only the older disks were affected (e.g. fw < SD26)

For the battery drain: of course it eats a little bit more energy than the stock drive (being a 7200RPM) but nothing dramatic though

I've also read mixed reports about it but I have no problems so far (e.g. no noise - no freezes - no vibrations)
 
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