Painfully Slow MacBook Pro

[simonsi]

However they don't break the bank anymore

It does if you don't have it. Not responding to an HDD question and ONLY pushing SSDs based on your own disposable income is not helpful to someone who doesn't have a spare $100, nor is stating SSDs are available for HDD money.

Or is the point no longer to assist the OP with his request?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Not saying that

It does if you don't have it. Not responding to an HDD question and ONLY pushing SSDs based on your own disposable income is not helpful to someone who doesn't have a spare $100, nor is stating SSDs are available for HDD money.

Or is the point no longer to assist the OP with his request?

They have already ordered an SSD, if they are just penny pinching it is not worth it when an SSD is the best option. They were asking wether they should send it back my answer is no, they shouldn't.

If they really can't afford the extra then that was all they had to say and I'd have recommended a hybrid drive, they aren't brilliant but they are better than a normal HDD in a laptop.

 

[simonsi]

if they are just penny pinching it is not worth it

Thats his call, not mine, or yours. If he asks for an HDD option it is polite to give it, not make buying decisions on his behalf...not refuse it "because it is 2015" or "because it is only $100". That is my point.

 

[Samuelsan2001]

I get your point...

Thats his call, not mine, or yours. If he asks for an HDD option it is polite to give it, not make buying decisions on his behalf...not refuse it "because it is 2015" or "because it is only $100". That is my point.

I just assumed that if they had already ordered one they could afford it, I was therefore advising accordingly...
But hey you give your advice and I'll give mine and they'll get both veiwpoints...

 

[Meister]

How so? Cheapest SSD I can source locally a reasonable NZ$143 - smallest available is currently 120GB, meanwhile I can get a 500GB HDD from the same supplier for oh NZ$75 so sorry, even with that back-flip SSDs are not available for HDD money - and if they want to keep selling them HDD makers will have to ensure there IS a good like for like differential because of the speed difference.

That is also without having to buy an external HDD and/or caddy to enable the 380GB drop in internal capacity through installed an SSD...so it would actually cost (assuming you have a 500GB internal and re-use it in a caddy), NZ$143+25=NZ$168 when an HDD could be bought for NZ$75...in OP's case he may have a terminal HDD so he would need to spend NX$143+25+75=NZ$243 instead of NZ$75...

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LOL yep see my maths example, SSD is still 3x the cost of an HDD in the OP's situation...even if you give up the onboard space...

Depends on the country I guess. Here I can get a 120gb ssd for 50-60€. Same price as a high quality hdd.

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Thats his call, not mine, or yours. If he asks for an HDD option it is polite to give it, not make buying decisions on his behalf...not refuse it "because it is 2015" or "because it is only $100". That is my point.

This thread isn't about hdds vs sdds. He is complaining about his macbook being slow. I believe an ssd will fix this. Buying an hdd is not related to the OPs question.

 

[simonsi]

This thread isn't about hdds vs sdds. He is complaining about his macbook being slow. I believe an ssd will fix this. Buying an hdd is not related to the OPs question.

Yes it is, he asked for an HDD recommendation and said he was worried abut the cost of an SSD...

 

[Meister]

Yes it is, he asked for an HDD recommendation and said he was worried abut the cost of an SSD...

Because someone mentioned hdd failure to him.
Why do you believe he needs a new hdd?

 

[austinpike]

Recently, over the past several OS updates, my MacBook has slowed to a complete crawl. It can take upwards of 5 minutes just to open or close any software. Websites can take minutes to load. Sometimes my text doesn't keep up with my typing. I get the pinwheel a lot.

Well if you want to try something for free while waiting for the SSD to arrive, you can always back up, reformat the internal drive, and do a clean install (do you have an external drive to back up to?)

There is no reason the machine can't function as good as new if you start from scratch. Unless the hard drive is physically dying, which is certainly possible. But my guess is your slowdown is much more likely software related than hardware.

The SSD is a great upgrade and personally I would go ahead and install it regardless, but if $ is really a concern then a clean install on your current drive could be enough to solve your problems and you can return the SSD.

 

[NeedsLotsOfHelp]

Wow, I really appreciate all the thought everyone has put in to the replies and all the help you guys have provided. Here's my current thinking.

I backed everything up and I think I'm going to keep the new SSD. From what everyone is saying, it seems like a worthwhile upgrade which will keep my MacBook usable for the foreseeable future. It was a bit more than I had anticipated spending, however, it's far cheaper than buying a new MacBook. I recognize it's likely my HDD will eventually fail and this seems like an excellent preventative measure, which will also likely fix my problems. Two birds, one stone.

So, thank you again to everyone for their help! It is greatly appreciated!

 

[azurehi]

Any "how-to" tutorials to recommend to accomplish the HDD replacement with SSD?

 

[JTToft]

Any "how-to" tutorials to recommend to accomplish the HDD replacement with SSD?

- Depends on your machine. Ifixit has excellent guides for all sorts of repairs and upgrades.

 

[bookwormsy]

How so? Cheapest SSD I can source locally a reasonable NZ$143 - smallest available is currently 120GB, meanwhile I can get a 500GB HDD from the same supplier for oh NZ$75 so sorry, even with that back-flip SSDs are not available for HDD money - and if they want to keep selling them HDD makers will have to ensure there IS a good like for like differential because of the speed difference.

That is also without having to buy an external HDD and/or caddy to enable the 380GB drop in internal capacity through installed an SSD...so it would actually cost (assuming you have a 500GB internal and re-use it in a caddy), NZ$143+25=NZ$168 when an HDD could be bought for NZ$75...in OP's case he may have a terminal HDD so he would need to spend NX$143+25+75=NZ$243 instead of NZ$75...

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LOL yep see my maths example, SSD is still 3x the cost of an HDD in the OP's situation...even if you give up the onboard space...

OP is only using around 220GB on his computer.

Any "how-to" tutorials to recommend to accomplish the HDD replacement with SSD?

It's actually really easy for these unibody macbook pros. iFixit will have helpful links, but basically you're going to be unscrewing the screws on the bottom, unscrewing the screws on the hard drive mount, undo the torx screws on the sides of the HDD and transfer it to the SSD, hook it back up and screw everything back in.

 

[sonspot]

What are you talking about? Hard drives can fail even if they have tons of free space...

What are you talking about? the OP did not mention anything about clicking, failure to boot at times, missing or can't finding files and folders no Hard drive related failures. so why look there? HDD cable at best. I've been building PC for 20+ years for myself have had HDD failures they don't just show up or make your system slow without any other symptom. I'm not a pro but in my opinion if its not the HDD leave it the F alone. I'm new to Mac, I've rip them apart, I'm comfortable with them hardware wise, software is something else...

Honestly the OP should find out whats going on before getting a SSD drive, I have one in all my systems depending on what you're doing it won't make a difference other than fast boot time, how often do you boot your computer and is the boot time really that important to you?

 

[simonsi]

Honestly the OP should find out whats going on before getting a SSD drive

Definitely true.

 

[53kyle]

What are you talking about? the OP did not mention anything about clicking, failure to boot at times, missing or can't finding files and folders no Hard drive related failures.

Usually, slowness to OP's degree, apps taking that long to open, it's just the first sign of failure, as in it hasn't happened quite yet, but it likely will. Trust me, it has happened to me several times.