Purchasing a MBP soon (A Few Questions)

[EliteEliten]

I'm going to be purchasing a base MBP 15" in the near future, hopefully when Apple decides to do its Back to School Sale. Anyway, I'm not very "tech smart" when it comes to the insides of computers, so I came here for help. I've been reading over the past few months about SSD's and know that it is something that i want to get.

I also was looking at the OptiBay as well. I'm not sure what route I should take though. I would mostly use my MPB for Garageband, iMovie, light gaming, and schoolwork. Would a stock Apple 128GB SSD suffice for my needs, along with a purchase of an OptiBay and HDD, or should I take an Apple HDD, and get a third party SSD?

I've also read the Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB was a good choice? lol. I know that's a lot, but I would really appreciate your help in my decision, for it'll be one that will affect the next 4-5 years of my life. Let's just say my budget is roughly $250-$300 for anything outside of the options given for the MBP from Apple.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[Apple 26.2]

That's a good budget, I think you'll be best off with a third party SSD and OptiBay for the stock hard drive.

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[EliteEliten]

Thanks for your reply. Does anyone else have any input on this?

 

[acedickson]

That's a good budget, I think you'll be best off with a third party SSD and OptiBay for the stock hard drive.

Good luck and enjoy!

I'd spend the money on a third party SSD as well since the main drive slot is SATA III (faster).

 

[Prodo123]

You have 2 choices IMO:
Optibay + SSD
SSD + 8GB RAM

A SSD is a must with that budget. Optibay will truly give you the best of both worlds: the performance of a SSD and the capacity of a HDD. I know Momentus XT is advertised like that but although it does help a lot, it doesn't help as much as an Optibay.
If going with Optibay, MAKE SURE YOUR SSD IS IN THE HARD DRIVE CONNECTOR, NOT THE OPTIBAY. The Optibay doesn't support 6Gbps; the hard drive connector does. Most hard drives can't take advantage of the 6Gbps IRL, but SSDs with insane speeds can.

The fastest thing you can get is SSD AND 8GB RAM. That means you sell your HDD that came with your MBP and substitute a SSD in it, and you put 8GB of RAM inside. Pure speed; no freezes, ever. Bad thing is: your capacity is going to be limited to 64-128GB.

I would personally get 8GB RAM for now and wait until the SSD prices drop even further. When 512GB SSDs hit the $500 point, that's when I'll buy.

 

[redrory]

You have 2 choices IMO:
I would personally get 8GB RAM for now and wait until the SSD prices drop even further. When 512GB SSDs hit the $500 point, that's when I'll buy.

Agreed.
SSD is a bit pricey now.. especially for a student

 

[ratzzo]

Personally, if in your case, I would buy the laptop 'as is', default hardware. Then buy a 128GB SSD as a replacement for the HDD, use the HDD with an enclosure as an external for storage purposes, and finally replace the stock RAM with 2x4 (8GB) 1666MHz RAM. The SSD would cost you about 240$ and the RAM, around 90-100$. It would go slightly beyond your budget, the decision is yours to take. Unfortunately, SSD prices are still really high.

 

[palpatine]

I'm going to be purchasing a base MBP 15".....Garageband, iMovie, light gaming, and schoolwork. Would a stock Apple 128GB SSD suffice for my needs, along with a purchase of an OptiBay and HDD, or should I take an Apple HDD, and get a third party SSD?

I don't know what kind of schoolwork you have in mind, but the stock 15" sounds perfectly adequate for your needs. I don't use Garageband, iMovie, or do any light gaming. From what I hear from friends who do, the old 15" is fine.

As I understand it, the value of an SSD is mainly seen in initiating applications. Once they are running, the amount of RAM becomes more important. In my case, I couldn't care less about the speed of startup (it already outstrips that of my old computer), but I get really annoyed when I have lots of stuff open and things get slow.

I went with 8gb ram in my 13" instead of purchasing an SSD. The computer is plenty fast enough for me. HOWEVER, an ideal setup would be the SSD + extra ram. Unfortunately, this is absurdly expensive, especially considering what you intend to do with it.

I'd just buy the base model. Don't waste your money. If you decide you need to upgrade later, then swap out the drive or add ram.

 

[EliteEliten]

Awesome input from everyone. What would be the ideal brand for a RAM upgrade? Sorry if I seem like you need to hold my hand...