Slow HDD

[shinfujiwara]

I got the 2009 Unibody MacBook and the 250GB 5400rpm HDD that came with it seems very slow to me.

When I boot up and try to open applications for the 1st time is horrible! Opening a simple .pages file with the '09 Pages takes many seconds. I have it loaded in the RAM right now so I can't say how many seconds, but I would guess something like 20 to 30 secs. Loading everything that is not in the RAM is pretty slow. For example trying to search things with spotlight, or even opening the dashboard.

Is this normal? I mostly use desktop computers and their HDD look MUCH quicker than this. There is that big of a gap between a 7200rpm 3.5" vs 5400rpm 2.5"? And if there is, would make a good performance difference if I bought a 2.5" 7200rpm for this MacBook?

Thank you.

 

[GfulDedFan]

I outfitted mine with a 7200rpm drive and 4GB of RAM from the very beginning and mine seems fast. My first MacBook had a 5400 drive until I upgraded it but in '06 & '07, computers weren't expected to be as instantaneous.

Your drive seems a little slow. Did it used to be faster?

 

[shinfujiwara]

I outfitted mine with a 7200rpm drive and 4GB of RAM from the very beginning and mine seems fast. My first MacBook had a 5400 drive until I upgraded it but in '06 & '07, computers weren't expected to be as instantaneous.

Your drive seems a little slow. Did it used to be faster?

No. I'm almost sure that it was always like this.

 

[Giuly]

Install a Momentus XT, and the MacBook starts flying.