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Solid-State Drives vs. HDs
- Thread starter henhog
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True, but 1) it depends on the SSD, with some not degrading very much at all 2) this isn't really an advantage over HDDs because HDDs slow down dramatically more as they fill up
How are the SSDs that Apple ships with MBPs? Are they as good as the ones you can buy aftermarket?
I am in the market for a new 17" MBP once they refresh and just wondering. I would want to go with whatever apple provides because I found out with my 08 MBP that Applecare is worth every penny, I wouldnt want to void that
I am in the market for a new 17" MBP once they refresh and just wondering. I would want to go with whatever apple provides because I found out with my 08 MBP that Applecare is worth every penny, I wouldnt want to void that
Replacing the drive with an SSD doesn't void your applecare. And the drive is covered by a warranty from it's manufacturer too...
I am pretty sure it does, anytime you open up the case other then replacing memory you are voiding your warranty
You are wrong. Reading the manual will help you change your mind.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3419
The Ram and the Drive (HDD or SSD) are considered user replaceable parts in unibody Macbook Pro laptops.
I have recently upgraded my MBP from 2 to 6 gig of RAM and am satisfied that I now have enough. RAM usage is divided into four areas. Here is what iStat Help has to say about it:
Wired memory
This is memory that applications or the system needs immediate access to, so it cant be cached to disk. It will vary depending on what applications youre using.
Active memory
This is memory that is actively being used.
Inactive memory
This memory is no longer being used and has been cached to disk. Itll remain in RAM until another application needs the space.
Free memory
This memory is not being used.
In my case, I always have quite a bit of Free memory, which convinces me that I have enough and that no excessive memory swapping is going on. Further, my applications almost never have much over 4 gig of Wired plus Active memory, which leaves a 2 gig pad. As 2 gig is the same amount of RAM I used to have altogether, I am satisfied that a total of 6 gig of RAM is ample.
The couple studies I have seen haven't seemed to show any real significant difference in power consumption (and thus, increased battery life) of SSDs over regular HDs, which surprised me a bit.
That's when both the HDD are accessing data as in a benchmark. In real life, the SSD finishes accessing and reading data much faster so it's under load for less time.
I have updated all of our computers (except my 27" i7 iMac) with SSDs and the difference is stunning. The only reason that my iMac is not upgraded is because Apple does not offer it with an SSD... and I did not want to go through the hassle of opening up the machine to replace the drive... plus I need the 2TB of capacity on that particular machine.
Of course my i7 iMac is the most powerful computer that I own... which is very apparent whenever I do something like transcode a movie file. However... in regular daily use, it actually feels slower than my MBA which has an SSD. It is just not as "snappy" because of the ancient HDD. I enjoy the 2TB capacity, but I hate the way the HDD makes the computer feel slow whenever I launch a new application.
My wife and I each have 15" MBP's which I upgraded after the fact with 160GB SSDs. When I purchased my MBA, I ordered it with an SSD since I had no intention of opening the unit.
On our old windows desktop... I installed a 160GB SSD as the C: drive... and installed a 2TB D: drive which holds all of our documents, pictures, music, videos etc. That is the best of all worlds... with the SSD for the OS and applications, and the large HDD for data. If Apple offers a dual drive iMac in the future... I will decommission our new iMac and replace it with a dual drive (SSD/HDD combo) machine.
/Jim
Of course my i7 iMac is the most powerful computer that I own... which is very apparent whenever I do something like transcode a movie file. However... in regular daily use, it actually feels slower than my MBA which has an SSD. It is just not as "snappy" because of the ancient HDD. I enjoy the 2TB capacity, but I hate the way the HDD makes the computer feel slow whenever I launch a new application.
My wife and I each have 15" MBP's which I upgraded after the fact with 160GB SSDs. When I purchased my MBA, I ordered it with an SSD since I had no intention of opening the unit.
On our old windows desktop... I installed a 160GB SSD as the C: drive... and installed a 2TB D: drive which holds all of our documents, pictures, music, videos etc. That is the best of all worlds... with the SSD for the OS and applications, and the large HDD for data. If Apple offers a dual drive iMac in the future... I will decommission our new iMac and replace it with a dual drive (SSD/HDD combo) machine.
/Jim