Some small issues concerning cloning of my HDD from '08 MBP to '09 MBP

[Amopax]

I recently cloned (don't know if that is the accurate term) a WD 360GB 7200rpm HDD in my old late '08 15" MBP 2,44 GHz to my new mid '09 15" MBP 2,66 GHz which has the native 360 GB 5400rpm HDD, using the "copy from another mac" (or something) option when I booted for the first time.

Now the issues are that the system actually seems a bit slower than it used to on my former mac and it lags somewhat when I play High quiality video online e.g 720p (has nothing to do with my internet connection). The latter problem disappears if I switch to the 9600M GT GC, but I really shouldn't have to, should I?

These issues baffle me somewhat, given that my new mac has a faster CPU and twice the memory (4 GB).

My questions are these:

1: Does it all boil down to the faster HDD when it comes to the speed of my system, and should I therefore switch back to the former, faster HDD (I'm probably going to do this anyway, but given that I have to get technicians to do it, I'm procrastinating) or is the difference mostly noticeable if you're editing movies and such?

2: Should I format the system and then just restore my backup of music and movies and such afterwards, because the slow system can be blamed on the cloning?

3: Why would the 720p films on youtube and such pose a problem? My typical workload is; adium, skype, mail and iTunes running in the background, but the problem doesn't go away if I turn them all off..

Thank you in advance for any answers

 

[madmaxmedia]

The 'cloning' should not have caused a problem, since you didn't actually clone the drive (which generally means direct copy of everything.)

You used the OS X Migration Assistant, which only copies documents, applications, and settings. That should not cause any problems with the actual OS.

I really wouldn't imagine the HD speed would make a difference in say 720p video playback, so I'm not sure what is causing that problem.

 

[Amopax]

Thanks for the input

I understand that the HDD speed has nothing to do with the video lagging. I'm asking if it's normal that the 9400M GC has trouble with the 720p video

 

[madmaxmedia]

Well, since 720p video can have different bitrates, codecs, etc...

Do you want to try downloading a couple of 720p and 1080p trailers from Apple's web site? Let us know if you have any stutters, then some of us can try as well to confirm.

I have a 13" MBP (so just the 9400m of course), I know 720p trailers play flawlessly (assuming I don't have some CPU-chugging process in the background), and I think 1080p trailers are smooth as well (but would need to check that.)

Try the Avatar trailer, that one runs perfectly on my MBP.