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SSD or Hybrid?

J

JephJ

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 26, 2011
17
0
Alright, so I plan in the next month or so to order a base 13'' Macbook Pro using the student deal and educational discount. When it gets here, I already plan on upgrading the ram to 8 gigs and changing out the hard drive.

The problem I am having right now is deciding which hard drive will be best for me. At the moment, the options are either a 120g SSD or a 500g Seagate Momentus XT. I am a little worried about the size of the ssd because I don't know how fast I will run out of space. My goal is to have a fast computer that can handle multitasking well. I plan on using the computer for word processing, light gaming (SC2 and D3), music, web surfing, and possibly CS5.

I am more comfortable with the Momentus XT just because having the extra gigs is nice insurance for a while that I won't run out of space, however the increased speed and performance of the SSD is what is also attracting me to them. I have a feeling many of you are going to suggest the data doubler, but at this time I don't want to void my warranty and hope to keep costs as low as possible.

Whatever advise or help you can provide would be appreciated.
 
Apple Expert said:
Why don't you see how the MBP preforms out of the box before you buy a HD or more RAM?
Click to expand...

Agreed. Use the computer for a while before you commit to the SSD or Momentus XT.
 
I do plan on using the MBP for a while before I make the decision whether I need these upgrades, I am just planning for the future as I am a speed freak. I get very impatient with computers and like them to be as fast as I can make them for a budget.

I figured that the Momentus XT would be quite a bit slower and was originally planning to take out the stock 320 and put it in an external enclosure, but I just wasn't sure if 120g would be enough to fit everything I want to bring around with me when I am not at home. Are there any other options on the market currently that are similar? The other idea I had was to buy a SDXC card to hold the boot drive and put everything else on the stock hdd, however I have heard that these cards arn't very fast.

I will obviously let myself get used to a stock MBP before doing upgrades as to really appreciate them.
 
JephJ said:
I do plan on using the MBP for a while before I make the decision whether I need these upgrades, I am just planning for the future as I am a speed freak. I get very impatient with computers and like them to be as fast as I can make them for a budget.

I figured that the Momentus XT would be quite a bit slower and was originally planning to take out the stock 320 and put it in an external enclosure, but I just wasn't sure if 120g would be enough to fit everything I want to bring around with me when I am not at home. Are there any other options on the market currently that are similar? The other idea I had was to buy a SDXC card to hold the boot drive and put everything else on the stock hdd, however I have heard that these cards arn't very fast.

I will obviously let myself get used to a stock MBP before doing upgrades as to really appreciate them.
Click to expand...
Why are you limited to 120 GB for the SSD? You can get a 240 GB Agility 2 for $330 AR right now. I've seen the 240 GB Vertex 2 go as low as $309 AR at MicroCenter.
 
I am limited to a 120g SSD because I am trying to keep costs as low as possible, I would love a 240g but at the time I cannot afford it. Also I live in Vancouver so I don't have access to a microcenter.
 
The Momentus XT does make a difference on two counts. The 4GB of SSD storage does help with the boot times and the mechanical drive runs at 7200RPM. I had one in my 2009 15" MBP and would consider putting one in my 2011 15" MBP (although would love to have the money for a 512GB SSD with 8GB of RAM to match ;))
 
Well, if you're a speed freak, you probably won't be satisfied with the hybrid. Better to spend a little more right away with an SSD than to get the hybrid and decide two months later that it ain't gonna cut it.
 
I forgot to mention the fact that I have never dealt with a SSD or Hybrid drive before, so even though I do say that I am a speed freak, I have never used either product and therefore will most likely not be disappointed with either. I am just trying to find the best fit for me.
 
optibay doesnt technically void the warranty plus if you take it in you can always just put it back.
 
I was in a similar situation to you for a while. My MBP came with a standard 5400 RPM HDD. I knew right away that I wanted an upgrade. Don't get me wrong, it's a fast computer, but the hard drive could be better... a lot better. I've done a lot of research into storage options. I considered hybrids for a while, but finally decided to purchase a SSD. I'm kind of an all or nothing guy. I went with a 115 GB OWC Mercury Pro Extreme for just over $200. I'm only using about 70 GB of disk space, currently, so a big hard drive isn't a necessity for me. I'm converting my old 500 GB HDD into external storage (mostly for backups). If your disk space usage and budget is anything like mine (low and low) I would just cut to the chase and look at SSDs.
 
gmans46 said:
optibay doesnt technically void the warranty plus if you take it in you can always just put it back.
Click to expand...

As much as I would like to think I could be sneaky with something like that, I would much prefer just to upgrade the parts that Apple says we can upgrade.

I was in a similar situation to you for a while. My MBP came with a standard 5400 RPM HDD. I knew right away that I wanted an upgrade. Don't get me wrong, it's a fast computer, but the hard drive could be better... a lot better. I've done a lot of research into storage options. I considered hybrids for a while, but finally decided to purchase a SSD. I'm kind of an all or nothing guy. I went with a 115 GB OWC Mercury Pro Extreme for just over $200. I'm only using about 70 GB of disk space, currently, so a big hard drive isn't a necessity for me. I'm converting my old 500 GB HDD into external storage (mostly for backups). If your disk space usage and budget is anything like mine (low and low) I would just cut to the chase and look at SSDs.
Click to expand...

Wow that sounds very similar to my situation, I was originally looking at the 115g OWC SSD, although at the moment I think I might possibly look for a good deal on a Vertex 2 with a larger capacity.

Considering on the SSD I would have all the regular mac drives, music, games(Most likely only GW, SC2, and D3), photos, CS5, and general word documents. Do you guys think that this hard drive capacity would hold all this? Obviously depending on quantity of each I understand but just assume normal amounts.
 
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