SSD vs. 5400rpm Drive

[ukchris]

Sorry if tis is pretty basic but... I have had a MBA for two years, 11" 2010 model and love it. I'm getting to the stage where I want something a little bigger in terms of screen resolution as well as disk space so I'm contemplating getting a 13" rMBP assuming they are released this week.

I have a couple of questions, as the MBA is my first Mac I've never had anything other than SSD, I really like the boot up as I can power up and be online in around 10 seconds. If I went to a regular 2.5" HD how different would this be? Similar? 30 seconds? > 1 minute?

Secondly... Am I correct in what I have Radha while the rMBP will not typically run at the full native resolution I can us hit high and maybe all the way with some hacks? I'm looking for more screen space so obviously I'd rather be beyond 1440 or whatever in an ideal situation.

Thanks!

Chris.

 

[r0k]

Sorry if tis is pretty basic but... I have had a MBA for two years, 11" 2010 model and love it. I'm getting to the stage where I want something a little bigger in terms of screen resolution as well as disk space so I'm contemplating getting a 13" rMBP assuming they are released this week.

I have a couple of questions, as the MBA is my first Mac I've never had anything other than SSD, I really like the boot up as I can power up and be online in around 10 seconds. If I went to a regular 2.5" HD how different would this be? Similar? 30 seconds? > 1 minute?

Secondly... Am I correct in what I have Radha while the rMBP will not typically run at the full native resolution I can us hit high and maybe all the way with some hacks? I'm looking for more screen space so obviously I'd rather be beyond 1440 or whatever in an ideal situation.

Thanks!

Chris.

I don't recommend the retina models because they are not easily user upgradeable. That being said, at least you'll still have SSD as I believe all the retinal models ship with SSD. As for resolution, the native resolution is actually a lot higher than what is stated on the box. This allows them to support a lot of resolutions and fill the whole screen.

I spent a lot of time studying this and playing with the 15 inch retina model in the Apple store. I was impressed at how tiny stuff could get and I figured out very quickly that at the highest resolution, reading text was not really feasible for my eyes. For this reason, and to have upgradability, as well as to save money, I went with the late 2011 15.4 in hires antiglare MBP. I have a 7200 rpm drive which is a LOT slower than the Hybrid SSD I had in my old Macbook but it's slightly faster than a 5400 RPM drive.

It's VERY hard to go to HDD after using SSD. I expect to either go with a hybrid SSD (costing about $150) or wait for the Crucial 512 GB SSD to come down to $250 and get one then.

 

[CASLondon]

Sorry if tis is pretty basic but... I have had a MBA for two years, 11" 2010 model and love it. I'm getting to the stage where I want something a little bigger in terms of screen resolution as well as disk space so I'm contemplating getting a 13" rMBP assuming they are released this week.

I have a couple of questions, as the MBA is my first Mac I've never had anything other than SSD, I really like the boot up as I can power up and be online in around 10 seconds. If I went to a regular 2.5" HD how different would this be? Similar? 30 seconds? > 1 minute?

Secondly... Am I correct in what I have Radha while the rMBP will not typically run at the full native resolution I can us hit high and maybe all the way with some hacks? I'm looking for more screen space so obviously I'd rather be beyond 1440 or whatever in an ideal situation.

Thanks!

Chris.

My 2 cents, if you want more screen space why get the 13"? You pay a real premium on rMBP at this point, and the combination of price, screen size and according to rumours only an integrated gfx card, why not think about a non-retina MBP? Then you can do a dual HD set up with an aftermarket Samsung 256G ssd as a boot drive for an extra 160 bucks, and have either the stock 7200 drive or put in up to a Tb as that main storage slot.

In terms of addition weight/thickness, both will seem bigger coming from a MBA 11, but between the two not very much different other than in a way your eyes might appreciate.

If you are determined to have retina, that's another story but for me resolution is not the same thing as screen real estate (but then I run a 17")

 

[inscrewtable]

Get the retina mbp. If you have any doubts, go and check them out side by side against non retina.