SSD... what size should I get

[pricej636]

So I am looking to pull the trigger on a new SSD. I previously had a 240GB SSD in my old machine that was "borrowed" from me. Since then I have sold the 13" and purchased a 2010 15", but it has the stock 5400 drive.

Question is how much spare room should you have on a SSD? Over the past few days I have been moving as I can to a spare drive. Ive trimmed my HD down to 65GB and I could probably get another 10GB or so if I needed to. So lets call it 60 - 65GB, would a 80GB SSD be ok? Im considering the Intel x-25m or the vertex 2. I see no reason to wait for the vertex 3 as I can't take advantage of the faster speeds, and who knows how long it will be before Intel releases the g3, if they ever do.

Opinions? For now I will be leaving the spare drive plugged into the airport extreme for network storage, but may consider the optibay in the future for local storage. Not sure I want to give up my optical drive yet.

 

[oojosheoo]

So I am looking to pull the trigger on a new SSD. I previously had a 240GB SSD in my old machine that was "borrowed" from me. Since then I have sold the 13" and purchased a 2010 15", but it has the stock 5400 drive.

Question is how much spare room should you have on a SSD? Over the past few days I have been moving as I can to a spare drive. Ive trimmed my HD down to 65GB and I could probably get another 10GB or so if I needed to. So lets call it 60 - 65GB, would a 80GB SSD be ok? Im considering the Intel x-25m or the vertex 2. I see no reason to wait for the vertex 3 as I can't take advantage of the faster speeds, and who knows how long it will be before Intel releases the g3, if they ever do.

Opinions? For now I will be leaving the spare drive plugged into the airport extreme for network storage, but may consider the optibay in the future for local storage. Not sure I want to give up my optical drive yet.

Good morning!

In my opinion I would still wait for the Intel g3 just because their g2 price will go down. As for size of the SSD. I would get a 120GB min. Just because you want to leave your used space under 80%. And if your using 60-65GB on a 80GB SSD then you have no room to breath. Hope this helps.

 

[ovrkast]

I purchased the newer MacBook Air a few months back, and had it outfitted with the 128GB SSD. After loading my 27GB of music, 11GB of photos, Adobe CS5, OSX, and miscellaneous software I still had like 65GB free. Although with 65GB free, I was always fearful that that number would quickly diminish as I get more involved with my photography. I've since sold my beloved MacBook Air 11.6" and upgraded to the 2011 15", and got the Kingston SSDNow V100 256GB SSD. Now I have over 193GB free!

 

[michael.lauden]

Go as big as you can afford - I would keep it full @ 70% max w/another 10% 'breathing room' - if I were buying today - I'd probably go with 128GB, which is close to my main drive's capacity ATM right now anyways - after I take my music off it would be less than 30% full.

 

[pricej636]

Go as big as you can afford - I would keep it full @ 70% max w/another 10% 'breathing room' - if I were buying today - I'd probably go with 128GB, which is close to my main drive's capacity ATM right now anyways - after I take my music off it would be less than 30% full.

That is exactly what I did. I ordered the Intel 120GB drive. I did the math and wasn't comfortable with the amount of free space that would have been left on the 80GB drive. The 120GB drive should last me a while with the external storage. By the time I am ready to upgrade drive prices should be lower.