SSD worth the extra $?

[fusionstudios]

I'm about to purchase the 2.53GHz 13" MacBook Pro. The plan is to upgrade the hard drive, but which one?

-128 GB SSD drive for $350 (via Apple)
-320GB 7200RPM WD Scorpio Black HD for $100 (via OWC)

How much added performance and reliability would I get with the SSD? Is it worth the extra $250?

 

[dr. shdw]

A good SSD is lightyears ahead of traditional drives..

 

[dajman]

I sprung for the SSD, i go through hard drives like you wouldn't believe, I'm pretty rough with my laptops, hopefully the SSD is as durable as it claims.

 

[Hellhammer]

SSDs are amazing. It's definitely worth it. Your system will boot in 15 seconds with SSD and apps will open immediately.v

 

[FieryFurnace]

A SSD can give you a bigger performance boost than any other upgrade.

 

[Consultant]

google: ssd worth money

 

[velocityg4]

If you go SSD get one from a third party supplier. From what I have read on Tomshardware the SSD's blow traditional hard drives out of the water. Except for some high speed models transferring large non-fragmented files.

You can either save money with a standard speed SSD
Corsair 128GB $300 90MB/s Read, 70MB/s Write

You could also spend a little bit extra but get what is likely a much faster model than Apple's (going by the specs it seems to be about the fastest on the market, one customer says it is faster than the dual 74GB 10,000RPM Raptors in RAID 0 that the drive replaced)
G.Skill Falcon $320 230MB/s Read, 190MB/s Write

Then place the drive that came with the Macbook in an external enclosure for Time Machine backups.
Macally Firewire 2.5" enclosure $35

Incidentally it seems SSD prices have gone up. I could have sworn that 256GB SSD's were close to $450 for a while.

 

[friareunuch]

i was just exploring the same question. here's a recent thread on exactly this topic. some good info in there:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/710373/

standard recommendation seems to be: avoid the apple installed one, and put an 80GB intel x25-m in yourself ($324 on newegg). x25 blows the others out of the water.

there is also a new line of intel SSDs coming out in q4 2009 that should offer a pretty huge upgrade. http://vr-zone.com/articles/intel-ssd-roadmap--bigger--faster/6508.html?doc=6508

if you can wait until the end of this year to buy, it seems like you'd have a lot more options. (i'm contemplating waiting as well)

7200 is louder and more consumptive. better price per gb, but slower, less reliable.

 

[drew0020]

YES! best upgrade ever for sense of speed! Get the Intel and youll never look back. Your computer will be so fast even if its not the latest model.

 

[fusionstudios]

Thanks for all the great advice! Looks like I'll be purchasing the stock 13" MacBook Pro and upgrading to an SSD through NewEgg. Hopefully they'll be in the Apple store tomorrow!

 

[JCastro]

7200 is louder and more consumptive. better price per gb, but slower, less reliable.

I have always upgraded to 7200 and I never notice more noise. sometimes there is a little more heat but nothing worth worrying about. I would love to upgrade to an SSD. But right now they cost a little too much for what I am willing to spend. I want at least 500GB.

 

[Ricanlegend]

If you got the extra cash laying around you should get it asap , you will love the speed