Storage is my issue with newer laptops

[rajivhifi]

I have a 2008 MBP which is showing signs of aging and I'm thinking of replacing with a newer MBP or MBA. The 2008 laptop has a 1TB HHD in which I've accumulated almost 300GB of family snaps and videos in iPhoto.

My confusion is, with such limited space in the newer machines, how should I solve for the lack of space. I know an external hard drive is an alternative but it comes with inconvenience of having the drive connected every time we want to view the snaps. Also, all of my system is backed into Time Machine on an external drive. If I had another external drive for iPhoto Library in the new machine, will it be backed up in time Machine? And I hate the idea of backing up to dropbox or third party services.

Wish these damn SSDs didn't cost an arm or the newer machines were user upgradable.

Those long time mac users, how did you solve for this dilemma when you upgraded.

 

[mad3inch1na]

I have a 2008 MBP which is showing signs of aging and I'm thinking of replacing with a newer MBP or MBA. The 2008 laptop has a 1TB HHD in which I've accumulated almost 300GB of family snaps and videos in iPhoto.

My confusion is, with such limited space in the newer machines, how should I solve for the lack of space. I know an external hard drive is an alternative but it comes with inconvenience of having the drive connected every time we want to view the snaps. Also, all of my system is backed into Time Machine on an external drive. If I had another external drive for iPhoto Library in the new machine, will it be backed up in time Machine? And I hate the idea of backing up to dropbox or third party services.

Wish these damn SSDs didn't cost an arm or the newer machines were user upgradable.

Those long time mac users, how did you solve for this dilemma when you upgraded.

The cost of storage is going down rapidly, so we can most likely expect higher storage at a lower price in the future. If you really need storage on a new Mac, your best options are to get an external drive or just spend an arm and a leg on 512GB. PCIE flash is very expensive, and as of right now there are no 3rd party upgrades. It is theoretically possible to do an upgrade, but even when 3rd party drives become available it will void your warranty .

I have a 2008 Mac Mini hooked up to my TV that I use as a media storage device and I have a 2014 baseline MBA as my main computer. I don't ever find a use for my photo library on the go, so that setup works for me.

Matt

 

[960design]

I have a 2008 MBP which is showing signs of aging and I'm thinking of replacing with a newer MBP or MBA. The 2008 laptop has a 1TB HHD in which I've accumulated almost 300GB of family snaps and videos in iPhoto...

Whoa! Your doing this all wrong sir!

What if your very portable laptop gets wet? Photos gone forever! What if it gets stolen, dropped, burned in a fire? I have a MBPr with 512G SSD of storage that I use for development. It currently has about 50G used. Where is the rest of my stuff? The cloud of course! I have a 3TB Western Digital MyBookLive at home with about 500 HD movies, thousands upon thousand of pictures. The drive is plugged into a wireless router which is plugged into a bridged modem which is connected to the internet. I can access my movies and photos over any computer in the world that has an internet connection. It's kinda like I have my own Netflix server at home. It's great when we are traveling. I plug my little AppleTV into the hotel TV. Then pull up my server via URL on my iPad. Pick a movie and start streaming it through my iPad to my AppleTV. Maybe someday the AppleTV will have a built in web browser so I can drop the airplay stuff ( but that's another thread altogether ). But wait! What if my house burns down while I'm gone! Yep, All my stuff is backed up to another remote server ( that does not do streaming ).

Same goes for my software development work. Every couple of hours ( successful build ) gets pushed to a remote server via FTP and every save gets pushed to local and remote GIT repositories.

 

[Menge]

Ideally you'd store your archived files on a separate disk and keep on your laptop only the stuff you're currently working on.
Asides from that, you'd have another separate disk that backs up both your separate disk and your laptop's disk.

There's a saying that goes "If you only have one of something, then you have none".

 

[Boyd01]

The new machines have 802.11ac wifi which is really fast. I get about 60MB/s accessing a shared drive on my LAN with my 2013 MacBook Air. I also have an old 2008 MBP and this is faster than its internal hard drive.

So you can move the stuff you only need at home off the SSD. I have a Mac Mini for an iTunes server with my media library which about 1TB and growing. This also has the advantage of making it available to other computers, iDevices and AppleTVs all the time.

Putting stuff in the cloud is nice, but not a good solution for me. I am in a remote location and my only internet option is 1.8mb/s DSL.

 

[SuperCachetes]

Whoa! Your doing this all wrong sir!

Uh, no:

Also, all of my system is backed into Time Machine on an external drive.

Anyway, OP, if you're only using 300GB, a 512GB (or 480GB, as the case may be) should be fine. I don't really see the problem, medium-term.

Long-term, or if you're planning a data binge in the future - consider an external drive hooked up through your router (assuming it is a Time Capsule, it's easier, but there are several ways to skin that cat).

 

[960design]

Uh, no:

Potion seller, you may have missed the larger issue. I'll make is simple.
1) Storing all of your data in one place is bad. Storing all of your data in a single, easily mobile place is badder ( again, to assist in clarifying your seemingly helpful, but very harmful intent; I've used the fake work badder to illustrate my point ).

Long-term, or if you're planning a data binge in the future - consider an external drive hooked up through your router (assuming it is a Time Capsule, it's easier, but there are several ways to skin that cat).

That's exactly what I've said.

You've had your say potion seller, but I'll have mine. You're a rascal. You're a rascal with no respect for knights.

 

[SuperCachetes]

Potion seller, you may have missed the larger issue. I'll make is simple.
1) Storing all of your data in one place is bad. Storing all of your data in a single, easily mobile place is badder ( again, to assist in clarifying your seemingly helpful, but very harmful intent; I've used the fake work badder to illustrate my point ).

Sorry, the relentless detail in your original post nearly completely obfuscated your apparent point about storing backups in a different physical location, which seems like it would have been easy enough to succinctly state. Fair enough. Kids: ideally your data is backed in multiple physical locations. Done.

That's exactly what I've said.

The geeky frills on your follow-up post make it all but totally unclear: He's already backing up via Time Machine on an external drive, which is why I quoted it for you before. Are you saying that is exactly what you've said for him to do, or is he doing it totally wrong? Please, have your say, but consider making it unequivocal.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

The cost of storage is going down rapidly, so we can most likely expect higher storage at a lower price in the future. If you really need storage on a new Mac, your best options are to get an external drive or just spend an arm and a leg on 512GB. PCIE flash is very expensive, and as of right now there are no 3rd party upgrades. It is theoretically possible to do an upgrade, but even when 3rd party drives become available it will void your warranty .

I have a 2008 Mac Mini hooked up to my TV that I use as a media storage device and I have a 2014 baseline MBA as my main computer. I don't ever find a use for my photo library on the go, so that setup works for me.

Matt

This has been discussed ad Infinitum, increasing storage capacity,HDD,SSD WILL NOT void your warranty!

 

[mad3inch1na]

This has been discussed ad Infinitum, increasing storage capacity,HDD,SSD WILL NOT void your warranty!

Well, I agree it will not void your warranty in every single circumstance, but Apple can deny warranty coverage if they can connect it to an unauthorized upgrade/repair. Essentially, if any part that interfaces with the SSD dies, Apple can void the warranty. My original statement was absolutist, and it was incorrect. Unless I read the warranty guidelines incorrectly though, you can very well void your warranty by doing an unauthorized upgrade.

Matt