Upgrading... What should I buy?

[Chiuy]

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Hey guys. Still waiting for Back to School sale until I buy my first Mac!
So anyway, in the mean time, I'm planning on buying some upgrades for the Mac until I get it.

I wanna upgrade to 8GB of Ram and 750GB 7200 RPM.
Buying the base model of the 13 inch.

So, any suggestions on what brand I should buy and what?
Like the HD, I heard Western is better than Seagate according to some reviews, etc.
And what type of ram? Kingston? Etc?

Or does it matter at all?

Also, when I upgrade these stuff, does the laptop battery consumption be more? Especially the HD since I hear it can take away 20% of your battery depending on the HD.

I also looked into SDD and some say it take less battery consumption and it's way faster than HD. Is the SSD worth it? I feel like it's pricey at 256GB which cost around $400. And 64GB is just too little memory.
But how much faster does it go?

 

[cloroxbleach4]

It really just depends on what you'll be using your MBP for. You'll notice a speed boost with the 7200 rpm hdd. But if you want quick, you should look at an SSD. With an SSD you have to compromise between speed or amount of data you can store with a standard HDD.

As for ram, all ram is pretty much created equal. You'll want to look at the customer service level of the manufacturer. I would hold off on the ram and see if you even need it or not. Unless you're wanting to run vmware or parallels.

 

[alust2013]

As far as the hard drive goes, the WD is probably the best on the market. It also doesn't use much more battery than the standard drive. I have had one for a year and don't notice a difference.

RAM is basically all the same, just make sure to get one that actually has a brand that will back it.

SSD is a lot faster for boot/app loading times, but it is really expensive. If you need space, then it's best to just stick with a regular hard drive.

 

[Dark Void]

i would go with a regular 7200rpm hdd over a ssd unless you have the money and would prefer speed over storage. however the hdd will still provide good speed for you and is a lot less expensive. i would go with a wd, more specifically the scorpio black, they have a 750gb version and it has good reviews. for ram, get that g.skill deal before it ends tomorrow, if you buy a mac in the near future it will take 1333mhz ram. you shouldn't see much, if any increased battery consumption from these upgrades but you may see a bit of a heat increase due to the hdd spinning at a higher rpm but it's not going to be much at all and is nothing to worry about. it should be relatively quiet, too. good luck in upgrading your mbp.