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    MacBook Pro - hard drive options?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by hoolyproductions, Sep 17, 2007.

  1. hoolyproductions

    hoolyproductions Notebook Evangelist

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    Hi

    I am thinking about upgrading my MBP to one of the new models in a couple of months, after Leopard comes out and I have recieved a couple more pay checks! :)

    At the moment I have the 160Gb 5400RPM hard drive. My main storage needs are RAW photography files and music. 160Gb is big enough for now (I have 60Gb free right now), but that's because I keep a lot of my photos on a separate drive, and it would be nice to keep it all on my main drive, with a simple back up of the whole lot to an external.

    So I am a little torn between the three drive options:

    160Gb 5400 RPM - the standard drive, seems ok for now​

    160 Gb 7200 RPM - would I notice faster performance? I guess not particularly as I don't read/write particularly large files​

    200Gb 4200 RPM - would this be noticably slower/hotter??​


    From the googling and reading I have done here the choice is not straightforward, e.g. read/write speed seems to be affected by how much you have on the drive, etc. Can anyone give me some pointers that would help me decide the 'best' for me? Thanks! :)
     
    hoolyproductions, Sep 17, 2007
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  2. Sam

    Sam Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yes, the 4200 RPM drive is much slower than the 5400 RPM, more than the 5400 is compared to 7200 (I know, it doesn't seem to make sense, but there's a bigger difference between 4200 vs. 5400 than 5400 vs. 7200).

    I would say unless you do heavy video editing or really want to be a second or two faster in running some applications, the 5400 RPM hard drive will do fine. It also is more quiet, generates less heat and is better on battery life, so yeah, I'd say generally the 5400 RPM is fine.
     
    Sam, Sep 17, 2007
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  3. hoolyproductions

    hoolyproductions Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks, I think I am heading in that direction.

    Any speculation on how long it will take until Apple might offer a 5400 200Gb drive? I guess it can't be too many 'refreshes' away...
     
    hoolyproductions, Sep 17, 2007
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  4. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

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    If you're "upgrading" (i.e. you already have the MBP and just want to put in a new harddrive), why limit yourself to what Apple lets you configure? You can put in whatever's the latest HDD that's out at the time you upgrade (currently, it's 200GB for 7200rpm and 250G (or is it 300 already?) for 5400rpm HDDs).
     
    taelrak, Sep 17, 2007
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  5. hoolyproductions

    hoolyproductions Notebook Evangelist

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    no I am actually selling my old MBP for a new one, for various reasons not least this one has a german keyboard and I now need a finnish one :)
     
    hoolyproductions, Sep 17, 2007
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  6. jnev

    jnev Notebook Guru

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    you can also get the mbp with the 120gb 5400rpm drive, then replace it with the 250gb 5400rpm drive and use the 120 as a backup or something...
     
    jnev, Sep 17, 2007
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  7. desertmike

    desertmike Notebook Consultant

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    I think the "renewed" MBP with Penryn processor will offer larger HD since all the other major players in the notebook arena are doing so..IMHO.
     
    desertmike, Oct 21, 2007
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