Could the 128 GB SSD be enough?

[MultiBat]

At the moment I am set on bying an MBA 13”.
Since I plan on using it as my only computer and plan to have it for several years I should probably go with an Ultimate 13”.

The thought that struck me though, is if the 128 GB SSD might actually be enough. I examined the data I have and it sums up to roughly 38 GB of documents, iTunes and photos.

Correct me if I am wrong here.
I read somewhere that the basic OS X installation and iLife is about 12 GB
Setting aside another 10 GB of space for applications like iTunes, Open Office, Pages and other utilities would bring the grand total to 60 GB.

With a formatted drive space of about 120 GB, I would have around 60 GB free space.
How much is a good idea to have as free space on your MBA to keep it snappy? I have read both 20% free space and 10 GB free space as advice.

 

[Hellhammer]

10GB should be more than fine with an SSD.

 

[iExpensive]

If you ever need extra space you can always have a external drive or flash drive

 

[Bakari45]

I have not used up all the hard drive space of either of my mobile devices—including the MBA.

By taking advantage of cloud technology storage and sharing computers on a network, I see no reason to dump all my stuff on my Air. I’ve been adding stuff as I need it. I would say at least ⅓ of the content on my desktop computer rarely gets used, but I'm too lazy to go through it and delete old files.

So yes, I think 128 should be enough. I have a bottomline 64gb Air and right now I have about 35gig left. I have installed all the apps I regularly use, on my desktop on my Air, including Adobe Photoshop CS3. I access many of my documents from Dropbox and MobileMe, and I keep selected playlists from my iTunes library on the Air.

If I traveled a lot, maybe I would need more space. But having my computers networked in the house, there’s very little need to max out SDD drive on my Air.

Plus, it seems like to me that the more you weight down your drive with stuff, the slower it gets over time.

 

[TheRealDamager]

It's $100 for DOUBLE the SSD. No brainer when you are spending $1500.

 

[Ronnoco]

If you ever need extra space you can always have a external drive or flash drive

I was looking for an external drive today for my 11" Ultimate to perhaps put my iTunes and media library on...I was tempted to buy a 128 USB stick but the prices are very high (well over $200 and many over $300 even with rebates and the specs really aren't that impressive for the price and I was concerned about bending the stick that protrudes so far out from the usb port which I have done before on my MBP although the size of the stick is certainly most desirable)...I wanted something fast and very small and light so I thought about buying an 128 SSD drive at Fry's for $269 and putting it in a small enclosure but the the kid that was helping me mentioned that the speeds (especially write speed) of the SSD would be severely limited by the usb port of my 11" Air and for about a third of the money ($300.00+ for the 128 SSD with the enclosure) I might just be better off with the Seagate Momentus XT 7200 RPM Hybrid 500GB with 4 GB SSD and 32mb cache. SOOOO, that is what I bought and it is working beautifully in the very slim and light NexStar SX silver aluminum enclosure...They had the drive for $128.00 (I've seen it cheaper online but I wanted it today) and the enclosure was $19.00 and came with a very nice pleather case...

This setup is perfect for me as it is fast (as fast as any external could be with the limitation of the usb ports on the Air), with a very small footprint and 500GB...Plus, it looks beautiful, matching the Airs color and style and was quite reasonably priced...

I couldn't be happier with this setup...

 

[neteng101]

It's $100 for DOUBLE the SSD. No brainer when you are spending $1500.

Where in the world did you get this? Its $300 to go from the 128GB to 256GB SSD on the 13".

I sometimes wonder if I should have just gone with the base 13" with 4GB RAM instead of the Ultimate 13" config. The only part that gets a bit tight is when you have Bootcamp and a Windows partition... my OSX partition is around 53GB currently, though I mainly store data on a network drive (NAS).

 

[KPOM]

If you ever need extra space you can always have a external drive or flash drive

x2. It depends on your needs. I upgraded to a Rev D "Ultimate" from a Rev B with the 128GB SSD. I had Windows 7 on that Rev B and still had about 25GB of free space. I had my iTunes library, about 6GB of photos, Office, my personal records, etc. on it. I don't have a big iTunes library and am not really into gaming. For me 128GB was sufficient, but I did need to offload some archives onto my Time Capsule. I purchased the "ultimate" more with a view to the future. My intent is to skip the Rev E (which I assume will have the Sandy Bridge processor but will lack a third party GPU for lack of room) and see what the Rev F looks like in 2012. By then, Lion will be out, I'll have added more photos, and installed more applications.

There are third party SSD solutions out there (OWC for one), but for now they are expensive. My view was that the $300 was worth it. That said, the 13" has the SD card slot, which may be useful for offloading some little-used files. Plus, 128GB is more than enough for the OS, the iLife and iWork apps, and a basic library of applications. See how much space you are using now, and then make your decision. But don't worry too much if you get it wrong. There will be more third party solutions.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

My MBP came with a 120gb drive, and as long as I didn't install WoW, Diablo II, or do any video editing, it was good enough for me.

 

[mrsir2009]

I have used 90GB of my 500GB hard drive - However 75GB of it is XPlane world scenery

 

[Aatos.1]

I'm a big fan of using my internal drive, whether it be a HD or SSD, very conservatively. I'd much rather keep the files (of all types) I don't use frequently on an external drive.

I believe if one buys a large capacity internal drive, it's all too easy to use it for everything and become complacent about backup. There's a host of other reasons that justify the practice above, too many to list.

Finally, I employ an NAS setup and enjoy knowing my data is quite safe.

 

[MultiBat]

I was looking for an external drive today for my 11" Ultimate to perhaps put my iTunes and media library on...
...
I couldn't be happier with this setup...

I have not used up all the hard drive space of either of my mobile devices—including the MBA.

By taking advantage of cloud technology storage and sharing computers on a network, I see no reason to dump all my stuff on my Air.
...

I'm a big fan of using my internal drive, whether it be a HD or SSD, very conservatively. I'd much rather keep the files (of all types) I don't use frequently on an external drive.
...
Finally, I employ an NAS setup and enjoy knowing my data is quite safe.

I have the same question for you all.
When your store your data on an external drive, do you have some sort of backup in place for that drive?

 

[bobr1952]

I'm thinking that the best upgrade would be the $100 for extra ram vs $300 for the larger SSD. So it really depends on how frugal you can be with the allocated space on your SSD. If you pay attention to what you save and where you save it--and use external drives for the large files--128 should be more than enough.

 

[TheRealDamager]

Where in the world did you get this? Its $300 to go from the 128GB to 256GB SSD on the 13".

I sometimes wonder if I should have just gone with the base 13" with 4GB RAM instead of the Ultimate 13" config. The only part that gets a bit tight is when you have Bootcamp and a Windows partition... my OSX partition is around 53GB currently, though I mainly store data on a network drive (NAS).

You're right - sorry - misread the thread, as the upgrade on the 13" is only $100.

 

[2IS]

It's $100 for DOUBLE the SSD. No brainer when you are spending $1500.

I think you're confusing the RAM with the SSD. $100 gets you double the ram from 2GB to 4GB. Doubling up on the SSD costs quite a bit more.

 

[Ronnoco]

ok, transfered my 80gb iTunes library to the external Momentous XT from my i5 MBP (about 50G of music and 30G of 720p Movies and TV)...when I open iTunes on my i5 it takes about 7 to 8 seconds to open with my 5400rpm 320GB standard HD...when I open iTunes from the 11" Ultimate on the Momentous XT, it opens in 1 second...
(in fact, it opens by the time the icon hits the dock on the first bounce... ). The 720p movies play beautifully as well...

Love this Momentous XT as my external for my 11" Air...