Hard Drive RPM

[NickD]

I will most likely be purchasing a 2.2 GHz 15.4" MBP for work in Final Cut and CS3 before the end of the year, and need advice on hard drive RPM.

As many of you probably know, there are 4 hard drive options available for the 2.2 MacBook Pro:

120GB 5400 RPM
160GB 5400 RPM
200GB 4200 RPM
160GB 7200 RPM

I would love 200GB internal storage, but I don't think 4200 RPM is fast enough for accessing and modifying large files like I will be doing.

Should a 5400 RPM suffice, or should I spend even more and get a 7200 RPM?

NickD

 

[kolax]

7200 will give you a nice boost if you will be messing about with large files.

It'll have a slight impact on your battery life if your not too fussed about that.

 

[7masscom]

Hard Drive RPM

I'm currently using FCP2 and CS3 on my Macbook Pro 17", 2.33 Ghz. I've added a 200GB 7200 RPM from Hitachi (which does void my warranty but I needed the space). I STRONGLY recommend getting the 160MB 7200 RPM. You can still get by without it (by using external drive(s)), but that defeats the purpose of mobility to me. I like being able to work from anywhere on projects. When I'm at home, I do have a couple 1TB drives for backup and big projects.

 

[koops]

see this review - pretty much says the 7200rpm is the one to get, it compares the 5400rpm 160Gb and the toshiba 4200rpm 200Gb

http://techgage.com/article/seagate_momentus_72002_160gb_notebook_drive/

as steve would say - its good performance per watt!

 

[Whiteapple]

Actually the best drive out there in terms of performance is the Hitachi 7k200 but unfortunately it isn't a CTO option at the moment.

Check performance here

It blows away the 160GB 7200rpm, for same battery consumption and more storage. I would say wait until it's a CTO option before buying a MacBook Pro if not needed right away (dissasembling is quite tough...)

 

[klharper]

Actually the best drive out there in terms of performance is the Hitachi 7k200 but unfortunately it isn't a CTO option at the moment.

Check performance here

It blows away the 160GB 7200rpm, for same battery consumption and more storage. I would say wait until it's a CTO option before buying a MacBook Pro if not needed right away (dissasembling is quite tough...)

So it's possible Apple with add this as a CTO option soon, well before the next refresh?