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High end 27" 2.8 GHz i7 iMac - Is the 2TB Hard Drive Upgrade worth it?

Chilla Frilla

Chilla Frilla

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 26, 2009
89
0
United States
I'm seriously considering ordering one of the brand new 27" iMac's, with the 2.8 GHz i7 Processor and 8GB (4x2GB) of RAM.

The only thing I'm having trouble deciding about is getting either the standard 1TB Hard Drive or the 2TB Hard Drive for a little over $200. Since the Hard Drive can't exactly be replaced easily, I'm wondering if it would be better to invest in the 2TB upgrade.


What do you guys think?
 
My angle:

If you are using Time Machine to back up, your TM drive should be the same size or bigger than your internal HDD. 2TB externals are still in the ~200$ range, while many 1TB externals are in the sub 100$ range.

If I were starting from scratch though, I'd go with the 2TB internal and a 2TB external for TM.

Personally, I went with the 1TB on my pre-order since my new Drobo replaced 2x 1TB and 2x 500GB externals, and I want to use one of the 1TB drives as a new TM disk.

Don't even think about not doing backups though, please, think of the children :)
 
i personally think 1tb will be fine
signature_SmileyFace.jpg
if you ever need more it will only be for time machine backups in which case an external would be beter
 
This is the one upgrade I have been debating the most but I think I will go 2tb and make 1tb a windows 7 partition and 1tb for the mac. If you use bootcamp its something to think about.
 
richprice said:
This is the one upgrade I have been debating the most but I think I will go 2tb and make 1tb a windows 7 partition and 1tb for the mac. If you use bootcamp its something to think about.
Click to expand...

This is my primary concern on the decision, I'll be using Boot Camp on the machine for sure.
 
I too was debating this upgrade. I think for me it will be worth it because I will be coming from a Mac Pro.

I'm going to take my 2 internal 1TB drives and make an external RAID for photo backups.

I wind up needing a lot of space because of my ever-growing photo library. I worry that if I only had the 1TB, I would run out of space since everything would be on that drive.

I'm thinking I'll do it.

PS - order the ram 3rd party and youll save yourself a bunch of money (perhaps enough to negate the cost of the 2TB drive upgrade)
 
1 TB is HUGE for most apps

1 TB vs 2, depends on what you are doing with it. Lots of Video (movies, either bought or your own) definitely 2 TB. Gaming? 1 TB is probably fine. Lots of photographs? I have 6 years of digital hi res photos in aperature and its only 50 Gb. So even that, probably 1 TB is fine. Really look at your current needs and extrapolate. double it. Someone made a good point here, if you go 2 TB you need at least that in backup.

but in the end it depends on how much $200 means to you. if not alot, then 2 Tb. why not?
 
what I consider more important is RPM speed
7200 > 5400
nevermind, both HDD options in the 27" are 7200rpm

I'd go with the 1TB and get an external 1TB
 
I think the answer is in the original post. As long as the iMac Hard Drive isn't easily replaceable, like it is in the portables, i would always go with the biggest option available.
 
Probably would be worth it yea, as generally hard drives in the iMac aren't too easy to replace yourself. It depends if you are willing to have an external hard drive or not if you find you need the space..
signature_silverapple.jpg
 
That's a tough one. I'm having the same thoughts about my purchase. I know that the standard 1TB HD is 7200 rpm's. But I can't find out if the 2 TB is also the same speed. That right there would be my deciding factor.
 
I've been wondering the same thing, and doing some research online, I can get a 2TB external with firewire 800 for about the same amount as the upgrade would cost. ($260 canadian education store)
1TB internal + 2TB external = 3GB for the same cost as a 2TB internal.
So that's probably what i'm going to do.
Apple really is making a massive profit on the upgrades!

I was originally going to max out my machine straight away, but that would cost an extra $260 for HD; $220 for 4GB extra RAM; and $139 for Apple Care = $619 in extras.
I figure I don't need it all right now, and if I wait 11 months, a 2TB external will prob be $100, 4GB RAM will be $50 from a internet supplier. So then it'll all cost only $289 - a massive saving!
 
Do you need that extra 1TB right now? Are you disgusted with external HD's? I'm asking because if you don't think you are going to need that extra 1TB right now, I would just get the 1TB option and buy an external later. Since 2TB's are dropping in price, if you wait 6-12 months, you can save yourself some money AND you'll have a total of 3TB's.

Also, you mentioned you were getting the 8gig upgrade. Unless you are terribly afraid of upgrading the RAM yourself, you save yourself another 100 bucks by buying it somewhere else. The 4gig option ships with 2-2gig'ers - leaving you 2 extra slots. So all you need is to buy 2 more 2gig'ers for under 100 bucks.
 
musukosan said:
Also, you mentioned you were getting the 8gig upgrade. Unless you are terribly afraid of upgrading the RAM yourself, you save yourself another 100 bucks by buying it somewhere else. The 4gig option ships with 2-2gig'ers - leaving you 2 extra slots. So all you need is to buy 2 more 2gig'ers for under 100 bucks.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this. Why not install the RAM yourself and save big-time? It's incredibly easy to do...and would free up money for the 2TB upgrade if you decide to go that route.

Bryan
 
The decision on 1TB vs. 2TB depends completely on what you do and how you use your computer. Unless you're very new to the computer world, you should be able to look back at your past history and decide from there. Always allow for file size growth (larger pictures and more HD video) in your planning...but just take a look at your current usage.

If you're already consistently using over 500GB in storage, I would definitely upgrade. But if you're sitting around 250GB of actual stored data, I would just go with a 1TB drive...

Bryan
 
To me the determining factor will be how easy it is to upgrade. If it's too complex it might be worth paying Apple's ransom for the upgrade.
 
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