New MBP: 200 GB 7200 or 300 GB 4200?

[basqarl]

What would you choose and why? I'll be placing my order this week but need to decide. Am still leaning toward the 200/7200 but would like to hear from others what pros and cons I may not have considered.

(Quoted from Apple Store)

Hard Drive
A Serial ATA hard drive gives you more space for data and applications. Choose among several capacities at drive speeds up to 7200 rpm.

250GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm [Subtract $50]
200GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm
300GB Serial ATA @ 4200 rpm [Add $25]

 

[iHerzeleid]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/442089/

 

[chrmjenkins]

Actually, I would say the 250 5400 and 200 7200 are equally good choices. The 4200 is not a good choice. No one should elect to take a drive that slow Recent benchmarks have shown that the higher the capacity of 5400 laptop drives, the closer the speed to the 200gb 7200 drives. (320gb 5400 are barely slower). I'd say just go for the 250gb 5400 unless you really want the performance of the 7200.

 

[Karpfish]

7200RPM 200GB without a doubt

Most will agree that the higher speed HD will make the system run faster overall. I have it in mine. If storage is an issue then get an external HD and be done with it.

 

[skiffx]

yeah there is absolutely no point in getting that 4200 rpm HD its just complete shyte. Now as for 200 7200rpm or 250gb 5400rpm, I got the 7200 because I want the best performance, and will those 50gbs make any real difference? Just store your data on an external hd or on a network if you have other systems.

 

[basqarl]

Thank you so much!

 

[bestthereis27]

i would put in my own 320GB 5400 RPM drive. I think its the best of both worlds. I need the space.

 

[MikeZMacGeek]

5400rpm For More Battery Life

I just ordered it, and i got it with the 250GB 5400-rpm, and i was thinking about the 7200-RPM but i didn't get it because the 7200-RPM will eat up more battery life. But if that is not your concern than get the 200GB one. I also got mind with 4GB Ram (not apple memory $$$$$) and that will make up for some of the performance, and i think there so fast that it makes little difference..

 

[jbg232]

Whatever you do DO NOT GET THE 4200 RPM DRIVE! They are crap. If you need the space, get an external HDD instead.

 

[AuroraProject]

I'm surprised they don't offer a 320gb 5400rpm drive as an option. There are 3 or 4 vendors making them now.

 

[Ryox]

I'm surprised they don't offer a 320gb 5400rpm drive as an option. There are 3 or 4 vendors making them now.

Yup that would be a nice option, some are even making a 500GB 5400rpm to come out soon

 

[dante@sisna.com]

Get the 7200 RPM 200 -- I have this drive in my MBP and it is wonderfully fast.

I have a 5400 in a two gen older MBP and the whole system is noticeably slower in terms of save and open.

If you ever plan to run a virtual machine with Windows you will thank yourself for getting the 7200 rpm.

Then get a sleep external firewire 800/400/USB 2. Mercury Elite Pro Case from MacSales and you will have a very fast combination.

 

[basqarl]

Whatever you do DO NOT GET THE 4200 RPM DRIVE! They are crap. If you need the space, get an external HDD instead.

What is your recommendation for an HDD?

 

[jbg232]

What is your recommendation for an HDD?

For internal I would get the 7200 rpm 200GB HDD - it is awesome. The other choice if you want to take it into a shop to have them put it in is the 320gb 5400 rpm drives that are offered on some machine - those are lightning fast as well because of greater disk density.
For external I recommend the seagate 750 gig 7200 rpm drive - you can get smaller sizes if you want, but that's what I have and it is wonderful. I personally found the mybooks by western digital to be slower, and of lower quality although some people swear by them. I think they're cheaper for a reason.