HD replacement for MacBook Pro (internal)

[LSNY]

Hi all,
Running PT 9 on my MB Pro (3,1 / 2.4 GHz / 4 gigs RAM).
The internal drive is 150 Gigs, 5400 RPM.
I'd like to install a larger drive.
Recommendation please?
Concerns:
---"Quiet"-ness.
---Reliability
---Of course, price.

If I went to a 7200 rpm drive, will I experience:
---Better performance?
---Noticeably worse battery life?

Thanks !

[Shifted Music]

I've been researching this and the seagate momentus XT seems to be the way to go in a price vs performance issues.

not sure about the battery life but it certainly does seem to provide better performance, for sure.

[Eric Seaberg]

How much space do you need? I'm planning on putting a 125GB SSD in my MBPro and take out my 500GB/7200RPM and put in an external case. With an SSD, the battery running time should increase dramatically, as well as boot-up speeds, not to mention program loading times!!

[LSNY]

My 150 Gig internal drive is almost full. Even after I've done a lot of "housekeeping", and pulled unnecessary things off the drive. So, I was looking at at least 250, but more likely 500.

[getz76]

Originally Posted by Eric Seaberg

With an SSD, the battery running time should increase dramatically

Battery life gains are nothing close to dramatic. In fact, depending on the drive you pick, there can be a decline.

Not all SSDs are equal. Do your research.

[Eric Seaberg]

Originally Posted by LSNY

My 150 Gig internal drive is almost full. Even after I've done a lot of "housekeeping", and pulled unnecessary things off the drive. So, I was looking at at least 250, but more likely 500.

How much of that is DATA? I've realized I only need 75-80GB for system and apps, and all the data can go somewhere else. I'm taking my internal 500GB and keeping it as BIG data. Email, etc., will still remain on the internal SSD.

Re: getz76, the specs for OWC products are highly rated.

[getz76]

Originally Posted by Eric Seaberg

Re: getz76, the specs for OWC products are highly rated.

Actually, it's pretty "meh" for the price. The OWC uses a Sandforce controller, the same controller in the OCZ Vertex 2 line of drives. They are similar in performance, with the OCZ Vertex 2 besting it by marginal amounts.

The OWC MX240 runs about $500. The Vertex 2 240gb runs $390. While the OWC has a better warranty (5 years vs. 3 years), that is too much of a price difference for me.

[DonM]

I replaced the internal HD's on all three of my MBP's day one of their life. I can't therefore comment on battery life - but for DAW that isn't important to me. I have done 36 tracks with full I/O on the internal with not a problem.

-D

[Bodie]

I put in the Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS 500GB 7200 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive from NewEgg over a year ago in my 17" MBP, no issue with battery life and having 500Gb really helped out

[lemonkid]

I have a momentus XT 500 GB. I am not so happy with it. The Seagate guys cannot get a good firmware update for the drive. The Momentus XT forum shows many with problems especially on Macbook (Pro)

http://forums.seagate.com/

I read that a 750 GB 7200rpm Travelstar gives almost the same performance as a Momentus XT. For now I would suggest you to take such a drive.

Even though my drive is now more or less stable, I cannot use Intego Virusbarrier. It seems that Intego 'sees' the activity on the SSD portion of the Momentus disc as 'viruslike'. I cannot add that part to the trusted files.

I am now using Firmware version SD25 on the momentus xt but under SD23 and mainly under SD24 I had major problems losing the structure of my disc.

For now stay away from the momentus XT. Try it when it gets better.

Especially Older macbook models seem to have many problems. I have MacBook Pro 5.5 and I seem to have relatively minor issues.