External Hard Drives for Macbook Pro?

[John L]

I am running pro-tools 10 on a Macbook pro with the 2.5 GHz intel core i7 processor, 8Gigs of DDR3 memory, with the thunderbolt interface and am looking for a 7200rpm external hard drive that is thunderbolt compatible with at least 1 terabyte of storage. I would prefer if it also has a firewire port, but don't have to have it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[promixr]

I don't think what you are asking for has been invented yet. The closest thing I could find is some Thunderbolt-only drives from LaCie- but they do not have Firewire or any other legacy ports.

There has not been that many Thunderbolt products brought to market yet.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this : )

[zoff]

Originally Posted by John L

I am running pro-tools 10 on a Macbook pro with the 2.5 GHz intel core i7 processor, 8Gigs of DDR3 memory, with the thunderbolt interface and am looking for a 7200rpm external hard drive that is thunderbolt compatible with at least 1 terabyte of storage. I would prefer if it also has a firewire port, but don't have to have it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I'm getting great results with an internal 6G SSD drive in the optical bay and the 7200 RPM HD that came with the MBP.

[TimothyJohn]

"I'm getting great results with an internal 6G SSD drive in the optical bay and the 7200 RPM HD that came with the MBP."

So, hooking up the ssd in the optical bus provides 6g speed? I have a 2011 17" 2.3ghz i7 macbook pro. I was under the impression that if I wanted 6g performance from an ssd , I would have to mount it as the main drive in the main drive bay, then move my 7200 drive to the optical bay--which I thought was 3g. This of course might cause a cooling problem in the laptop due to the heat generated from the spinning drive in the optical bay. Your solution is great, having the ssd in the optical drive--less heat issues. Having the system drive and recording drive onboard makes for an ideal setup--easier on the battery as well. Can anyone chime in on the 6g/3g issue for the optical drive? Does hooking up a 6g ssd in the optical drive bay give you 6g performance?
Having a 6g ssd (or even 3g for that matter!) as the system drive seems very enticing.
Thanks, and good luck with your system!!

[zoff]

Originally Posted by TimothyJohn

"I'm getting great results with an internal 6G SSD drive in the optical bay and the 7200 RPM HD that came with the MBP."

So, hooking up the ssd in the optical bus provides 6g speed? I have a 2011 17" 2.3ghz i7 macbook pro. I was under the impression that if I wanted 6g performance from an ssd , I would have to mount it as the main drive in the main drive bay, then move my 7200 drive to the optical bay--which I thought was 3g. This of course might cause a cooling problem in the laptop due to the heat generated from the spinning drive in the optical bay. Your solution is great, having the ssd in the optical drive--less heat issues. Having the system drive and recording drive onboard makes for an ideal setup--easier on the battery as well. Can anyone chime in on the 6g/3g issue for the optical drive? Does hooking up a 6g ssd in the optical drive bay give you 6g performance?
Having a 6g ssd (or even 3g for that matter!) as the system drive seems very enticing.
Thanks, and good luck with your system!!

I'm sorry, you are right. The HD is in the optical bay and the SSD in the HD bay.

[CME]

Check out owc. They have an article on which port is better for the SSD. Fwiw I have an SSD in the main bay and 7200 rpm drive in the optical bay of my pre unibody MBP. Love it.


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[NewdestinyX]

Originally Posted by CME

Check out owc. They have an article on which port is better for the SSD. Fwiw I have an SSD in the main bay and 7200 rpm drive in the optical bay of my pre unibody MBP. Love it.

Me three!! The 6G needs to go in main bay. Move the 7200 to optical bay which is 3G and use 7200 for system and backup of audio files. Audio on SSD.. Monster performance.. I use a utility called Synk Pro to make immediate backup (Mirror) of the SSD drive audio to the 7200 to make real sure.

We're still in the early years of SSD's being used for audio and Avid doesn't officially support SSD's for audio drives. And SSD's have a fixed amount of writes and then they just die on you no warning. Now they're rated for a couple years of heavy use - so early on you wouldn't need to worry about immediate backup - but be on the safe side - right?

[TimothyJohn]

Originally Posted by CME

Check out owc. They have an article on which port is better for the SSD. Fwiw I have an SSD in the main bay and 7200 rpm drive in the optical bay of my pre unibody MBP. Love it.

Can I ask you--are you using the spinning drive in the optical bay for audio? And are there any cooling issues? Unusually loud fan noise? It seems like a smokin' system to me!!

[CME]

Yes. SSD in main bay and spinning disc in the optical bay. It doesn't run any hotter than before, but my system isn't exactly stock. I burned up the FireWire ports and found an older model logic board to replace it with. Ever since I did that it seems to run a bit warmer, but I also upped the CPU to a 2.6 ghz model (vs. 2.4 stock). Anywho it makes mobile tracking a breeze. Plug in the ilok and interface and you're ready to go.


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[RegenerationMix]

the one thing to remember is the main bay has some shock absorbing in it while the Optibay does not. I use my SSD drive in the optibay since it doesnt need any shock mounting and i use a 750G 7200 drive in the main bay where it does need some shock mounting.

I use the SSD for system and samples and the 7200 drive for audio.


for what its worth.

Chris