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JBT
2006-06-07, 19:57
Hi.
Im going to school for film and getting a macbook pro. Im getting the 15.4" screen, 2.0ghz with 1gb of ram. Im planning on buying a 250gb external hard drive for the footage. Do I need to upgrade to the 100gb internal HD or is the 80gb just fine.

PB PM
2006-06-07, 20:03
If you have the money to spare it never hurts to have a bigger hard drive. If you don't have a lot of spare cash I'd say stick with the 80GB drive.

Luca
2006-06-07, 22:12
If you have that much external storage, then an extra 20 GB won't make much of a difference. For the amount of money you'd spend to upgrade from 80 GB to 100 GB, you'd be better off just buying a larger external hard drive.

I mean, geez, they want $100 more to go to a 100 GB drive instead of an 80 GB, when the actual difference in price for laptop drives that size is miniscule. With that extra $100, you could buy a 500 GB 400 GB external hard drive instead of a 250 GB one - for 150 GB more than before, rather than 20. That's more than ten times more capacity for the same money.

You can also save a lot of money by buying your RAM from a third party. Get Crucial RAM from NewEgg.com or something and you'll spend just $100 for 1 GB, and you'll still have your old 512 MB module installed in the MBP for a total of 1.5 GB. Apple charges $100 just to add a second 512 MB module, $200 to replace the single 512 MB with a single 1 GB, and $500 (yes, $500) to install two 1 GB modules.

The MBP is a great machine and an excellent value, but keep in mind that Apple's BTO options are all complete rip-offs.

JBT
2006-06-08, 01:23
If I get a 3rd party ram and install it my self does that void the warranty and is it easy to install ram? What type of ram should I get? Where can I get that 500gb external hard drive for $100?

PB PM
2006-06-08, 01:42
Installing third part RAM on a Macbook Pro should not void your warrenty, I don't think its changed since you could do it without voiding on a Powerbook.

Goodness me, it must depend on what country you live it too, because the best price I find find for a WD HD (stand alone at that) which is 120GB is $95 Cdn, and another $34 min for a case worth buying.

BlueRabbit
2006-06-08, 01:45
Installing extra RAM does not void the warranty. There's a door on the bottom that you unscrew, and the RAM slots are right on the inside. You can get the RAM specs off of the MBP tech specs page (http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html).

Luca
2006-06-08, 04:44
No, JBT, you misunderstood me. What I was trying to say was that, rather than spending $100 to upgrade from 80 GB to 100 GB, you could apply that $100 to your external hard drive purchase instead. Doing some research it looks like 500 GB hard drives are a lot more expensive than 400 GB ones, however. So look at the difference when you compare getting the internal hard drive upgrade to getting a larger external drive:

Option 1:
100 GB internal drive ($100)
250 GB external drive ($100 for drive + $40 for case)
Total price - $240 for 350 GB - $0.69 per GB

Option 2:
80 GB internal drive (free, included in MacBook Pro price)
400 GB external drive ($200 for drive + $40 for case)
Total price - $240 for 480 GB - $0.50 per GB

As for the RAM, yes, it's easy to install. All you need is a Phillips #00 screwdriver, and it won't void your warranty. You can pick up a 1 GB Crucial module for a little over $100 here (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145097). Crucial is an extremely reputable brand among Mac users and computer users in general. Highly recommended.

For the hard drive you can also get that from NewEgg. They have a ton of great stuff there for good prices.

Mugge
2006-06-08, 04:54
What about 5400 rpm vs. 7200 rpm HD?

I have a really hard time noticing the performance bump on my MBP. But perhaps it's more relevant if you work with video?

scratt
2006-06-08, 05:23
It makes a big difference for drives that are not internal.. but basically your assumption is correct..

Most of the Pro Apple Laptops only had 4200 in until quite recently, and I had no real problems with video editing.
I just upgraded mine to 5400 and noticed a small difference, but nothing to write home about.. I guess the difference would be more noticable if you went straight from 4200 to 7200, but even then it's not any where near as large a change as the numbers tend to imply.

Luca
2006-06-08, 05:33
And again, this comes back to price. If you could buy a 7200 RPM laptop drive separately and install it yourself, it might be worth it. But Apple's charging so much that it's basically not an option unless you're made of money.

Mugge
2006-06-08, 05:42
It makes a big difference for drives that are not internal.. but basically your assumption is correct..

Most of the Pro Apple Laptops only had 4200 in until quite recently, and I had no real problems with video editing.
I just upgraded mine to 5400 and noticed a small difference, but nothing to write home about.. I guess the difference would be more noticable if you went straight from 4200 to 7200, but even then it's not any where near as large a change as the numbers tend to imply.

Actually I went from a 4200 rpm to a 7200 rpm drive, when I replaced my iBook with a MBP. Between doubling the RAM, the Core Duo and all the other stuff, I only notice the drive speed when booting up.

JBT
2006-06-08, 12:51
This may sound really stupid but why do I need an enclosure for an external hard drive. I was looking at this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136029
What type of enclosure should i get?

PB PM
2006-06-08, 13:24
Well for one thing, you need an interface to hook the drive up to your machine. Second reason, fast and large HDs get hot, and I wouldn't want to have a 300GB HD just sitting on the desk.

Luca
2006-06-08, 14:10
This may sound really stupid but why do I need an enclosure for an external hard drive. I was looking at this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136029
What type of enclosure should i get?
That looks like a good product.

I should explain. When I said you need a hard drive and an enclosure, I meant you need an actual hard drive (just a bare drive) and a case in order to allow it to interface with your computer through Firewire or USB2. The thing you linked to is a pre-assembled external hard drive, but many people choose to assemble their own externals because it's cheaper.

At least, I thought it was. Maybe things have changed - the price of an external hard drive case + a hard drive for it is about the same as that Western Digital hard drive you linked to. It used to be that you could save like $50 or more by assembling it yourself, but if it costs the same, you should just get a pre-made one because it's more convenient.