5400 RPM HD vs 7200 RPM HD

Hi all,
What are the specific advantages of upgrading to a 7200 RPM hard drive in the Macbook Pro vs. the 5400 RPM drive that comes standard?
I am a commercial/editorial photographer and am considering obtaining a 17" Macbook Pro for use as a tool on location and in the studio for tethering to my camera so that files can be stored directly to a hard drive and clients can see images that can be manipulated right away on a nice large display. All of my color critical Photoshop work is done on my Mac Pro and cinema display.
Thanks in advance.
Best,
Dennis

I suggest you have a read through this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2049659&tstart=0
I would consider holding off purchasing any Macbook Pros until we know they have fixed the issue that is causing regular clicks, beeps and 30-40 second system freezes.

Similar Messages

  • 5400 rpm v. 7200 rpm

    Does anyone have first hand experience to how much slower the 5400 is? is it THAT noticable?
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    thankkk you.

    Here's a pretty good article in reference to your post:
    http://barefeats.com/rosa06.html
    IMHO, get an external Firewire 7200 rpm drive and fuhgettaboutit.

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    Hey guys. I just bought the new 17" MBP yesterday at the Apple store. The only drawback is that I was wanted to get the 7200 RPM harddrive rather than the 5400, but the store only got in 5400's since the 7200 is a BTO option. So today I ordered a compatible (Hitachi Harddrive -- bought off of macsales.com) that is a 7200 RPM (100 GB). My question is: Do I need to have anything else besides my screwdriver kit, new harddrive, and macbook pro service manual? Does this void the warranty if I perform this upgrade myself? I read the "one-year" warranty and you could interpret it both ways according to what I read. Also, are the power requirements the same between the two drives? It looks like it, but I just wanted to run this accross the pros incase I need to be made aware of something. Thanks and I will look forward to giving out the points. Take care.

    William, I'm not too sure about that interpretation.
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    The only explicitly listed user serviceable (add/replace) parts for the MacBook Pro, however are RAM and the battery. Given the language of Apple's Warranty provisions, it's not a given that changing anything inside the MBP case (or even opening the case) wouldn't void the warranty.
    Another example might be the "Rev. C" iMac. Previously, there were lots of user-serviceable parts. When Rev. C (iSight iMac G5) came out, that was reduced to RAM only. Anything else inside the case was supposed to be taken to an authorized Apple repair center to do the work.
    Apple's Support site has DIY (do it yourself) links for lots of models, but not for the MacBook Pro. But from Apple's description of DIY activities, it's pretty clear that opening the case of the MBP wouldn't qualify.
    Given the potentially high cost of repairs on a notebook computer, I would be cautious about voiding my warranty or AppleCare. I would encourage someone to get an official response in writing from Apple about what users can and cannot do without risking warranty/AppleCare coverage. (But I'll bet the lawyers would hedge the language, so that MPB owners would never get clear, express permission to pop the case and install a different hard drive.)

  • Option to go from 5400 rpm HD to 7200 rpm? Apple waiting for my phone call.

    Hi,
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    Message was edited by: Petermgr

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    It is likely that you will hear a 7200RPM drive more of the time than a 5400, though it may still be pretty quiet. And it's possible that you will feel more vibration through your hands on the keyboard and wrist rests.
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  • Swap 5900 RPM HDD for 7200 RPM OS/Programs?

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  • 5400 versus 7200 rpm firewire disk: does it matter?

    I'm in the market for an external firewire drive. The model I'm considering (LaCie Rugged Hard Disk) comes in 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm versions. I will be using my iMac G5's FireWire 400 connection. Given the transfer speed limitations of FireWire 400, will I see a difference between the 5400 rpm and the 7200 rpm models?
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    Probably not with 400 transfer, however if you want to upgrade your computer later to an intel with 800 Firewire, you might be glad of the greater speed.

  • Hard Drive Upgrade from 5400 to 7200 RPM

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    Hi,
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    Thanks for the response.
    To clarify my question though -
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  • 5400 rpm vs 7200 rpm on new MacBook pro?

    What is the difference?  Will I really notice it when video editing?  Does it change battery life and longevity?

    About 1800 RPM? But seriously, folks. It's a matter of speed. The 7200 RPM drive will typically be faster at i/o than the 5400 RPM drive. Any activity that requires a lot of disk i/o will benefit from a faster drive.
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  • 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm?

    Will i be able to notice a big difference between the 5400 and 7200 rpm hard drives? If so in what area will this change be noticed?

    there are lots of other threads already discussing this. search '5400 7200'

  • 5400 ROM & 7200 RPM HD's

    I hope this is the right place to post this.
    I have a 250GB 5400 RPM HD in my Macbook Pro. I want to replace it with the biggest HD I can find. I think I will get a 500GB or a 400GB @ 7200RPM. What I was wondering is if you guys think that the 7200RPM drive will run warmer than my 5400 drive? I need more space, please give me some suggestions?

    The largest drive you can actually fit in your MBP is the Samsung 500 GB Spinpoint. You will also need to know how to disassemble the computer and you will need a few specialized tools. User replacement of the drive is not authorized or approved by Apple, so if you have any warranty remaining that warranty will be void with respect to any consequential damage caused by replacing the drive. To prevent that you would have to arrange for the work to be done by an authorized Apple technician or by your local Apple service center.
    7200 RPM drives are not noticeably warmer than 5400 RPM drives in the same size class because they both use nearly the same amount of power and, thus, dissipate about the same amount of heat.

  • 7200 rpm vs 5400

    hello,
    after 5 years of good work, my 100/7200 rpm HD went dead and the store has a 160/5400 HD to offer, while the 100/7200 has to be ordered to apple (1 more day). i do not exactly realize the performance difference between the 2s. i mostly use word processor, while sometime i use iphoto and aperture for my digital pictures and other time i run an audio editor software.
    any advice and/or personal experience would be very welcome!

    No one has manufactured 7200RPM ATA/IDE drives that will work in Powerbooks for at least two or three years now. New ones are almost impossible to find. I would be very surprised if you could obtain one from Apple, so I suggest that you ask whoever is offering to order it for ironclad confirmation that they really can get one. Otherwise you may end up waiting a long time, only to be told that it's not available after all.
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  • 5400 / 7200 RPM. How To Check That?

    hi guys.
    the box with a brand new external usb drive i am planning to purchase from my local computer store doesn't say whether it's as fast as 5400 or 7200 rpm.
    how do i normally check that parameter through my computer? i tried checking that on my current usb drive with system profiler, but can't see such a section anywhere!

    Aram Rian wrote:
    thanks for the reply.
    hmm, well i still need to somehow make sure the rotation speed of the usb hard drive i am going to purchase is 7200 rpm
    I don't think it really matters from a practical point of view. The maximum sustained transfer speeds you can get out of Hi-Speed USB (USB2) is about 30-35 MB/sec. This is well under the speeds that most current 5400 RPM notebook drives are capable of. For example, a Hitachi Travelstar 5K320 drive is capable of up to 729 Mbit/sec, which is higher than 90 MB/sec.

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