What should the minimum available hard drive space be?

i've got a 250gb hard drive on a macbook pro (march 2009) and only 23.93gb left. how low should i let my hard drive gb go for a smooth/reliable running computer?
thanks for the reply!

I agree with Gregory that keeping 10% of a 1TB drive free isn't necessary, but I certainly wouldn't let a 250GB drive get more than 90% full, and I wouldn't let a 30GB drive get more than 75% full, tops — not that I'll ever have a 30GB drive again.
Among other reasons to keep free space on your hard drive, any time you want to burn a CD or DVD, you need to have room on your hard drive for a disk image the same size as the capacity of the disc you're going to burn. And contrary to what Gregory has concluded from his unscientific experiment, there are many, many applications and operations that will bog down, freeze, quit unexpectedly or kernel-panic the computer if there is insufficient free hard drive space. Yes, having lots of RAM helps, but it isn't a substitute for judicious maintenance of adequate free space on one's hard drive.
Message was edited by: eww

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