Which is faster for music production? internal hard drive or external drive

hey there. simple question. i'm looking to run music poductin software on an apple mac - would sound files be retrieved faster from a new mac book pro internal hard drive or an external drive? (am thinking one of those lacie orange rugged things that spin at 7200 rpm)
and if the sound files would play better coming form the internal hard drive, would it compromise processor speed for running soft synths / effects units etc etc?
please note am not talking about my current mac book, but a new mac book pro
chanx in advance - horton ;o)

For what it is worth here is my tuppence worth on the subject, horton. (and a warm welcome to the forums , by the way!)
One of the major reasons why many sound professionals (and others worried about speed) use fast external FW800 or (when possible) eSata drives for their work, rather than the internal drive of an MBP or the like, is that the internal boot drive is already carrying the OS and a bunch of apps on its fast, outer sectors. It is usually doing a fair bit of work keeping things running, too. An external FW 800 drive can be kept unencumbered of such things.
On top of this the 2.5" drives in notebooks are slower at the best of times than 3.5" drives. If you want real speed, my suggestion would be that you keep the internal drive for your OS and Apps as much as possible, and get a fast 7200 rpm 3.5" FW800 external with its own power supply for your sound files (assuming you will have access to mains power).
If you use the internal for this sort of purpose too, you are going to find that the internal fills up fast, that it soon develops free space fragmentation issues, and that it gradually slows to the speed of mollasses!
Cheers
Rod

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