All Things Mac/ Apple
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I think those hybrid architectures can be great. Not sure if they automatically move frequently used data to the SSD and present a single volume, or if you have to manage that yourself and copy files to a fast or a slow volume. If the latter, you could just install the OS and a few other choice things on the SSD and then use the spinning platters for archival storage (like pig pr0n for Seul).
If it is automated, I think what's even better than hybrid storage is the Apple Fusion drive, which is less of a cache model, where frequently used files are copied to faster storage (in this case SSD), and more of an automated tiered storage model, where frequently used blocks are moved to faster storage (SSD). This is more of an enterprise-grade approach and it makes better use of your available storage. Blocks is, in short, a more disk-based view of things, where files are more filesystem-based. Without getting further in the weeds, the disk-based approach is superior (ultimately it is more granular, moving parts of, say, a 50 GB file that are frequently used versus taking up precious fast storage with the whole bloody thing), as is the tiered storage versus cached model (you're not duplicating your items on the faster volumes, again saving space overall).
I am really out of touch with storage, so that's all I have. I just don't know if hybrid drives are intelligent enough to do what you want–I bet Snowy or some other propeller-head on here might be better informed. But you can make a Fusion drive:
http://www.macworld.com/article/2014011/how-to-make-your-own-fusion-drive.html -
Yeh, making a drive won't happen
The Seagate one I'm looking at uses an intelligent system which learns your frequently used applications, and uses the SSD part of the drive to boot and open them, using the HDD part for file storage.
Allegedly it gives you the speed boost of an SSD in terms of accessing programmes, but keeps the mass storage of a HDD for all all
my, I mean Seuls pr0n
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Cool Mega, it sounds good, but I've no experience with it. The best would be if Apple would release Fusion Drives you could use in the computer for the reasons I stated earlier–this Seagate appears to be a cache, file-based model, which is probably all you'd need, but not quite as good as what's possible.
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Basically spinning disks are the biggest bottlenecks as CPUs are incredibly fast nowadays and spinning disks just can't cope with the amount that can be processed/sent across the memory bus. Apps open withing a few ns, whereas with a spinning disk it may take seconds.
Depending on what you do with your computer, you will either never look back again or not notice at all or just a little imho. -
Honestly, I just never want to see the spinning beachball of doom again….it makes me irrationally angry
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+1 to the infinite power
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Hybrid SSD's still have a way to go. Seagate's long term reliability of it's hybrids is still up for debate when I last researched a few months ago.
What I would suggest doing in a MBP is converting the CD Drive to a SSD, and installing a nice beefy SATA drive with some decent space and RPM's in the normal HDD slot. This is the best of both worlds. You use the SSD for boot/applications so no auto-tiering, and HDD for slow.
Regardless of what you use, please ensure it's backed up somewhere as well as preferably off-site also (on OSX I really enjoy backblaze, it 'just works', and is cheap as chips).
Auto-tiering is a pain in the ass, great on paper, but generally does not live up to it's promise.
Keep it as simple as possible, less chance of it breaking.
Example of SSD in optical bay;http://www.mcetech.com/optibay/
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^ I initially planned on doing that, but got a 480 GB SSD instead.
If you can afford it just get a big SSD, otherwise Snowy's suggestion is definitely the best solution, who needs optical drives anyway these days.
edit: here is a helpful thread on macrumors -> http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1347247
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Timely discussion, my 2009 MBP 13" fell over a week ago - opened it and was presented with the white screen and spinning wheel. Long story short, I decided that a specialist would be better than Apple, and they diagnosed a faulty HD and overheating logic board, so I'm taking the opportunity to upgrade as part of the repair, namely 4GB RAM and a 750GB Solid State Hybrid Drive (7200rpm, 6Gb/s), and it'll be interesting to see the improvements this brings. In terms of cost it was pretty reasonable (£250 all in), especially if I get another 4yrs use out of it.
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I'm going the OptiBay route as soon as i've finished ripping all my DVDs/CDs. I'll be glad to see the back of 'em TBH and can then use the space for vinyl instead. This MBA is the first SSD based system i've owned and it's great, especially when combined with my new TB display. I often use an iMac with a Fusion drive for audio work and it does seem fairly snappy, but not as much as the Air.
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Is this a good deal? I need a new comp
http://www.styleforum.net/t/355711/macbook-pro-15-4-8gb-ram-500gb-hd-mountain-lion-mint/0_50
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Is this a good deal? I need a new comp
http://www.styleforum.net/t/355711/macbook-pro-15-4-8gb-ram-500gb-hd-mountain-lion-mint/0_50
No. You can find better deals than that if you want used. That processor is quite old. Don't buy a used Macbook Pro unless it has at least an i7 processor. PM me anything else you find and I'll tell you if it's a good deal, etc.
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I'm going the OptiBay route as soon as i've finished ripping all my DVDs/CDs. I'll be glad to see the back of 'em TBH and can then use the space for vinyl instead. This MBA is the first SSD based system i've owned and it's great, especially when combined with my new TB display. I often use an iMac with a Fusion drive for audio work and it does seem fairly snappy, but not as much as the Air.
The dual HDD setup on a macbook Pro is amazing. I have the Data Doubler from OWC in mine. I used the DVD drive maybe once. Now, I have the extra internal HDD setup as a backup for Time machine.
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I think the smartest place to buy Macs are through their refurb section. Or if you find exactly what you want, search for it on eBay. But eBay is filled with crap, so be careful.
Also, once you find something you like go to http://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/?compare=all-macs and look up the mac's specs. Look at the GeekBench scores. The higher the better.
For example, the macbook pro you asked about scores like 3800 on geekbench. Even the newest cheapest macbook Air scores twice as high.
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New Mac Pro looks pretty amazing (spec-wise that is, physically it looks a bit like a waste paper basket) but will no doubt be super spendy. Thunderbolt 2 already….really?
