MacBook Users?

(Since you can't edit the first post, I'm saving this one for future stuff)

I'm presently on my second MBP - a 15" early 2008 - the last variant with the form factor of the aluminum PB G4's, albeit modified for MBP duty. I'm still not a big fan of the unibody MacBook Pro's of late 2008 onwards - they remind me a little too much of the titanium PowerBook G4, but without the wow factor that the tibook had back in the day.

I am using the same MBP 13" as my main computer (besides to minis and a G5). My iPad works as second display via AirDisplay in applications like Photoshop and else. It's a trusty machine and offers anything I really need.
There isn't much I could complain about this fine piece of design, just some sort of audio pulsing when connected to a KVM. Had not the time to find out what is the reason for it but I am sure it's the MBP causing this (as neither the two minis nor the G5 cause any hearable audio pulsing).

J

I use a 2.1GHz Macbook (Early 2008) myself. It has been and still is a excellent machine. It doesn't have the overall power of a newer machine but it's very responsive thanks to the SSD in it.

The battery is in good condition and holds a long charge but is bulging, though. I haven't really bothered getting a replacement since its desk-bound anyway.

@Hokusai

My friend has that same model of MacBook with a 120 GB (I think) hard drive in it that's filled up. I take it you'd recommend a SSD

I apologise for not responding to you all sooner. I'll try to stay on my internet toes when it comes to remembering to check the threads that I have started.

I'm a very happy MacBook Air user. I use a 256gb SSD i7 model. I also have an i7 iMac (previous generation), but since I got the Air the only thing I use the iMac for is stuff that needs 16gb of ram like video work and running multiple VMs at the same time. I have my old white MacBook my oldest son uses.

I agree the only way to go is SSD drives if you have to replace a drive these days.

Once you go Mac there is no going back

Cheers,
Corey

Personally, I would definitely recommend an SSD if you can afford it. The 150MB/s SATA bus will bottleneck a newer SSD but that's more than enough to notice the difference from a mechanical drive.

As for the brand, there is a very wide assortment nowadays. There probably isn't THAT much of a choice since there are only a few controllers that these drives use. A good 120GB drive will probably run you around $200 or less. Heck, it was $400 when I bought mine, and that went up not long after I got it.

I will be sure to inform my friend that an SSD drive would be his best bet.

I plan on getting a regular drive as an external for my MacBook simply because I don't want to spend 200 on a small HD, seeing as how for my needs, which is primarily video editing, I need a 500gb HD or larger.

Although I agree with all statements about SSDs I still use the Seagate Momentus XT hybrid HD (4 GB SSD, nearly 500 GB standard HD). It is a good alternative to SSDs if You are not switching applications very often. As I only use 4 or 6 applications regularly the 4 GB SSD are speeding up the start of these applications quite good. 7200 RPM standard HD a sufficient for my needs - but I will change to SSD in complete some day.

Hmm. That sounds very interesting. I'll have to look into that.
I'm bad about using 10+ applications at a time...so I'd have to electronically re-train myself in order to keep from opening every app known to man.

Do any you have any 7200 RPM external hard drives that you'd recommend? I am looking for a 500 gb or larger.

Not really. The Seagate Momentus XT is the only HD up to now that I call "good". I experienced other brands getting pretty hot in passive cooled housings or making lots of noise. The Seagates do get pretty warm, too but at least You can pick them out of there housing just after shut down... I am owning five of these: one in each of the two mac minis, one in my MBP and two in external housings, one working as Time Machine drive, one working as Pogoplug drive. One mac mini is my local server and runs 24 hours a day - since nearly 1 year by now no troubles with any of the seagates.

I have the Segate Momentus XT as an external USB drive in one of those iHDD cases you can buy online. I use it for VMWare Images and work files. It's very fast when you are "in cache", otherwise it's just like a regular drive. I think I paid less than $100 for 500gb, not a bad deal. If you can put your OS on SSD and have one of these as your regular drive, it's a great compromise.

Cheers,
Corey