SSD or Seagate Momentus XT (for MBP 13 2010)

Alright guys, I'm thinking about upgrading the hard drive in my 2010 MacBook Pro 13, giving myself 2 options. 1) Direct replacement: Replace original 320gb hard drive with a Seagate Momentus XT 750gb (~$150). 2) Take out the DVD Optical Drive, replace it with a hard drive/SSD cradle, install a 120-180gb SSD ($100-$150) as the boot drive and application, keep the 320gb hard drive in the original spot for storage and stuff.

My concern is with 2 drives in the machine, I'm not sure how it will boot up and how I will deal with dual boot (Mac OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7 Professional). I'm looking for storage and speed improvement for the hard drive, but not sure which route to go.

If you do recommend me to go to dual drive (SSD + HDD), tell me which SSD might be a good choice. I'm currently looking at Intel 330 Series, Samsung 830, and OCZ Vertex 3 since it's the cheapest/gb

I rarely use the DVD/optical drive that's why I'm considering taking it out and putting another hard drive. But the drive might come in handy when I actually need it, so I'm not really sure at this moment.

My current setup on the MBP 13:
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz
8gb ram
320gb hard drive
dual boot (will upgrade to Mountain Lion when it's out) Mac OS X Snow Leopard + Windows 7 Professional 64 bit

Option 2 is probably the best way to go. I would recommend going with an Intel drive, they are the most stable and reliable.

Since you have the option of having two hard drives I would go with a SSD & HDD combo. It doesn't make sense to keep your optical drive if you rarely use it.

Quote from crspyjohn : Option 2 is probably the best way to go. I would recommend going with an Intel drive, they are the most stable and reliable. Since you have the option of having two hard drives I would go with a SSD & HDD combo. It doesn't make sense to keep your optical drive if you rarely use it.

Agree 100%.
I would put the SSD internally and the spinner in the DVD slot, so if I had to return the DVD to its place, I would still have a functioning computer.

To the OP. I know nothing about dual booting Apple and Microsoft systems and suggest that you will get your best info from the Mac forums.

^Yeah, that's the main problem if I had to use 2 hard drives. One hard drive dual booting I know how it works, but 2 hard drive, I'm not so sure.

Guess it's time for me to find a hard drive cradle and a good deal on a SSD.

Quote from runtohell121 : ^Yeah, that's the main problem if I had to use 2 hard drives. One hard drive dual booting I know how it works, but 2 hard drive, I'm not so sure. Guess it's time for me to find a hard drive cradle and a good deal on a SSD.

Putting aside that one of them is an Apple OS that I know nothing about, a dual boot on two hard drives can be done, naturally, and the basic way to select which one boots, is in the bios, but that's a bit of a pain to do each time, so I use an aftermarket boot program that can offer a dual boot screen at start up, as if both were on the same drive, and it's called easyBCD, but I have no idea if it will work with an Apple system, but if nothing else, you can always do it from the bios.

Only thing I can think of is having 2 different hard drive with 2 different OS on them right now which would mean I might have to get 2 SSD. I just don't know how the storage will work at this moment, I can always partition the SSD into 2 to make it boot up and choose. Installing Windows for me have to be done via Bootcamp or at least that's the only way I know how to do it. I guess another option is to use VMware or something and forget installing Windows but I rather have dual boot instead of running a virtual machine.

Dual boot will be way way better than vmware.
If it were me, I would dual boot both systems on the same SSD and have all the data on a big 7200 rpm spinner in the DVD slot.
You'd get the best performance from both systems.
It would be super simple to choose which OS to choose at boot up.
The set up would be easier to do.
If you had to remove the spinner for awhile, you'd still be able to operate both OS's, even if you didn't have all your personal data.
In essence, your laptop having two hard drives, gives you similar possibilities as you'd have with a PC, and if you had a dual boot system on a PC, you can be sure that you'd want them both on your SSD and then a big drive for your data.

What SSD would you recommend? So many SSD deals lately, not sure which one is worth getting. The hard drive will be the stock hard drive 320gb 5400 rpm, mainly my concern is storing photos. Personally, I don't use a lot of hard drive space unless I put my photos on the hard drive and not external which I plan on doing if I did get a bigger drive.

Quote from runtohell121 : What SSD would you recommend? So many SSD deals lately, not sure which one is worth getting. The hard drive will be the stock hard drive 320gb 5400 rpm, mainly my concern is storing photos. Personally, I don't use a lot of hard drive space unless I put my photos on the hard drive and not external which I plan on doing if I did get a bigger drive.

I won't buy anything but Intels.
I believe them to be the most reliable and long lasting and any claimed superior speed from the competitors, never amounts to anything I can discern.
The Crucial M4 is very popular here on SD and it seems to be a good unit.
If I couldn't have an Intel, I guess that would be my 2nd choice.
PS: I have 5 Intel SSD's and they're all superb.

Which Intel? 330 or 520? I'm hoping to get at least 60-80gb per partition for the OS. So I think I would want at least 120gb-160gb at the best price possible.

I previously own a few SSD, 2 Kingston (V-Series 1st gen w/ Jmicron and 2nd gen with I don't know what, kind of slow and stutter), 1 Intel X25-M 80gb, and 1 OCZ Vertex 2 60gb which all of them went to my Desktops as boot drive. The 2 I like the best would be Intel and OCZ since those were problem free in my case.

Quote from runtohell121 : Which Intel? 330 or 520? I'm hoping to get at least 60-80gb per partition for the OS. So I think I would want at least 120gb-160gb at the best price possible. I previously own a few SSD, 2 Kingston (V-Series 1st gen w/ Jmicron and 2nd gen with I don't know what, kind of slow and stutter), 1 Intel X25-M 80gb, and 1 OCZ Vertex 2 60gb which all of them went to my Desktops as boot drive. The 2 I like the best would be Intel and OCZ since those were problem free in my case.

Mine are all X25's and I can't say which would be your best choice today.
I've heard that the new 330 model gives good performance for the dollar, however the more expensive ones are bound to be better, but perhaps not worth the extra expense.
I suppose I would be on the lookout for any Intel SSD Specials, minimum 120, preferably 160 gig and see what comes up.

^I guess 330 would be the best value, was on sale a few days ago on Amazon. Rebates are what I hate though, $70 rebate on the Intel 330 180gb. $130 AR. http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/7...ebate-60gb

Quote from runtohell121 : ^I guess 330 would be the best value, was on sale a few days ago on Amazon. Rebates are what I hate though, $70 rebate on the Intel 330 180gb. $130 AR. http://slickdeals.net/permadeal/7...ebate-60gb

I don't like rebates either, but $130 for a 180 Intel SSD?
Wow, that's one heck of an attractive deal.

Quote from RockySosua : I don't like rebates either, but $130 for a 180 Intel SSD? Wow, that's one heck of an attractive deal.

Yup.. Kind of want to pull the trigger right now but not really in a rush. I just want to have it by when school starts again. Feel like I want to gain some speed on my mac, previously didn't have Windows 7 installed but I feel like I use Windows 7 more than OS X, just like the MBP design over other laptops though. Optical drive is a bit useless to me, only use them when install OS and maybe Office.