Something to tide me over

jayman · Jun 15th, 2012, 01:55 PM

I currently have a early? or mid 2008 15" MBP 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, maxed out ram and a hybrid 500GB hard drive. I use it mostly for photography work using Aperture and Photoshop. I shoot raw + large jpeg. My MBP needs another battery, and has become buggy/sluggish even after using Onyx, repairing permissions, purging the hard drive, etc.

I have been waiting to upgrade my MBP for a major update like the Retina MBP but after seeing what Apple has offered, I want to wait before I make the big jump. Probably next update when all MBP are retina (assuming). So, I am considering purchasing a 13" MBA as an in-between upgrade, but...

After doing some reading (google) I found several articles stating the poor performance one will experience if you keep your photos/Aperture Library on an external drive, (using USB2) which I intended to do with the MBA.

So my question is this, would the performance issue be noticeable if I used an external drive with Thunderbolt capabilities for my Aperture Library?

broad · Jun 15th, 2012, 07:29 PM

should be fine..Tbolt is smokin' fast

jayman · Jun 15th, 2012, 08:24 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by broad
	should be fine..Tbolt is smokin' fast

Perfect. Thank you.

Dr_AL · Jun 15th, 2012, 09:01 PM

I have two of the MacBook Pro's, I removed the hard drives and installed SSD drives in both. Made them run a lot faster. If storage is a key then you could remove the SuperDrive and run a dual hard drive which is what I will do when one of the SuperDrives fail.

I don't deal with large, large files often as I leave that to my Mac Pro.

G-Mo · Jun 15th, 2012, 09:38 PM

New MBA supports USB 3, which will be a completely different game from the (likely) USB 2 based reviews you have read.

jayman · Jun 15th, 2012, 11:29 PM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Dr_AL
	I have two of the MacBook Pro's, I removed the hard drives and installed SSD drives in both. Made them run a lot faster. If storage is a key then you could remove the SuperDrive and run a dual hard drive which is what I will do when one of the SuperDrives fail. I don't deal with large, large files often as I leave that to my Mac Pro.

I forgot all about that option. I am going to look into going that route. Thanks!

	Quote:			Originally Posted by G-Mo
	New MBA supports USB 3, which will be a completely different game from the (likely) USB 2 based reviews you have read.

Yes, the reviews I read were referencing USB 2. I mentioned Thunderbolt because I thought it is substantially faster than USB 3, isn't it? I suppose if the performance between the two is close I would save some money going to an external drive using USB 3.

G-Mo · Jun 16th, 2012, 06:21 AM

If you are going to go SSD, remember your machine only has 3 Gbsp interfaces for the hard drive and optical drive, so, if you think you are going to use the drive in a future machine, get SATA III, otherwise, you can just get SATA II.

USB3 is 5 Gbps (compared to 480 Mbps with USB 2), it's not the 10 Gbps of Thunderbolt, but, it's a fraction of the cost. (All speeds theoretical.)

jayman · Jun 16th, 2012, 08:00 AM

	Quote:			Originally Posted by G-Mo
	If you are going to go SSD, remember your machine only has 3 Gbsp interfaces for the hard drive and optical drive, so, if you think you are going to use the drive in a future machine, get SATA III, otherwise, you can just get SATA II. USB3 is 5 Gbps (compared to 480 Mbps with USB 2), it's not the 10 Gbps of Thunderbolt, but, it's a fraction of the cost. (All speeds theoretical.)

Thank you.