MacBook 250 Vs. 320
The numbers 250 and 320 refer to the number of gigabytes you can store on your MacBook's hard drive. These models also vary in the speed at which they work.
Other People Are Reading
-
Considerations
-
The standard hard drive in a MacBook is 250 GB, which you can upgrade to 320 GB . An external drive could provide that extra space more economically. For slightly more than the cost of 75 GB installed in your MacBook by Apple, you could buy a 1 TB external hard drive, which would provide 13 times the room. Portability need not be a problem. Some external hard drives are tiny.
Function
-
If you work with digital photography, buy the 15-inch, 2.66GHz MacBook Pro with the standard 320 GB hard drive and upgrade it to the 7200 rpm model. According to the Macintosh Performance Guide, anything but the Pro is a "dead-end Mac" because only a 5400 drive is available on other models, for which "even objective measurements don't capture the annoyance factor" of their handling large image files.
-
Partition
-
If budget is a consideration, or if you will be working with smaller files on your MacBook, a cheaper 250 GB and 4500 rpm hard drive can suffice when it is partitioned. Partitioning your hard drive can make your MacBook run faster by placing your active files in the outer section, which is the first of however many partitions you create. Smaller demarcated areas provide less area for your MacBook to process.
Warning
-
When deciding the performance features--and thus which hard drive--you need, think two years into the future. Not only does computer technology change rapidly; so does the technology for the gadgets you connect to your computer. Keeping up means considering what you may want to do. This is important because there are limits on how much you can upgrade and expand your MacBook.
Maintenance
-
Routinely cleaning up your hard drive will maintain its fast speed, whichever size you select. Back up your hard drive regularly to a designated external drive. The Time Machine program pre-loaded on the MacBook makes backing up your data easy. As part of your backup routine, archive seldom-used files onto another external hard drive or onto a disk so that your MacBook always has plenty of room to process information.
-
References
Resources
- Photo Credit hard drive image by BigDog from Fotolia.com
