Is there a big performance difference between HD's

Read this post > https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4188509?start=0&tstart=0

In modern computers, the difference has decreased between 5400 and 7200 rpm hard disks, but there's still a difference, small but it exists. If you are a home user and you aren't going to use your iMac for anything special, a 5400 rpm hard disk is enough and it will work properly. If you are going to use heavy applications with your Mac, a 7200 rpm hard disk will make a difference

Make it simple buy a SSD drive that work's perfectly for all heavy duty programs and games.

There is a big enough difference (30+%) that you will notice it under certain circumstances.

If all you are doing is web surfing, office documents, general stuff, 5400 rpm drives are fine.

If you are doing photography or video editing, go with a 7200 rpm drive. Photoshop, Aperture, iMovie, Final Cut, etc. are all resource intensive (well, actually, it's the underlying media that are resource intensive) and you will definitely see an improvement in overall performance with the higher speed drive.

Bottom line, if you are comparing those two models, there's more at play than just the difference in the hard drives. For the extra $300 you are also getting a much larger display, the ability to add more RAM in the future, and a more powerful graphics processor. I suggest buying with longevity in mind, and for me that would dictate the 27" iMac.

I was wanting to know the same question (5400rpm vs. 7200rpm) in a 15" standard MBP, deciding on whether to get a 1TB serial ATA drive @ 5400rpm vs. a 750GB serial ATA drive @ 7200rpm. (Sorry to jump in)

For the most part, I'm a general user - web surfing/research, Word processing/Excel/Powerpoint (pretty basic), etc. BUT I do like to take alot of photos and plan on doing some editing on them (nothing advanced) and creating slideshows with my photos/music (ex. my Europe trip of photos or a slideshow of the grandchildren as a gift to my parents, etc.)

Some folks mention "video editing" in reference to gonig with the faster speed (7200rpm) if that's what you plan on doing. But, what do they exactly mean by "video editing"? Is slideshow creation the same?

Just wondering for my needs, whether I should go with the 750GB serial ATA drive @ 7200 rpm or the 1TB serial ATA drive @ 5400rpm ($50 more yet with more storage space which would help with my increasing photo files every year).

Thanks

arleena67 wrote:

I was wanting to know the same question (5400rpm vs. 7200rpm) in a 15" standard MBP, deciding on whether to get a 1TB serial ATA drive @ 5400rpm vs. a 750GB serial ATA drive @ 7200rpm. (Sorry to jump in)

Speed alone does not signify much, if the 1TB 5400 drive has a higher data density then the .75TB it may be faster. Also the number of platters will affect access time.

They are both fast drives, if you need the space get the big one.

If you are primarily looking for speed then look at Hybrid and / or Solid State Drives, both are available at 750G and above.

arleena67,

This is the same question you asked in your other post, and people are responding there. Please don't post the same question in multiple discussions.

Sorry, I'm new at this. Thanks