Best HDD/SSD to replace optical drive on 17inch MBP

I have a 2011 MBP 17inch which I use for Adobe CS, Ableton Live and Logic Pro. It has a 240gb SSD. I use the former 750gb HDD as an external back-up device and for storage of photos, movies and music. Since I hardly use the optical drive I want to replace it with another HDD/SSD so I can put Adobe documents and Ableton projects I'm currently working on on it.

Any recommendations Which HDD/SSD I should buy to replace the optical drive?

Thanks

 

Personally I like the Western digital scorpio blue 1T drive. its not the fastest but the size is sure nice. I still run a Seagate 750's in my pair of 17" units

 

Yeah, that's kinda big. 1 TB. I was thinking more in the line of 200 gb tops. It wil be enough storage. It doesn't have to be huge but it has to be fast and reliable. Won't the Scorpio Black be better?

 

If you want to replace the SuperDrive with an SSD, it is best to use an older SATA 3 Gb/s model. 2011 MBPs have problems with SATA 6 Gb/s drives when used in this manner, particularly on the 17" model. AFAIK, unless you track down a used SSD, the only company still making new 3 Gb drives is OWC ( http://www.macsales.com).

 

Wait.... ARE YOU SURE that this is even possible? I'd make sure to check the SATA connection in that SuperDrive/Optical Bay. I'm not sure if it's even Sata 2.0. If its' sata 1.5 which I believe it is, you will NOT be able to put in a SSD, and a 7200 rpm drive is a waste as well, as you're best just going with a slower drive..... My source is my previous older 2010 macbook pro 15" if that doesn't apply here, I apologize.

 

No, it doesn't apply in the OP's case. 2011 MBPs can use SATA 3 Gb drives in the optical bay without issue. While a 6 Gb drive might work, there's no guarantee, as controller for the optical bay is flaky.

 

SATA 2 is happy. ( 3GBPS ) SATA 3 ( 6GBPS ) not so much. an SSD in the optical bay can become a disaster for kernal panicks

 

Damn, and suddenly I ponder/regret not getting a 15 inch standard over my current Retina... Perhaps I did too much for a silly nice looking screen....

 

IMO, the Retina MBP is one of the worst products Apple has ever made. The screen is a gimmick, the keyboard feels cheap, end-user upgrade options are virtually nil, and there are still people suffering from the SMC problem of GPU throttling.

 

I've very fortunate that I own other laptops, (See my sig below) as I use this expensive laptop lol as mostly a nice netbook. And what I mean is the usage I do is pretty on par with a netbook.... I just can't deal with anything smaller then a 15 inch.... But it's a very powerful netbook

 

Is there al lot of difference in keyboards between the MBA, the MBP and the rMBP? Is it just the difference in travel or also the quality?

 

I can't notice the difference between a 2010 Macbook Pro and my Macbook Pro Retina.... But that's just me...


Oh and for the Record, the Worst Product Apple has made are the Candy Coded Computers with the Hockey Puck Mice.... No way you are denying that....

 

The Air and Retina feel the same. The Pro has a longer key travel that is more satisfying, and to me more accurate, to type on. I am more forgiving toward the Air because it is the entry-level Mac, but on the Retina Pros, it feels like I'm going to punch my finger straight through the system. It sounds and feels totally inappropriate for the asking price.

You mean the computers that brought Apple back from the brink of oblivion, that started its path toward becoming the most valuable corporation on the planet?

 

Have to disagree with you there, I'd say it's the Ipod, followed by the ipod touch, followed by Itunes, Followed by intel MacBooks, followed by Iphone.... Without IPod and Itunes I dont' think they're anywhere close where they are today. And NO, those ugly imacs have nothing to do with the Computers we see today that are "Intel Based".... keyword being "Intel"

You wanna explain to me how a hockey puck mice has anything to do with a Magic Mouse, or the current touchpad? Because I don't follow you, plus these devices have no fans in them... how is that a good thing? or anywhere close to what we have today....


And if all of that isn't horrible for you, then here this device: the Emate

 

my vote is the Centris 650, 660AV and Quadro 900 with OS 8 and OS 9 ... they were the most unstable, unusable, badly designed heaps of trash ever. ( even made a flakey HP desktop with Vista look like a freaking miracle )

I remember the emate and its later twin the first gen iBook, both were borderline useless as well.