I have a late 17" Hi-Res, 2007 MBP (A1229) Intel Core 2 Duo. I am not ready yet (financially) to do an upgrade, but wanted to know if I can get some more speed from it by upgrading the HD to a Solid State Drive (SSD). Is that possible with this particular model MBP? If yes, I would like to get a 256GB SSD, but not sure which one will be compatible.
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Yes, you can swap out your current HD for a SSD. Not sure if you'll gain that much given the fact you'll loose space.
A better option maybe getting a hybrid drive which has an SSD working in conjunction with a platter drive in one unit. Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba & others now make nice units. Early versions had a few bumps.
The other option here is to swap-out your optical drive for a 2nd drive carrier and put the SSD the SSD there leaving the HD where it is.
Just be careful on the SATA I/O speed of what ever you put in. Most current drives (HD & SSD) are SATA III (6Gb/s) and depending on your system you have either a SATA I (1.5Gb/s) or SATA II (3Gb/s). You need to lower the drives SATA I/O speed to match your systems SATA I/O speed.
I gave up putting SSD's in the older MBP's (pre-unibody) and instead I put in hybrid drives (500GB or 1TB). Between the fact the older drive was likely to fail soon due to age and most of my users didn't want to give up on the optical drive so they could watch movies on the long plane rides.
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Thanks. I am not too concerned with losing storage space, as I have a lot of stuff already cloud-based or via external drive. The main reason for the change-out is because I am trying to get the most I can as far as speed (opening apps, multiple open windows, startup, etc.). Also, much like you mentioned, my HD is due to fail soon.
I don't want to give up the optical drive, as I still use it to play DVDs. The two main things I am looking to change ASAP are the display assembly - the bezel is warped, due to heat and the LCD is discoloring and darker in some spots of the screen. Found it online elsewhere for $250. Then by upgrading my HD to an SSD, I should be able to breathe some new life into my aging MBP and get at least a couple more years out of it.
Anyway, thanks for your suggestions and advice!
Remember you're not going to get the performance of SATA III only SATA I or SATA II at best here. The hybrid drive will be equal to what a SSD alone will be in this system (speed-wise). The limit here is the systems I/O speed.
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