Tuning my MacBook Pro by migrating to a solid state drive and keeping the built-in hard disk drive

I’m absolutely excited: Since I’m running my MacBook Pro with a Solid State Drive, the perceived speed has almost tippled.

Snow Leopard ‘cold’ boot time is down to less than 7 seconds and applications start almost instantaneously. Even slow bootstrappers like Adobe’s Photoshop CS4 get ready within seconds. Running Windows 7 in Parallels 5 now really does feel native. Xcode compiles and builds with the speed of light.

Recently I noticed that ever since I got the MacBook Pro, I never ever inserted a CD/DVD into it’s optical drive – not even once. There had to be a way to leverage the space the optical drive occupied.

Intrigued by what I’ve read here and there about Solid State Drive performance, I set out on a journey to improve my mobile computing platform. I’m on pretty powerful iMacs at home and I did not want to experience a performance decrease while on the go anymore.

I finally ended up doing the following:

• Removing the optical drive and putting it into an external, USB powered case. This allows me to quickly hook the DVD drive up, should I ever really need it.
• Moving the built-in 500 GB SATA hard disk to where the optical drive bay.
• Installing the Solid State Drive where the hard disk was before.

What this gives me:

• I’ve now got a whooping 750 GB capacity on the go.
• Snow Leopard and my most important applications run from flash memory. Speed, speed, speed!
• Did I say Speed already?
• Multi-media files like iTunes music, etc. are stored on the traditional hard drive.
• Whenever I need a DVD drive to install stuff, I can simply connect it via USB.
• A slightly lower weight as the Solid State Drive is lighter than the optical drive.

Stuff I’ve used:

• The key to doing the migration is a product called OptiBay from MCE Technologies. I didn’t find any European distributor so I ordered it straight from their US website. While the site might look somewhat obscure to you, I can only say the best about MCE Technologies. I asked them to ship via overnight express. Ordered on a Thursday. Shipped on Monday. They also ship the external case which becomes the new home for your optical drive. Approx. cost excluding shipping etc.: US$ 99,00.
• Solid State Drives are still somewhat expensive. After conducting some research I decided to go for the Corsair 256 GB SATA II model. Ordered through Amazon Germany. Shipped within five business days. Approx. cost: US$ 729,00 (600 Euros).
• MCE’s package includes a screwdriver that works pretty well. Also included is a CD with detailed step-by-step PDF instructions on how to do the modification.
• In addition you do need a tiny Torx screwdriver, that is not included. Make sure you’ve got one before you start!

Time it took:

• The entire process took some 30 minutes.

Closing remarks:

• My MacBook Pro is a 15″ Unibody version, the one with 7 hours battery life. MCE does offer the kit for many models. Just check out their website.
• I’m not exactly a hardware guy. If you can handle a screwdriver, you can do this on your own within half an hour. No need to ask for external help.
• What about the warranty? Honestly, I’m not sure. I know that authorized Apple partners do offer this modification as a paid service. My relationship with the local retailer is pretty good, so I guess should I ever need to make use of Apple’s warranty, they’ll find a solution. At least they want to keep me as a good customer. :)
• I’m not encouraging you to do what I did. I’m also in no way affiliated with MCE or Corsair, nor do I endorse their products and services. Should you decide to do what I did, you do it at your own risk. Of course you do. :)