Chosen Solution
Is it worth putting in an SSD boot drive in this machine? My optical drive is shot and I’ve read that installing an SSD boot drive, then putting the old HDD in the optical drive position (inside a converter bracket) is the way to go. This is a 2006 machine. Any recommendation as to SSD? Or with this old a machine, would I get just as much speed if I were to install, say, a 7200 rpm drive in place of the original 5400 rpm HDD? Thanks! Update And, I believe I can get an older SSD since my A1150’s HD bus is running at 3Gb/s, or am I mistaken about that?
This is still a very good machine. A small SSD would work great in it, along with maxing the RAM. If it is the A1150, it will take 2 GB of RAM and run on 10.6.8. The optical bay adapter will work fine for you. [linked product missing or disabled: IF107-078-1]
As I understand it, there’s no need to buy a 6G SSD since your bus can only run at 3G speed. OWC/macsales (who mayer linked to above) has well-reviewed SSDs, thinking of making this same move with my MacbookPro3,1. I do wish the product description for this made clear that the adapter is allowing you to put a SATA drive in a PATA bay–so your drive in the optical bay will run a little slower than it did in the standard drive spot. Might want to spring for the largest SSD 3G you can afford.
