(August 2007 MBP) HD upgrade

[vascott]

Hey guys, I was reading about HD upgrades and had a couple questions. I just bought this thing and am almost maxed out due to all my photos, music, movies, and the only game I play WoWarcraft.

I am looking at the OEM drive which is the ST9160823AS (found here):
http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/momentus/momentus_7200.2/

Looking at the largest drives they have the 200gb, I am trying to find the difference between:
ST9200420AS
ST9200420ASG
(besides the fact one has a G)

I looked on all the spec pages and compared them but they are identically.

The two questions I have are:
Any idea what the "G" is?
If not these drives, do you recommend a faster drive of the same size or larger?

Thanks much! :D
Scott

[squeeks]

no idea, but if you need any help installing it IM me, ill help you if i can

[emac82]

The "G" drive means:

The Free Fall Protection feature provides enhanced data protection against shock events that may occur while
the drive is operating. This feature is designed to decrease the likelihood of data loss by detecting a free fall
event and unloading the actuator before a shock takes place in falls of >8 inches (nominal). The drive uses a
0 G sensor mounted on the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) to

I copied and pasted this from the PDF file on the link.

[vascott]

The "G" drive means:

The Free Fall Protection feature provides enhanced data protection against shock events that may occur while
the drive is operating. This feature is designed to decrease the likelihood of data loss by detecting a free fall
event and unloading the actuator before a shock takes place in falls of >8 inches (nominal). The drive uses a
0 G sensor mounted on the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) to

I copied and pasted this from the PDF file on the link.

Thanks, exactly the info I needed - thats a good feature, not sure how much more its worth though.

Anyone suggest any better/faster drives than this?

Thx

[majordude]

Thanks, exactly the info I needed - thats a good feature, not sure how much more its worth though. Anyone suggest any better/faster drives than this?

The Hitachi 7200RPM 200GB (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005818) has a faster seek time and the same drop feature. That's what I bought. :D

[emac82]

Personally, I would either go Seagate or WD...Seagate comes with a 5-year warranty.....but they both make nice drives..

[zioxide]

I ordered the 250 gig WD scorpio to put in my MBP once it gets here.

[majordude]

I ordered the 250 gig WD scorpio to put in my MBP once it gets here.

That drive is slow (not 7200 RPM).

Take a look at this...

http://barefeats.com/rosa06.html

There is no doubt that the Hitachi is the best. Hands down.

[zioxide]

That drive is slow (not 7200 RPM).

It's not that much slower, and I'd rather have the extra 50 gigs of space. Seems the OP would rather have that too, he doesn't need a super fast drive.

Plus I think the WD is cheaper.

[majordude]

...he doesn't need a super fast drive.

Since the OS resides on the drive, a faster drive effects (or is it affects? never could figure that out...) everything.

Go for the faster drive and if you MUST have the extra 50GB, get a Firewire 800 external drive. Put the crap you hardly use on that.

[zioxide]

Since the OS resides on the drive, a faster drive effects (or is it affects? never could figure that out...) everything.

Go for the faster drive and if you MUST have the extra 50GB, get a Firewire 800 external drive. Put the crap you hardly use on that.

Either way they're both much faster than the current drive in his MBP, so he's going to see a performance increase either way.

Carrying around a firewire 800 external drive is a pain in the ass.

[vascott]

It's not that much slower, and I'd rather have the extra 50 gigs of space. Seems the OP would rather have that too, he doesn't need a super fast drive.

Plus I think the WD is cheaper.

Actually, I would love some speed added to this thing. Right now its a 7200 anyway. So I probably wont notice much of a difference.

[majordude]

Actually, I would love some speed added to this thing. Right now its a 7200 anyway. So I probably wont notice much of a difference.

I was going to get the Seagate but it hadn't been released yet. I went with the Hitachi because it was on the market. I contacted the guys at Barefeats and they told me that the Hitachi had better specs so I went with them. I don't think you will be disappointed. ;)