Samsung or Western Digital 320GB Drive?

[SeanEE89]

I was wondering if it would even make a difference on which Hard Drive I bought to upgrade my MacBook(white) Hard Drive with?

People have told me there is a feature with the western digital drive that conflicts with the MAC OSX and that I should get the Samsung drive is that true?

Or should I probably just wait for the 500GB Toshiba HDD comes out at the end of the month and pick one of those up?

[deniser]

I have a white 2.2 MB. I put in the WD 320 last week. I have not had any problems. Plus it seems to run cooler than the HDD that came in the MB. Others on here have used the WD too.

[notengolegs]

Mine is a WD and it hasn't had any problems.

[shoppy]

I have just ordered a WD from ebuyer for my new blackbook.

[brandonshough]

WDC is in mine works great, very impressed with speed.

Friend had the samsung arive dead. However all drives are prone to DOA.

[SeanEE89]

I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?

[brandonshough]

I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?

Yeah that's a great solution simply because you can still use your old drive as a portable external that is USB - Powered.

And it provides a great way to transfer the data between your old and new drives.

Plus there are no screws to take apart the passport drives, they are "snap-tight".

[AndyFL]

That seems to be the move to make right now, seeing that they are (or were) selling for $150 at your local BestBuy. I just can't seem to justify really needing it right now :)

I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?

[SeanEE89]

All I was worried about was if I would have trouble with closing it back up. I also like the fact that it is USB (powered) that way I will not have to worry about finding a power source.

I planned on buying it when I get my MacBook and installing it right when I boot my Mac up for the first time. I can just do it like that right, because the MacBook comes with the factory install disc so itll install and boot up like brand new right?

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

WDC is in mine works great, very impressed with speed.Me too, it came eerily close to the 3.5" Seagate in these tests: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=436452

Mac Pro:

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103574&d=1203290528

My Mac Book:

http://att.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103581&d=1203294100

:cool:

[Neil321]

I was wondering if it would even make a difference on which Hard Drive I bought to upgrade my MacBook(white) Hard Drive with?

People have told me there is a feature with the western digital drive that conflicts with the MAC OSX and that I should get the Samsung drive is that true?

Or should I probably just wait for the 500GB Toshiba HDD comes out at the end of the month and pick one of those up?

Toshiba are bringing out a 500GB the same time as Samsung then?

[brandonshough]

Toshiba are bringing out a 500GB the same time as Samsung then?

Sweet, the more choices the better.

Competition = Good.

[djinn]

I did the passport swap yesterday and it worked out perfectly.

[Neil321]

Sweet, the more choices the better.

Competition = Good.

Na sorry dont think so,i was trying to point out the OP may have made a mistake as im only aware samsung are bringing out a 500GB 2.5 9.5mm

just worded it wrong

sorry for confusion

[smes3817]

About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.

[SeanEE89]

I think I will wait to get a 500GB Hard Drive and just get the 320GB.

When I get off work Im gonna see if I can go snatch up a 320GB Passport at the best buy around the corner from my house.

When I have seen the 500GB Hard Drives prove themselves I think I will buy one and use it in the passport external enclosure.

[brandonshough]

I think I will wait to get a 500GB Hard Drive and just get the 320GB.

When I get off work Im gonna see if I can go snatch up a 320GB Passport at the best buy around the corner from my house.

When I have seen the 500GB Hard Drives prove themselves I think I will buy one and use it in the passport external enclosure.

Theoretically, the bigger the drive the greater the density which improves speed.

In other words it is guaranteed the 500s will outperform the 320s all day long.

[deadpixels]

since it's the newest thread about the passport portable 320gb i thought i could ask. anyone found a seller that ships outside of the u.s (to europe) ??

[djinn]

About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.

The Model that is in the Passport is WD3200BEVT. Here are the specs.

2.5-inch SATA Hard Drives
320 GB, 3 Gb/s, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM

[brandonshough]

About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.

That's not true, i know a buddy that got the same model as me that was pulled from a passport shell.

I got mine from NewEgg.

[tekulvi]

I did the passport swap yesterday and it worked out perfectly.

Im in the Middle of this process today. I have a question on formating the wd drive. I connected the drive via USB and went to format it before using Carbon Copy to clone it. I went into disc utility and saw the erase tab. Under there you can select the current internal Hd:

111.8 GB Fujitsu MHW2....
Macintosh HD

and you can see the WD Passport Drive:

298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E...
WD Passport

I can select both options ( the "298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" and the "WD Passport") I tried to use the erase function in the "WD passport" to change it to Mac OS Extended Journal (HFS)...and all went well. The "WD Passport" shows as Mac OS Extended Journal. BUT when I select the "the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT). I thought ok...Ill just have to reformat that and I did...it renamed my "WD Passport" to Dsk something or another and its still a Mac OS Extended Journal. Again when I look at the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E..., it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT).

Is there anything I can do to get this going, I have hit a speed bump and I need some advise. The physical part of this is not going to be hard ( I have replaced HD's before...albeit in PC's...but hey Iam a newbie convert).

Sorry if this question is confusing.

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

since it's the newest thread about the passport portable 320gb i thought i could ask. anyone found a seller that ships outside of the u.s (to europe) ??I bought mine WD3200BEVT from komplett.no (http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=343402), and they also got it at komplett.co.uk (http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.aspx?sku=343402).

[AndyK]

I've just ordered a WD 250gb for my 2.0 macbook.

I've always used WD drives and have always been a fan of them. Never had problems with any of the WD drives I've owned.

[Diatribe]

Toshiba are bringing out a 500GB the same time as Samsung then?

I think they are talking about the Samsung. I haven't heard of Toshiba bringing out a 500GB drive.

[djinn]

Im in the Middle of this process today. I have a question on formating the wd drive. I connected the drive via USB and went to format it before using Carbon Copy to clone it. I went into disc utility and saw the erase tab. Under there you can select the current internal Hd:

111.8 GB Fujitsu MHW2....
Macintosh HD

and you can see the WD Passport Drive:

298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E...
WD Passport

I can select both options ( the "298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" and the "WD Passport") I tried to use the erase function in the "WD passport" to change it to Mac OS Extended Journal (HFS)...and all went well. The "WD Passport" shows as Mac OS Extended Journal. BUT when I select the "the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT). I thought ok...Ill just have to reformat that and I did...it renamed my "WD Passport" to Dsk something or another and its still a Mac OS Extended Journal. Again when I look at the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E..., it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT).

Is there anything I can do to get this going, I have hit a speed bump and I need some advise. The physical part of this is not going to be hard ( I have replaced HD's before...albeit in PC's...but hey Iam a newbie convert).

Sorry if this question is confusing.

Select the root drive, create a single partition, but also go into options and check GUID. By default it selects MBR. Try that.

[tmoney468]

I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?

You can do that, but be warned that doing such voids your warranty of the external drive you're putting into your Mac. Moreover, a lot of external drives only have a 1 year warranty standard, whereas most OEM drives from WD and Samsung have a 3 year warranty, and Seagate has a 5 year warranty.

I would personally just get an OEM drive from Newegg and if you end up spending a little more, it's more than worth it because of the warranty.

[tekulvi]

Select the root drive, create a single partition, but also go into options and check GUID. By default it selects MBR. Try that.

Worked like a charm....now to recoupe an hours lost time.

Thanks!!

So now I am going to copy Carbon Copy Cloner over to the WD passport..and clone my current Internal drive. The next question was by checking the GUID option, will my drive not become bootable, or will the clone handle that?

[djinn]

Worked like a charm....now to recoupe an hours lost time.

Thanks!!

So now I am going to copy Carbon Copy Cloner over to the WD passport..and clone my current Internal drive. The next question was by checking the GUID option, will my drive not become bootable, or will the clone handle that?

I've never messed with Carbon Copy so others will have to answer that. Or maybe the process is listed on their site.

You can do that, but be warned that doing such voids your warranty of the external drive you're putting into your Mac. Moreover, a lot of external drives only have a 1 year warranty standard, whereas most OEM drives from WD and Samsung have a 3 year warranty, and Seagate has a 5 year warranty.

I would personally just get an OEM drive from Newegg and if you end up spending a little more, it's more than worth it because of the warranty.

For those that buy the passport from best buy and swap the drive out, here is your warranty information.

#
Warranty Terms - Parts
3 years
#
Warranty Terms - Labor
3 years

[SeanEE89]

To my knowledge Toshiba, Hitachi and Samsung are suppose to be coming out with 500GB Hard Drives. Either way I will probably pick one up after I have seen them out for a while.

Thats right by swapping the Hard Drives do you expire the Western Digital Passport Warranty?

[djinn]

I can see it now. The new 500gig is coming next Tuesday, or the next one... oh wait.. the next one!!

Which comes first, new MBP or 500gig HDD?? :eek:

[smes3817]

Ok. Formatting question. How do you format the new HD before cloning over??? Disk Utility right? I've read to make 1 partition? hfs+ or GUID or I have no idea. I've read so many different things about it that it's all lost all meaning to me... :(

[SeanEE89]

Hmmm..... I did not know that about the Warranty that it only comes with a 1 year. I think I will just go with a OEM 320GB that way I'll have a little security.

[djinn]

Hmmm..... I did not know that about the Warranty that it only comes with a 1 year. I think I will just go with a OEM 320GB that way I'll have a little security.

The external comes with a 3 year. If you end up having a problem swap it back.

[AndyFL]

Ohhhhh, now that is sneaky -- but I'd do it too :)

Of course, that is assuming the disassembly of the case doesn't require cutting any seals or causes irreversible "damage."

The external comes with a 3 year. If you end up having a problem swap it back.

[djinn]

You can always tell WD that the lamesquad took apart to look at it for reassurance. :rolleyes:

[Neil321]

I think they are talking about the Samsung. I haven't heard of Toshiba bringing out a 500GB drive.

Try reading a couple of posts below were i said that

[MacDann]

Ok. Formatting question. How do you format the new HD before cloning over??? Disk Utility right? I've read to make 1 partition? hfs+ or GUID or I have no idea. I've read so many different things about it that it's all lost all meaning to me... :(

You better have a plan, as in some cases you won't be able to get your Mac to boot from the optical drive, since the core system files aren't there at all when you drop a bare (blank) drive in.

I am waiting for my old 100G Hitachi to clone to my new 320G WD on my MBP right now. I booted with an external FW drive that had an emergency partition, which allowed the system to recognize my optical drive, changed it to the startup drive, rebooted with Drive Genius, and am now cloning my old drive to the new one. In about 90 minutes or less I'll have an exact copy of my old 100G drive on my new 320G, only now I'll have boatloads of space.

I highly recommend Drive Genius for this and for general troubleshooting. I wouldn't leave home without it.

MacDann

[Neil321]

You better have a plan, as in some cases you won't be able to get your Mac to boot from the optical drive, since the core system files aren't there at all when you drop a bare (blank) drive in.

I am waiting for my old 100G Hitachi to clone to my new 320G WD on my MBP right now. I booted with an external FW drive that had an emergency partition, which allowed the system to recognize my optical drive, changed it to the startup drive, rebooted with Drive Genius, and am now cloning my old drive to the new one. In about 90 minutes or less I'll have an exact copy of my old 100G drive on my new 320G, only now I'll have boatloads of space.

I highly recommend Drive Genius for this and for general troubleshooting. I wouldn't leave home without it.

MacDann

so whats the difference between that and superduper and carboncopycloner if all your using it for is cloning?

[djinn]

You better have a plan, as in some cases you won't be able to get your Mac to boot from the optical drive, since the core system files aren't there at all when you drop a bare (blank) drive in.

I am waiting for my old 100G Hitachi to clone to my new 320G WD on my MBP right now. I booted with an external FW drive that had an emergency partition, which allowed the system to recognize my optical drive, changed it to the startup drive, rebooted with Drive Genius, and am now cloning my old drive to the new one. In about 90 minutes or less I'll have an exact copy of my old 100G drive on my new 320G, only now I'll have boatloads of space.

I highly recommend Drive Genius for this and for general troubleshooting. I wouldn't leave home without it.

MacDann

Thats not true. I didn't do any copy. I tossed the blank HDD in my mac, booted off the cdrom and did the install. What are these core files you speak of?

[peejack]

I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?

What a wicked idea so I could do it with this one in a MBP:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4XJY

??

Is replacing the hd in the mac book pros easy?

[djinn]

What a wicked idea so I could do it with this one in a MBP:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4XJY

??

Is replacing the hd in the mac book pros easy?

Yep and Yep. http://www.ifixit.com and check the guide out.

[iToaster]

Fellows, the 500 Gb drive is 12.5 mm, not 9.5 mm... it won't fit in your MacBooks, just get the 320 from Western Digital, the company hasn't failed me yet. I had a 250 in my old MBP and I've got 2 500s in my Mac Pro, all wonderful drives.

[MacDann]

so whats the difference between that and superduper and carboncopycloner if all your using it for is cloning?

Drive Genius has a lot more than cloning capabilities. Between it and Drive Genius and Disk Warrior you can fix anything, unless there's a hardware failure.

I do this for a living, so I have to have a toolbox that covers just about any situation. If it means anything, when you go to the Genius Bar, they're using Drive Genius for hardware troubleshooting.

As for the machine not recognizing the optical drive, I've had it happen more than once when replacing a drive with a new GUID partitioned drive, in MBPs. I don't know why and I can't explain it, suffice to say I've seen it. As far as I know it's a hardware issue that should allow you to boot from the optical drive no matter what, but I have seen this, which is why I come prepared with an external FW drive, just in case. Weird.

MacDann

[djinn]

Fellows, the 500 Gb drive is 12.5 mm, not 9.5 mm... it won't fit in your MacBooks, just get the 320 from Western Digital, the company hasn't failed me yet. I had a 250 in my old MBP and I've got 2 500s in my Mac Pro, all wonderful drives.

They are talking about the future release of the 500gig which will be 9.5mm. I know about the 12.5 which was said that laptop makers would need to build the laptop around the drive since it isn't standard.

[peejack]

Yep and Yep. http://www.ifixit.com and check the guide out.

Thanks.

[Neil321]

Drive Genius has a lot more than cloning capabilities. Between it and Drive Genius and Disk Warrior you can fix anything, unless there's a hardware failure.

I do this for a living, so I have to have a toolbox that covers just about any situation. If it means anything, when you go to the Genius Bar, they're using Drive Genius for hardware troubleshooting.

As for the machine not recognizing the optical drive, I've had it happen more than once when replacing a drive with a new GUID partitioned drive, in MBPs. I don't know why and I can't explain it, suffice to say I've seen it. As far as I know it's a hardware issue that should allow you to boot from the optical drive no matter what, but I have seen this, which is why I come prepared with an external FW drive, just in case. Weird.

MacDann

Ok just googled it but is it worth the 99 bucks asking price?. When as far as i can see it
doesnt do anything more than disk utility and maybe a couple or so free apps can do?

To save me making another post the WD scorpio 32OGB is a great drive been using one since it was released

[MBHockey]

They are talking about the future release of the 500gig which will be 9.5mm. I know about the 12.5 which was said that laptop makers would need to build the laptop around the drive since it isn't standard.

Have the 9.5mm versions been given a release date yet?

[shoppy]

I wish I had seen that on dabs, I went and ordered a 320 from ebuyer, oh well I guess I will keep the old one as a spare. Also will it effect the apple acre I purchased with the machine?

[mbrydone]

WD is aweosome, they are really good quality...I just got one of these last week and it rocks!

[deniser]

I have just ordered a WD from ebuyer for my new blackbook.

I got mine from there 2 weeks ago. Noticed they are selling them on there cheaper now, was £100 inc vat when I looked last night with free delivery. Mine was £106 inc vat with free delivery

[MBHockey]

I wish I had seen that on dabs, I went and ordered a 320 from ebuyer, oh well I guess I will keep the old one as a spare. Also will it effect the apple acre I purchased with the machine?

If you're installing it internally in a MacBook Pro, then yes it will void your warranty (if you screw something up and they can tell).

[MacDann]

If you're installing it internally in a MacBook Pro, then yes it will void your warranty (if you screw something up and they can tell).

Apple will tell you that as long as nothing is broken as a result of the install, the warranty remains intact. That's from both Applecare and Genius Bar people.

MacDann

[Neil321]

Have the 9.5mm versions been given a release date yet?

Only sometime in march as far as i know

[Deezer-D]

Just installed a WD Scorpio 320Gb in my MBP this morning.
Was going to use Carbon Copy Cloner and clone my existing drive onto the new 320 but my caddy wasn't a SATA one. I installed the new drive which took about 20 mins and was fairly easy and used my Leopard disk to boot. From there I was able to format the disk with Disc Utility and then restore from my Time Machine backup - worked a treat but won't have a backup of your Boot Camp partition.
Can anyone else who has the WD 320 installed confirm what size the formatted drive is? Mine is reading as 297.77 Gb capacity, is this what it should be?
Cheers
D

[Neil321]

Just installed a WD Scorpio 320Gb in my MBP this morning.
Was going to use Carbon Copy Cloner and clone my existing drive onto the new 320 but my caddy wasn't a SATA one. I installed the new drive which took about 20 mins and was fairly easy and used my Leopard disk to boot. From there I was able to format the disk with Disc Utility and then restore from my Time Machine backup - worked a treat but won't have a backup of your Boot Camp partition.
Can anyone else who has the WD 320 installed confirm what size the formatted drive is? Mine is reading as 297.77 Gb capacity, is this what it should be?
Cheers
D

yep thats correct all i know is its something do with the way numbers are
calculated anyways you end up 297.77 once formated

[Deezer-D]

Thanks neil31

[Neil321]

Thanks neil31

your welcome

[John.B]

Can anyone else who has the WD 320 installed confirm what size the formatted drive is? Mine is reading as 297.77 Gb capacity, is this what it should be?
Hard drive manufacturers are deceptive when they label their drives.

In the computer world, by any measurement, from any operating system, the correct way to calculate a GB as 1024^3 bytes (1024 is 2 to the 10th power, raised to the third power = 2^30) or 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Hard drive manufacturers, however, count a GB as 1000^3 (1000 to the third power) or 1,000,000,000. "Everybody does it" is their lame excuse. AFAIK, these may be the only humans in existence* who's mothers didn't ask them, "If your friends all walked off a cliff...?" ;)

Anyway, if you do the math you'll see the difference is about 7% (1-(10^9/2^30)) which is almost exactly the difference you are seeing between your formatted size and what Western Digital printed on the size of the box.

Because the terms GB or gigabyte have been so hopelessly contorted by hard drive manufacturers, a standards body has come up with a new set of unambigious terms; Gibibyte (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GiB) abbreviated GiB are now being used instead. While a GB could be mean 10^9 or 2^30, a GiB always means exactly 2^30 or 1,073,741,824 bytes.

*The people who used to measure the old CRT monitors used to be in this group but I'm pretty sure they evolved into lobbyists, in which case the whole "human" thing no longer applies. :)

[djinn]

Wasn't there some kind of lawsuit against whats shown on the drive then what is really available? I thought I read that somewhere. Haven't heard much of it since so I take it the guy lost or gave up.

[AuroraProject]

What a wicked idea so I could do it with this one in a MBP:

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4XJY

??

Is replacing the hd in the mac book pros easy?


You could do that, but that drive is the 2mb cache version, the WD 320 sold bulk has 8mb cache.

[John.B]

Wasn't there some kind of lawsuit against whats shown on the drive then what is really available? I thought I read that somewhere. Haven't heard much of it since so I take it the guy lost or gave up.
I dunno, I'm to lazy to google it tonight.

What I know about these things generally is that some slick lawyer will turn the real lawsuit into a class action, the lawyers will net 30% of some theoretical settlement where some number of millions of people would get $20 of the purchase of a full-price new ________ (monitor, hard drive, whatever), and nobody in their right mind would take $20 off a full price ________ (monitor, hard drive, whatever) when the going rate is going to be $100 below that number. This was exactly the scenario with the old CRT monitors, the only real result was a parenthetical note that said a 17" monitor had a 15.7" viewing area.

I believe if you look closely at a retail hard drive box you'll find some small-print notation that they count a megabyte as 1,000,000 bytes, which leads me to believe the hard drive capacity fiasco copied the CRT viewing area fiasco.

Shakespeare was right, even if he didn't realize it.

[djinn]

What if you didn't know how to read? I guess that lawsuit would be next to the one that was for having braille with drive-up ATMs. :rolleyes:

[digitalfrog]

For info the Samsung 320gb is at 150 $ including shipping using EMCACAAJ :-)

I think I'll go ahead with this one versus the WD, it's very lose in performances but uses less power, and is cheaper !