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ewinemiller

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 29, 2001
445
0
west of Philly
Hi,

I've got an ibook G4 12" that I had to buy in a hurry, so didn't have time for a BTO. The 30gig HD is really becoming a limit and I'd like to upgrade. Has anyone done a HD swap on one of these yet or shown a tear down I could use to figure it out myself? I'd rather not just start "exploring". Also does anyone one know the max height on the ibook's HD?

Thanks
 

lasuther

macrumors 6502a
Feb 13, 2004
670
0
Grand Haven, Michigan
ewinemiller said:
Hi,

I've got an ibook G4 12" that I had to buy in a hurry, so didn't have time for a BTO. The 30gig HD is really becoming a limit and I'd like to upgrade. Has anyone done a HD swap on one of these yet or shown a tear down I could use to figure it out myself? I'd rather not just start "exploring". Also does anyone one know the max height on the ibook's HD?

Thanks

There has been lots of talk about this. Do a search for "iBook Hard Drive" and you'll get up to speed. A quick recap, get a 7200 RPM drive. Don't install it yourself, get a technician to do it.

Is there any companies that you can ship your iBook to and have a 7200 RPM drive put in that will no void the warranty?

lasuther
 

ewinemiller

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 29, 2001
445
0
west of Philly
lasuther said:
There has been lots of talk about this. Do a search for "iBook Hard Drive" and you'll get up to speed. A quick recap, get a 7200 RPM drive. Don't install it yourself, get a technician to do it.

Where would I do this search? A search of the MacRumors forums reveals nothing and a few hits on Google show iBook G3 tear downs and some mention that replacing the HD is harder on an ibook G4 than a Powerbook 12", but don't go into any details.

I'm not interested in 7200, the current drive is fast enough, I just need more capacity. Typically the 7200s will run hotter and drain battery faster so I'd rather just stick with 4200. Also the slower ones are much cheaper. I can get a 4200 80gb for about $150 US, maybe cheaper if I actually shop around. Not particularly worried about doing the swap myself.

Thanks.
 

RoadKill

macrumors regular
Dec 4, 2003
101
1
LONDON UK
be afraid, very afraid!!!

Not particularly worried about doing the swap myself.

mmmahahhahahaa!!!

I think the designer of the iBooks did a very good job of making the G4 ibook hdd very, very hard to replace. I have a 12"G4 and though about doing this as well until I saw the instructions which made me think "external FW from LaCie" after about 1/4 of the way through. I am now awaiting shippment from apple on a 320GB triple interface LaCie which comes with free backup software for 220 of my english pounds.

When I get home I'll dig them out and email to you. You won't like dismantling your baby to psuedo sub-atomic level!
 

ewinemiller

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 29, 2001
445
0
west of Philly
RoadKill said:
When I get home I'll dig them out and email to you. You won't like dismantling your baby to psuedo sub-atomic level!

I'd appreciate that, thanks. Actually it's more the wife's baby, "sorry dear, I dropped that screw in there and when I tried to get it out with the magnetized screwdriver something went pop"
 

MentalFabric

macrumors 6502
Mar 10, 2004
372
25
actually, I found swapping the HD's was quite easy... provided you keep track of the screws and don't mind screwing the appearance of your iBook. I swear, they're impossible to open without damaging the appearance.
 
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