Where to purchase Titanium Hard Disks?

[rarora]

Where could one purchase a larger capacity Hard Disk for the Titanium powerbook? I have a 20GB and would like to upgrade.

[idkew]

www.newegg.com



you need a 2.5" hard drive. Also called a notebook hard drive.

You can fit up to a 12mm drive.

The 80gb drive will be a couple hundred, but newegg has the best prices i have seen.

[rarora]

Thanks for the reply, will these work? They aren't mac specific, just general notebook drives:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=380&manufactory=1540&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

[MattG]

Thanks for the reply, will these work? They aren't mac specific, just general notebook drives:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=380&manufactory=1540&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1Yep...the drives you get in a Mac are just like the drives you get in any other laptop.

[idkew]

Installation directions (http://www.pbfixit.com/Guide/)

[michaelrjohnson]

Thanks for the reply, will these work? They aren't mac specific, just general notebook drives:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=380&manufactory=1540&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

i do, in fact, believe that those will work. but check apple's site for the tech specs (historical) of your machine to make absolutely postive before you spend the money

also, once you decide on a brand/capacity, search www.pricewatch.com or www.pricegrabber.com, or www.buy.com to get the best price. good luck!

[krimson]

www.newegg.com


dont know if it will help you guys, but mention that Howie referred you. he's a friend of mine, and one of the VP's) :D

[rarora]

Yea i'm not keen on installing it myself, thanks for the info though. The technican around here is charging $95 /hour. To me, that's worth it, for a peace of mind. Most likely am going to go with 60GB, don't know which speed though, I've heard faster drives diminish battery life.

[idkew]

Yea i'm not keen on installing it myself, thanks for the info though. The technican around here is charging $95 /hour. To me, that's worth it, for a peace of mind. Most likely am going to go with 60GB, don't know which speed though, I've heard faster drives diminish battery life.

you kidding me? $95 an hour?

INSTALL IT YOURSELF.

it is easy.

i have no formal training, and i easily dis/reassembled that machine on several occasions.

don't pay him $200

[JFreak]

self-install is easy - the hardest part is in buying the correct screw driver :) i'd recommend a hitachi 7200rpm drive for the tibook, because in my own experience it runs COOLER and a lot faster than the stock drive apple uses. i was so amazed when i put the hitachi in and discovered that the cooling fan hardly ever kicks in anymore... before the drive change it was on constantly.

[rarora]

Well if any of you live near Washington DC, let me know. I'll pay you to do it for me. I don't have a lot of time, and don't want to deal with downtime or a broken powerbook. I'm a tech savvy guy, but opening up the workings of a notebook seems like something I'd rather not touch. The instructions posted above are okay, does anyone have any instructions that are more detailed, ie better pictures, more descriptive words? Maybe it's just me, and once I crack open the case I'll feel better.

[idkew]

well, all i can say is this:

•shut down laptop, ground yourself, flip it over, unplug the power adapter, take out the battery.

•you open the laptop with a torx 8 screwdriver.

•once unscrewed pull the lower casing up and towards the front (cd side) of the laptop. set aside where it won't get stepped on

•the hard drive is in the center under the trackpad

•unscrew the one screw near the front (cd side) middle of the laptop. it is the screw that hold down the plastic part that separates the battery compartment from the hd. there are two, one on each side of the front of the hard drive (actually, the lower left and right corners, going by the label on the hd. remove the lower right one) removing this screw will give you a little extra maneuvering space.

•unscrew the two screws that go through the part i just mentioned. they hold black rubber bumpers on the hd which hold the hd in place. (the hd is not actually screwed to the laptop, it is held in place by these bumpers. )

•pop the hd cable off the motherboard, remove that cable from the old hard drive. put on new one.

•pull the hd out. unscrew the other two screws on the other side of the hd once it is removed. save the little "waxed paper" sheet for the new hd.

•reverse the steps for the new hd.

•install the old hd in an external firewire enclosure and use for backup purposes.

[rarora]

Thanks for the steps, I appreciate it.

[rarora]

I take it that after powering the machine back on, I need to have a system disc inserted, in order to reload 10.3?

[idkew]

yep, just install from scratch if you like, OR

you could boot off the old hard drive that is connected via firewire (in a new case you bought)


then you can open up Disc Utility and do a Restore from the external HD to the intern hd. Name the new, internal HD the same as the external, and things should work fine. Once you have successfully booted from the new HD and run your most used apps and such (with no problems at all), reformat the old one to avoid any name conflicts.

then, backup your user folder to the old HD, just in case.

also - repair permissions on the new HD, and run disc utility on it... just to make sure everything is running smooth.

[idkew]

external enclosures (http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=92&DEPA=1)


get a 2.5" firewire enclosure.

make sure it is mac bootable (some might not work that way)

make sure it will fit your hard drive (some will not fit a 12mm HD, but your is prolly a 9mm, but i don't know for sure)

one option (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-146-604&depa=1) - should definitely boot for a mac.

another option (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-146-035&depa=1) - will boot for a mac. i have it. nice looking, too.

[JFreak]

if you decide to do it yourself, i'll tell you this: it's really easier to do than you think it is, so be confident that you can do it, and be calm and do it slowly. be extra careful when you unplug the cable that connects hard drive to the mother board, and extra careful when you plug it in again with the new drive. if something goes wrong (it will not), it goes wrong here. the little connector should snap in without using much force and if it doesn't snap in immediately, take a minute to take a good breath and try again carefully.

(i'm making this a bigger issue than it actually is, but i'd hate if you broke the connector.)

by the way, what drive are you planning to buy? the hitachi 7200rpm or some cheaper model?

[FuzzyBallz]

Go external and buy a regular 3.5" HD then a firewire enclosure for it. WAY cheaper than buying 2.5" notebook HD.

[idkew]

Go external and buy a regular 3.5" HD then a firewire enclosure for it. WAY cheaper than buying 2.5" notebook HD.

why have a laptop? a desktop is WAY cheaper.

[FuzzyBallz]

Uhh.. I have an 14" iBook, 15" PB, and Dual G4 desktop. What's your point?

You don't get it do you? I'll replace the PB/iBook's boot HD if there's a 10K rpm HD in the 2.5" form factor, which there isn't. It's hard to find a 7200 rpm HD as it, since your beloved Apple doesn't provide one as BTO 'cause they know they'll just tag on another $300 to the already overpriced PB.

[rarora]

wow, thanks for so many replies. I'm a newbie and recently "switched". I'd like to stay internal, my old pc laptop and a million devices spewing out of it, a million wires, a million knots etc. IMO it makes a laptop lose a little bit of the mobility (that you presumably paid extra for in the first place).