Original Air: reputable place to buy replacement 80 HD?

[nagromme]

My 80GB HD died, and I want to replace it. But it's hard to find the RIGHT part for an original-release MacBook Air. The only sellers I've found I have never heard of (and can't even be sure they know what they're talking about).

Are there any reputable sources that people can recommend?

The gigantic external HD that I temporarily have hanging off my USB port is just not what I call portable :o

[stoconnell]

Are you looking to replace it with a standard hard drive or move to an SSD? There several threads in this forum where people have found 128G SSDs for the Rev A. MacBook Airs. I am not as sure about replacement HDDs. The issue with them is the size (particularly thickness) as well as the interface. Either way good luck.

[nagromme]

Yeah--original Airs are different from ver. B Airs.

I'd take anything that worked--SSD would be great--but price is important and I won't keep this Air forever, so I probably just need an HD. I know the Samsung model #, it's just hard to find them--and even harder to know where I can trust.

[stoconnell]

Yeah--original Airs are different from ver. B Airs.

I'd take anything that worked--SSD would be great--but price is important and I won't keep this Air forever, so I probably just need an HD. I know the Samsung model #, it's just hard to find them--and even harder to know where I can trust.

You might want to check out this thread (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=714354) where a forum member details his repairs to his Rev A. MBA.

[nagromme]

Thanks--I'll ask him where he bought from.

[stoconnell]

Thanks--I'll ask him where he bought from.

In comment #9, he said he got it from http://www.getpartsonline.com/hs082hb.html

[nagromme]

Aha. A refurb HD--interesting. But the price is nice :)

Anyone know of a proven source of brand new Samsung HS082HB hard drive?

(I almost took a chance on eBay... found some claimed new units for about the same price as getpartsonline's refurb. Makes me doubt the claim--those could be refurb too. And I've never used eBay before so it worries me a little.)

[pvmacguy]

Can't beat $80 bucks... Too bad that 160 gig wouldn't work...

[nagromme]

Yes, I'm tempted.

In fact, with that low price it makes me want to look into an SSD. Under $300 might tempt me! But I'd need 80 GB or more, so my hopes are low. I'll search later.

EDIT: yeah, HD for me. I want 80GB+ for under $200. I'll go SSD on my NEXT Air :) SSD's seem to be around $500 for 128 or $300 for 64. Even if I shopped more, I can't beat the price of a refurb (yikes!) HD.

[itou]

perhaps you can consider swapping the drive out of the 160gb ipod?
good a time as any to try it out :p

[nagromme]

An interesting experiment, but 80 is enough for me :)

But I don't think I'm buying from GetPartsOnline. Googling for customer reviews leaves me scared--too many customers mention things that should just never happen.

So, where else have people had good experiences buying this Samsung HD?