Optibay Alterntatives?

OWC has one, but I think it is around $75

Also here is a long thread all about optibay alternatives.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/680228/
It is the thread I found and bookmarked when doing my initial research and it helped me out a lot.

nevermind

There is one on ebay for $20 that will screw in

OrangeSVTguy said:

Just went ahead and bought this one, 2nd HDD caddy Macbook pro OptiBay SuperDrive SATA 9.5mm.

Will update the thread with a review once I get it.

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so did it fit?

slexus said:

so did it fit?

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Not only did it not fit, it apparently rendered their computer inoperable......

I got one from newmodeus.com, what a piece of garbage. I have a cheap one coming from buy.com, if its as bad as the newmodeus.com one, then I plan on ordering the one from maxupgrade.com.

jjk454ss said:

I got one from newmodeus.com, what a piece of garbage. I have a cheap one coming from buy.com, if its as bad as the newmodeus.com one, then I plan on ordering the one from maxupgrade.com.

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ive ordered the newmodeus - it looks ok, and heard good reviews from others on here

what probs did you have?

johnnyturbouk said:

ive ordered the newmodeus - it looks ok, and heard good reviews from others on here

what probs did you have?

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It is made from 2 pieces of metal and it was already coming apart when I opened the box. It has nothing to secure the hdd to the optibay, and only one screw to secure the optibay to the MacBook. I had a cheap one from eBay in my old MBP, and it just felt like it was much better built.

jjk454ss said:

It is made from 2 pieces of metal and it was already coming apart when I opened the box. It has nothing to secure the hdd to the optibay, and only one screw to secure the optibay to the MacBook. I had a cheap one from eBay in my old MBP, and it just felt like it was much better built.

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grrrr...got this a while back thinkin it was the best option.. my one has 6 screws inl, 2-3 to fix hdd to the caddy, the rest i assume you fix the caddy to the MBP

i agree, its very frustrating there is no instructions.. i e-mailed them and they said: "sorry no instructions, just search you tube"

my caddy is one solid hunk of metal,,, wonder if others gettin this prob
might have to return it as - no functional to MBP - luckily i purchased it with my amex

I bought this one and it works great in my Late 2008 MBP 15in:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300519372363&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

johnnyturbouk said:

grrrr...got this a while back thinkin it was the best option.. my one has 6 screws inl, 2-3 to fix hdd to the caddy, the rest i assume you fix the caddy to the MBP

i agree, its very frustrating there is no instructions.. i e-mailed them and they said: "sorry no instructions, just search you tube"

my caddy is one solid hunk of metal,,, wonder if others gettin this prob
might have to return it as - no functional to MBP - luckily i purchased it with my amex

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I am returning mine, there is definitely better options out there.

ballbags.. i just ordered an owc-drive - could of got a datadoubler for not much more

really pissed as so many before attested it was brilliant option

ah well.. will wait for MBP2011 17" arrive

if it does not fit will RMA and ask for refund

i just bought this for late-2007 santa rosa MBP17.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220634128030&rvr_id=220869174512&mfe=sidebar

that sata label there gives it a nice fake quality feel

I spent about a year looking for a good optibay alternative-- the year after I got an optibay. I was not satisfied with the build quality of the optibay, and I bet the company that makes it is not the same MCE I remember from the 80s. The whole thing seemed cheap and low quality given the price.

I was happy to discover the OWC data doubler, and so this time around I ordered it. I'm very happy with it, and it is about half the price I paid for the optibay (I got it with an OWC SSD and the bundle prices are cheaper.)

It is not cheap stamped alluminum like the optibay and all the ebay ones appear to be. Instead it seems to be forged aluminum. This is a whole lot more rigid, and solid and at the same time very light.

The difference is like comparing a unibody macbook to a plastic PC.

They sent me a complete set of tools including one for the security screws in the 2011 MBP, and the installation document included every unibody MacBook made (except for the 2011 but the 2010 works fine.)

Frankly, for putting into a $3,000 laptop, I've no qualms about this $50. Well spent.

I highly recommend it. (as to the Mercury Extreme SSD, too early to have an opinion on that.)

I had the MaxUpgrades one and it bent my computer...yeah quality Went back to using the $20 ebay one and havent had a problem since, I boot from my SSD in the optibay and run from it nonstop with no problem. Who cares what it looks like? You stick it in and you never see it again.

Also, they arent "stamped" or "forged" aluminum. These are either made out of stainless or a cheap steel that is chromed. The more expensive ones are made from a billet of aluminum...machined not pressed(forged).

tjb1 said:

Also, they arent "stamped" or "forged" aluminum. These are either made out of stainless or a cheap steel that is chromed. The more expensive ones are made from a billet of aluminum...machined not pressed(forged).

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I've done a fair share of metal working in my day. I'm sure the cheap ones are sheet metal rather than aluminum, it was the error of me expecting them to use the materials I would use.

The OWC might be machined, if so it was sandblasted because there are no machine marks. I believe it is forged because there is no reason to go thru the expense of machining it. But I can testify that it is certainly aluminum.

I got the optibay from Buy.com today, quick shipping, I didn't expect it so soon. While its not perfect, its much better than the newmodeus optibay and its $30 cheaper. It is a very, very tight fit. You really need to squeeze it behind the black plastic piece around the DVD/CD slot, but when it is in its not going anywhere. Also you need to cut a little bit of plastic away so the WiFi/Bluetooth(I think that is what it is) will fit back in over the optibay. It is still only held in with one screw, and the HDD is still not screwed into the optibay, but it does fit in the optibay much better and has some plastic tabs that hold it OK. I put a piece of foam between the HDD and the rear of the optibay so it can't slide backwards from the SATA connectors. Here are some pics of the difference.

jjk454ss said:

I got the optibay from Buy.com today, quick shipping, I didn't expect it so soon. While its not perfect, its much better than the newmodeus optibay and its $30 cheaper. It is a very, very tight fit. You really need to squeeze it behind the black plastic piece around the DVD/CD slot, but when it is in its not going anywhere. Also you need to cut a little bit of plastic away so the WiFi/Bluetooth(I think that is what it is) will fit back in over the optibay. It is still only held in with one screw, and the HDD is still not screwed into the optibay, but it does fit in the optibay much better and has some plastic tabs that hold it OK. I put a piece of foam between the HDD and the rear of the optibay so it can't slide backwards from the SATA connectors.

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In your $2000 computer?!?!?

Was it really worth it to save some money over MCE or OWC?

jayhawk11 said:

In your $2000 computer?!?!?

Was it really worth it to save some money over MCE or OWC?

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Maybe? I was not trying to be cheap, the newmodeus one was not cheap, but still junk. For all I know the MCE or OWC ones would be junk as well. I installed one from eBay in my old MBP and it was great, worked fine for a year or so until I sold it, probably still working fine now.

jjk454ss said:

Maybe? I was not trying to be cheap, the newmodeus one was not cheap, but still junk. For all I know the MCE or OWC ones would be junk as well. I installed one from eBay in my old MBP and it was great, worked fine for a year or so until I sold it, probably still working fine now.

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Sorry, I came across a little dick-ish there. I just meant that it seems like the company you bought from cut corners on quality. I'd rather get one that I knew for a fact wouldn't require any weird jury-rigging.

Glad it works, though! Any pics after you got it installed?

The above one is what I used. I just dremelled all the "front" plastic off of it and then it was a perfect fit. I bought it for about 13 bucks on ebay. Yeah yeah, I have a $2400 laptop that I just slapped a makeshift $13 part in to. It is still better than the one option that required you to splice together several wires to make it work.

jayhawk11 said:

Sorry, I came across a little dick-ish there. I just meant that it seems like the company you bought from cut corners on quality. I'd rather get one that I knew for a fact wouldn't require any weird jury-rigging.

Glad it works, though! Any pics after you got it installed?

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No, I didn't think that at all, I know what you mean about putting that in my MBP. But after getting the newmodeus version, I thought I would see what the cheap one was like. I'm actually happy with it, I just had to cut the plastic a little. And looking at older MPB's, I think the design was a little different and it would fit without any cutting. I only had to cut away the piece in red. I am curious to see some good pics of the ones you mentioned and also the MaxUpgrades optibay just to see what makes them better, esp the MCE one for like $100.