Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

whyrichard

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 15, 2002
1,695
4
I need to upgrade my ibook's harddrive, it's running out of space!
I found a place that will charge me:

$249 for 60 gig hitachi
$199 for 40 gig hitachi
$75 for a data transfer
$75 for installation

I do not want to do the installation myself, can't afford the time and the trouble....

... is there a place where i can find a cheaper 60 gig harddrive for my ibook g4? what should i look for online?

also... can i do a data transfer myself by buying a harddrive and then returning it afterwords?

do you think these prices are reasonable? also... if i were to pay for the 60 gig and installation, it would come out to... $400, i was thinking of getting a mini to work as a media hub and dump.... what you think?


r.
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
If these are USD, then I would say that the installation charge is very reasonable, but the price for the drive is inflated.... You can get 5400RPM 60GB drives for $150-175 and I think you can even get the 80GB's for <$200 on occasion. Well, if that 60 is 7200 RPM it might be different, but unless it is....
 

ldburroughs

macrumors 6502
Feb 25, 2005
258
0
Virginia Beach, VA
whyrichard said:
I need to upgrade my ibook's harddrive, it's running out of space!
I found a place that will charge me:

$249 for 60 gig hitachi
$199 for 40 gig hitachi
$75 for a data transfer
$75 for installation

I do not want to do the installation myself, can't afford the time and the trouble....

... is there a place where i can find a cheaper 60 gig harddrive for my ibook g4? what should i look for online?

also... can i do a data transfer myself by buying a harddrive and then returning it afterwords?

do you think these prices are reasonable? also... if i were to pay for the 60 gig and installation, it would come out to... $400, i was thinking of getting a mini to work as a media hub and dump.... what you think?


r.

For those prices it hardly seems worth it. That is nearly half as much as a late model ibook. For about $100 you can buy a 80 gb hard drive and install it yourself in about two hours. As far as externals go, I never really understand the argument. Unless it is used strictly to store things you will not use very often, it defeats the purpose of having a portable laptop. It is cheaper and well worth the effort to install a larger internal. Another plus for a new internal is that it is probably quicker than your default drive as well. Good luck with your decision. If money is no object, and it appears not to be for you, then go for it. It is really not that difficult to do if you change your mind.
 

mad jew

Moderator emeritus
Apr 3, 2004
32,191
9
Adelaide, Australia
Not sure that we can really answer it yet ldburroughs because in Australian or New Zealand dollars, that's about how much it'd cost. Although, I agree with mkrishnan in that the actual drive cost seems overly inflated compared to the installation costs, assuming it's not one of them thar fancy 7200rpm drives.
 

whyrichard

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Aug 15, 2002
1,695
4
These are u.s. dollars....

where can i find an inexpensive 60+ gig hard drive online? what type of harddrive should i search for?
 

mkrishnan

Moderator emeritus
Jan 9, 2004
29,776
15
Grand Rapids, MI, USA
whyrichard said:
These are u.s. dollars....

where can i find an inexpensive 60+ gig hard drive online? what type of harddrive should i search for?

2.5" IDE, size of your choice, RPM ranges from 4200-7200, with higher = faster. Also look at the cache size. There are threads here with recommendations. Try playing with mysimon or froogle, and also go to dealnews.com and search for 2.5" drive deals.

One idea is to find a drive deal that comes in an enclosure, also, btw. If you do that, and get a good deal, you can use the enclosure to transfer data to the new drive, then swap drives, and you still have a (smaller) external drive for future backups, etc. :) But it does take a tiny amount of time and skill, so if you're averse to DIY, then it might not be such a great option.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.