Upgrading iBook

[zioxide]

Ok, so I have the final revision iBook G4 12" 1.33Ghz (it was purchased in feb 06, I bought it used in november 06). Right now I only have the stock 40GB hard drive and 1GB of ram. I'd like to max out the ram (I think the limit is 1.5GB) and also add more hard drive space. However, I'm not sure which type of hard drive I need for it. I'll be ordering whatever I decide on off of newegg.

Any advice?

 

[dartzorichalcos]

You need a ATA/100 hard drive.

 

[zioxide]

Ok, I've been looking around on newegg. I think I'll go with Crucial RAM [1GB].

I'm still not sure about the hard drive though. Newegg only has ATA-6 and then SATA. Is ATA-6 the same thing as ATA/100?

I think I'd like to go with Seagate. This 120GB 5400rpm has good reviews, but I'm not sure if I want 5400rpm or 4200rpm. Right now the drive in the laptop is 4200rpm, so I think upgrading to 5400rpm would increase performance. But will it waste too much battery?


Also, if I took it to the Apple Store, how much would they charge me to install the hard drive? From looking at some guides, it seems pretty complicated to take the iBook apart to install a new drive.

 

[tekmate]

Going from 4200 to 5400 is not a huge hit on the battery. You will lose some but not like it would go from 3 hours to 1 or anything crazy.

 

[zioxide]

Ok I'm about to pull the trigger and order this stuff. I think I'm going to go with WD instead of Seagate because its $15 bucks cheaper for the same drive.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16822136007

That hard drive will work correctly, right?



Also, I'm still wondering about the Apple store. How much do they charge for installation of a hard drive?

 

[zioxide]

Yeah I'm thinking about probably just doing it myself, ifixit.com has a screw guide thing so it shouldn't be too difficult.


I'm still debating about WD or Seagate. I have 3 external WDs and they're all great, but my dell inspiron has a seagate and it's also been good so far. I really don't know. Some people say WD, some people say Seagate.

Seagate has a 5-yr warranty and WD is 1-yr, but I don't know if I'll even still have the laptop in a year so I'm not to worried. It wouldn't be to expensive to replace after the year anyways.

 

[iHerzeleid]

The warranty is better on the seagate. Also i hear seagates are quieter. I would go with the Seagate. It's a better drive for the money.

 

[zioxide]

Hmm, well since I last looked at newegg about 3 days ago at the seagate, the price has come down 10 bucks. Its now only 5 bucks more than the WD, so I think I might go with the Seagate.

Anyone else have any opinions?

 

[California]

.

Anyone else have any opinions?

Yes.

Get the Seagate 100gb 7200rpm drive (tho the 100gb 7200 Hitachi is slightly faster but only has a three year warranty...)

AND drop a superdrive dvd burner in it while the case is open. I have done this to that iBook and man, it is AMAZING with all that ram. It out does my 1.5ghz 12" powerbook because the iBook actually can take more ram.

 

[zioxide]

Yes.

Get the Seagate 100gb 7200rpm drive (tho the 100gb 7200 Hitachi is slightly faster but only has a three year warranty...)

AND drop a superdrive dvd burner in it while the case is open. I have done this to that iBook and man, it is AMAZING with all that ram. It out does my 1.5ghz 12" powerbook because the iBook actually can take more ram.

Hmm.. i was thinking about trying to add a Superdrive but I don't know what I would need to order. I know that the iBook never actually came with a superdrive iirc so I don't know if I would need to do anything special.

Which drive would I need to get?

 

[California]

Hmm.. i was thinking about trying to add a Superdrive but I don't know what I would need to order. I know that the iBook never actually came with a superdrive iirc so I don't know if I would need to do anything special.

Which drive would I need to get?

UJ 846. It is a dual layer drive that works in the iBook. Email me if you can't get one because I actually just ordered one that I may or may not need, actually for that same machine. This is a better drive than even what is in my Powerbook 1.5ghz.

 

[Roba]

I would not put a 7200RPM drive in any laptop of mine again. My MBP just got to hot with a 7200RPM HD and i believe that part of the reason why it got to hot was because of the HD.
When i got another CD MBP that came with a 5400RPM drive the drive was pretty silent and my laptop did not get as hot.

I have a Seagate 5400.3 PMR HD my iBook overall it is a pretty silent drive but i can hear it at times very faintly but it is not loud. Relatively it is still a pretty silent HD. I was completely spoiled by the iBook original Fuji 4200RPM drive that was in my iBook as that was completely silent and i could not hear that at all. I have read that Fuji do make pretty silent HD's.

I have also read that Western Digital make the most silent HD's that you can get but the Seagate HD's are faster especially so the (PMR's) ones but they are supposed to be not as silent as the WD HD's. I have also read good things about Samsung Spinpoint HD's as well.
This link maybe quite useful
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/90550/toshiba-mk1234gax.html

The 5400RPM drives are in my experience pretty silent HD's but the 4200RPM drives are the most silent HD's you can get i would say.

I upgraded my ram as well to 1.5GB i got a good deal on a 1GB new stick for £25 on Ebay.

I have the 14 inch last revision version that comes with a DVD-RW and this is the part that is used in my iBook TEAC DV-W28SLA.

 

[California]

I would not put a 7200RPM drive in any laptop of mine again. My MBP just got to hot with a 7200RPM HD and i believe that part of the reason why it got to hot was because of the HD.
When i got another CD MBP that came with a 5400RPM drive the drive was pretty silent and my laptop did not get as hot.

I have a Seagate 5400.3 PMR HD my iBook overall it is a pretty silent drive but i can hear it at times very faintly but it is not loud. Relatively it is still a pretty silent HD. I was completely spoiled by the iBook original Fuji 4200RPM drive that was in my iBook as that was completely silent and i could not hear that at all. I have read that Fuji do make pretty silent HD's.

I have also read that Western Digital make the most silent HD's that you can get but the Seagate HD's are faster especially so the (PMR's) ones but they are supposed to be not as silent as the WD HD's. I have also read good things about Samsung Spinpoint HD's as well.
This link maybe quite useful
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/90550/toshiba-mk1234gax.html

The 5400RPM drives are in my experience pretty silent HD's but the 4200RPM drives are the most silent HD's you can get i would say.

I upgraded my ram as well to 1.5GB i got a good deal on a 1GB new stick for £25 on Ebay.

I have the 14 inch last revision version that comes with a DVD-RW and this is the part that is used in my iBook TEAC DV-W28SLA.

Actually, the heat issue is pretty much void on the newest of 7200 drives. The only time I experienced this problem is when I accidently was shipped an E7K60 7200rpm 60 gig Travelstar. The "E" stands for a server drive that does not go to sleep. It heated up my Titanium a lot and I complained and got a replacement from the company I ordered from who didnt even know this was a server blade drive.

The newest drives spin down when not in use and are just as cool as the 5400 drives. I put a 100 gig 7200 in my metal 12 Powerbook (actually two 12" powerbooks ) and no problem With the plastic iBooks, it is even less of a problem, and he might as well max out his machine. I have done this several times and it is great because those iBooks take 1.5gbs of ram!

As for silence... I have not experienced noise problems since about four years ago when hard drives were really crappy. The technology has really changed and the companies have really been pushing for quiet cool but fast drives. As for your macbook overheating, I hear that's a macbook issue, not a hard drive issue.

 

[Roba]

I was told by an Apple technican that works in an Apple service centre and has been doing Apple upgrades for years that a 4200RPM drive is generally the most quiet HD's that you can get. I was enquiring about upgrading myself and he suggested a 7200RPM drive to me but pointed out to me also that this drive will most probably produce a little bit more noise than a 5400 or a 4200 HD.

At 21 dBA@1m, the 7200.1 was slighter louder than most of the other notebook drives we've tested.<snip>
The level of vibration was also slightly higher than other tested notebook drives. <snip>

Because of the high rotation speed, the 7200.1 vibrates at a higher frequency than most other notebook drives. The resonant frequency was also higher because of this: 120 Hz instead of 90 Hz. Because human hearing is more sensitive at 120 Hz than at 90 Hz, the vibration noise from the 7200.1 seemed a little higher than the MP0402H even though the vibration levels were almost identical.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article278-page2.html

The Momentus 5400.3 series of drives offers a sound level of 2.4 bels while at idle and 2.9 bels while seeking. As a comparison, the 7200.1 series idles at 2.6 bel and 3.0 while seeking, and the threshold of human hearing is 2.6 bels.
Now this does not mean that the HD is going to be so loud or noisy (see what i wrote for the 5400.3 HD above) but whilst it is seeking some people like myself maybe able to hear it. This maybe worth pointing out to some people who are looking for a HD as some people are very sensitive to noise and would sacrifice a bit of speed for a very quiet HD.

It is interesting as well that Apple replaced the 7200RPM HD in the 15 inch MBP with a PMR HD and only left the 7200 for their 17 inch models.

These tests results are interesting. They tested the 5400.3 and the 7200.1 amongst some other HD's.
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/...=3&PHPSESSID=f9e1f0219f8a7e2865b3dba7257b599a

As for silence... I have not experienced noise problems since about four years ago when hard drives were really crappy. The technology has really changed and the companies have really been pushing for quiet cool but fast drives. As for your macbook overheating, I hear that's a macbook issue, not a hard drive issue.