anybody replace optical drive with a hard drive?

[dpfenninger]

Options for pre-2008 MacBooks

Ok...so I've been doing some digging around, and I've found the following:

http://store.mcetech.com/Merchant2/..._Code=OBSXGB-MB15&Category_Code=STORHDOPTIBAY
($99)

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=258
($42)

http://www.amazon.com/DRIVE-caddy-M...TF8&coliid=I16SA8L6O60919&colid=2TGZ79CDNNMPT
($18.88)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-PATA-2...e_Internal&hash=item43a72ef8f6#ht_1879wt_1042
($17.49)

Does anyone have any experience with any of the above? Obviously the cheaper options are definitely more appealing...do they truly work?

 

[Amarq09]

Hi, I'm in a similar boat here...have a 2.0GHz Late 2007 MacBook that's at 4GB RAM and 500GB 7200rpm HD. Would love to move the hard drive to the optical bay and install a smaller SSD as a boot/system drive. Looks like the optical bay kits at OWC only support 2008 and later MacBooks. Is there any way to do this with this older model?

Was looking into this as well for my 2008 4.1 macbook but it seems that the optical drive on earlier macbook models--4.1 and earlier-- uses ATA bus and makes moving existing SATA drive to optical bay impossible without some sort of ATA --> SATA adaptor. I'm not sure if this correct, but this is what I've gathered. If there is any way at circumventing the ATA issue, or if it doesn't matter, I'd be happy to hear from others.

 

[dpfenninger]

Was looking into this as well for my 2008 4.1 macbook but it seems that the optical drive on earlier macbook models--4.1 and earlier-- uses ATA bus and makes moving existing SATA drive to optical bay impossible without some sort of ATA --> SATA adaptor. I'm not sure if this correct, but this is what I've gathered. If there is any way at circumventing the ATA issue, or if it doesn't matter, I'd be happy to hear from others.

There are drive bays that offer a SATA-to-PATA(IDE) adapter...see my previous post.

Would love to still hear from other users who have gone this route and what successes/issues they've had.

 

[MarceFX]

There are drive bays that offer a SATA-to-PATA(IDE) adapter...see my previous post.

Would love to still hear from other users who have gone this route and what successes/issues they've had.

Hi there,

According to your previous post, this bay will fit my MBP's superdrive ATA bay, right?

I own a late 2006 Macbook Pro 15" 2.16 Ghz. I'm planning on replacing the SATA drive with a 32 GB SSD drive and moving this SATA drive to the SATA-to-PATA bay (replacing the Superdrive). Did I get it right?

Thank you

 

[dpfenninger]

Hi there,

According to your previous post, this bay will fit my MBP's superdrive ATA bay, right?

I own a late 2006 Macbook Pro 15" 2.16 Ghz. I'm planning on replacing the SATA drive with a 32 GB SSD drive and moving this SATA drive to the SATA-to-PATA bay (replacing the Superdrive). Did I get it right?

Thank you

Sounds right. I haven't taken the plunge yet, but according to the eBay listing, it should work with any MacBook/MacBook Pro prior to the late-2008 models.

 

[Mad-elph]

Sounds right. I haven't taken the plunge yet, but according to the eBay listing, it should work with any MacBook/MacBook Pro prior to the late-2008 models.

I am curious if you have an update? I am looking to do this, add a drive in exchange for my dead disc drive and am weighing the drive options. Right now the only credible source I see is the DualDrive from PowerbookMedic ($59.95). Did you, or anybody, take the plunge for the ebay listing or the Amazon listing you see above? The NewModeus listing is so bare for information about models compatible.

Thanks all for the thread

----------

Hi there,

According to your previous post, this bay will fit my MBP's superdrive ATA bay, right?

I own a late 2006 Macbook Pro 15" 2.16 Ghz. I'm planning on replacing the SATA drive with a 32 GB SSD drive and moving this SATA drive to the SATA-to-PATA bay (replacing the Superdrive). Did I get it right?

Thank you

Did you go ahead and do this? Any feedback?

 

[flir67]

I just got one for my 2006 macbook 1.83 its works good, it was a pata to sata unit. got it for 13.99 on ebay. from a us seller store called ny something forgot last part.. nice people had to return 1 got the sata to sata and return was a breeze...

I was going to install vista on my second drive but the life of my and 4 usb flash drives and 4 days of trying every single way of getting my macbook to boot flash drive, it will not boot windows flash drive of any type for me..


linux boot nope
fat 12, nope
fat 16, nope
fat 32, nope
windows usb tool, nope

all it says can't boot legecy drive...

know i have no clue what I'll use it for...

 

[RedTomato]

Was looking into this as well for my 2008 4.1 macbook but it seems that the optical drive on earlier macbook models--4.1 and earlier-- uses ATA bus and makes moving existing SATA drive to optical bay impossible without some sort of ATA --> SATA adaptor. I'm not sure if this correct, but this is what I've gathered. If there is any way at circumventing the ATA issue, or if it doesn't matter, I'd be happy to hear from others.

I bought this caddy for £20 for my late 2007 Macbook 2.2ghz, model 3.1. It's a Sata to Sata caddy, and supposed to work fine. The caddy's been sitting on my desk for several months - I haven't got round to installing it yet! Waiting for SSD prices to drop a bit more. Maybe I'll give it a go over Xmas.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Caddy-9-5MM-Macbook/dp/B004ZXZB3E

Just had another look on eBay. Some cheap Kingston / Samsung / Crucial C300 drives are selling for around £50-60 for 64GB. That looks a good price.

For 128GB, more Kingstons, and some Samsung MicroSATAs, both shipped from the USA for around £90. Hmm. Anyone know if the 1.8'' microSatas will fit into a normal SATA socket or will work with the Macbooks?

My macbook only has a SATA1 150mb/s so a faster SSD would be wasted on it.

 

[flir67]

I bought this caddy for £20 for my late 2007 Macbook 2.2ghz, model 3.1. It's a Sata to Sata caddy, and supposed to work fine. The caddy's been sitting on my desk for several months - I haven't got round to installing it yet! Waiting for SSD prices to drop a bit more. Maybe I'll give it a go over Xmas.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Drive-Caddy-9-5MM-Macbook/dp/B004ZXZB3E

Just had another look on eBay. Some cheap Kingston / Samsung / Crucial C300 drives are selling for around £50-60 for 64GB. That looks a good price.

For 128GB, more Kingstons, and some Samsung MicroSATAs, both shipped from the USA for around £90. Hmm. Anyone know if the 1.8'' microSatas will fit into a normal SATA socket or will work with the Macbooks?

My macbook only has a SATA1 150mb/s so a faster SSD would be wasted on it.

no, microsata ports will not work with normal sata sockets. different sizes all together.

 

[NumNumNum]

Was this a stupid decision??

Yesteray I was roped into a cyber monday deal and bought two intel 320 120 GB SSDs for 130$ each after rebate. One is going into the optibay of my soon to be bought MBP 15".

However, I bought the second one thinking that it would go into my 2007 2.16 Macbook (2,1). Now I realize that the optibay isn't sata and that even the sata connection only handles 1.5mb/s. Was this a waste money??

Here are my questions:
1) is there an optibay that will allow for HD in optibay on 2007 macbook that is cheaper than the MCE product ($99!)?
2) if this is worthwhile, does it matter which drive (SSD or 5400 320GB HDD) i put in the optibay.

Just for my own peace of mind, did I waste my money on these SSDs? I know they're second gen, but I read that they're more reliable albeit slower than the 3rd generation SSDs.

Thanks!

 

[charlieroberts]

Yesteray I was roped into a cyber monday deal and bought two intel 320 120 GB SSDs for 130$ each after rebate. One is going into the optibay of my soon to be bought MBP 15".

However, I bought the second one thinking that it would go into my 2007 2.16 Macbook (2,1). Now I realize that the optibay isn't sata and that even the sata connection only handles 1.5mb/s. Was this a waste money??

Here are my questions:
1) is there an optibay that will allow for HD in optibay on 2007 macbook that is cheaper than the MCE product ($99!)?
2) if this is worthwhile, does it matter which drive (SSD or 5400 320GB HDD) i put in the optibay.

Just for my own peace of mind, did I waste my money on these SSDs? I know they're second gen, but I read that they're more reliable albeit slower than the 3rd generation SSDs.

Thanks!

I have read that you should place the SSD in the optibay, so that you don't lose the motion sensor protection for the HDD.
I think SSD is absolutely worth it even though the optibay for that machine is not Sata. You will see a huge improvement in performance.
Other than that I might suggest, going with only the SSD in the older MBP? 120 GB is plenty space and you can save the 99 from optibay.

I don´t think you did wrong on the SSD, it was a great deal, wish I had bought one of those at that price (minus waiting for stupid rebates)

 

[Bezbozny]

Sorry for resurrecting this old thread. I have a late 2006 macbook pro 15" 2.33Ghz. I am planning to remove the optical drive and add a 256GB SSD. Is there a consensus about where should the SSD drive be placed? Should it go to the optical drive bay or take out the normal HDD put the SSD in its place and put the HDD on the optical drive bay?
About moving my applications and making my drive bootable: Will this be done easily with some application like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper? Will the applications be able to find their data automatically as they will be stored in a different drive? I care especially for Aperture, iPhoto and iTunes.