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Buying a 2.53ghz 15" tomorrow, planning to immediately install 500gb hdd...

Y

yegon

Cancelled
Original poster
Oct 20, 2007
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...is there I anything I should know in advance? I've already got a Torx screwdriver.

Looking to get this hdd (I'll visit the store on the way), I assume it's compatible;

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/(39586)Western-Digital-500GB-25-inch-5400rpm-8MB.aspx

I would get a 7200 but they don't seem that easily obtainable. I can always slap the 500gb in my PS3 if I choose to put a faster one in at a later stage.

I can't wait! My current comp is a 2 y/o macbook which I plan on using kind of like a mini, permanently hooked up to a 24" monitor in the study.

Which actually brings me to another question - given that my old mb will permanently be used as a desktop, should I take out the battery? I know cpu cycles take a hit but as it will be used purely for browsing and torrents, would it make much difference?
 
Really? Hmm. I suppose I should wait then, as restoring to a new hdd is a piece of cake via Time Machine.
 
I mentioned this in another thread, but get at least 7 little mini cups to hold the screws.

Every time a screw changes move to the next cup and work backwards once you are finished.

I did the upgrade to a 500gb drive and I love it. When I'm done at work I will upload a 15in MBP Santa Rosa and Penryn Apple Repair document for everyone to use.
 
Went with the 500gb WD Scorpio Blue (5400rpm) in the end. I'll probably replace it with a 7200rpm in 6 months and replace the 250gb drive in my PS3 with the old 500gb. Plus, I'd like to hear reports from people regarding using specific 7200 500gb drives, in the past I've experienced either noisy hdd's or ones that ran way hotter than others, something I hope to avoid by waiting.

I also wanted a decent sized boot camp partition (purely for a few games) without sacrificing too much space for osx.

65gb for XP, 400gb for Leopard - me happy :). Nice increase on the 320gb (298 after formatting) I had in my old macbook, which'll come in handy as I'll be using the mbp for a fair bit of video encoding, a task I previously left to my clunky old pc.

Oh, and I LOVE the glass trackpad! MBP + hdd cost me £1800 all in, but this'll do me for 3+ years for sure. My only slight complaint is that the keyboard feels *slightly* spongier than my old mb. No biggy though, I'll get used to it.
 
yegon said:
Went with the 500gb WD Scorpio Blue (5400rpm) in the end. I'll probably replace it with a 7200rpm in 6 months and replace the 250gb drive in my PS3 with the old 500gb. Plus, I'd like to hear reports from people regarding using specific 7200 500gb drives, in the past I've experienced either noisy hdd's or ones that ran way hotter than others, something I hope to avoid by waiting.

I also wanted a decent sized boot camp partition (purely for a few games) without sacrificing too much space for osx.

65gb for XP, 400gb for Leopard - me happy :). Nice increase on the 320gb (298 after formatting) I had in my old macbook, which'll come in handy as I'll be using the mbp for a fair bit of video encoding, a task I previously left to my clunky old pc.

Oh, and I LOVE the glass trackpad! MBP + hdd cost me £1800 all in, but this'll do me for 3+ years for sure. My only slight complaint is that the keyboard feels *slightly* spongier than my old mb. No biggy though, I'll get used to it.
Click to expand...

Why would the new ones be any hotter/noisier? All they really do is increase platter density, it's not like there are more platters in there compared to the last generation.
 
dr. shdw said:
Why would the new ones be any hotter/noisier? All they really do is increase platter density, it's not like there are more platters in there compared to the last generation.
Click to expand...

I'm not really saying they are going to be hotter or noisier, but both personal experience and t'internet tells me that some brands/type of hdd's occasionally behave differently to others. No exact science to it, in all likelihood the quality brands will be fine.
 
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