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

Nybombers142

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 25, 2004
39
0
Im thinking of getting an ibook from apple.com and was wondering if I should upgrade the HD from 30 to 40 gigs. Are there any downsides to a bigger drive? Like longer boot up, more noice, heat. shorter battery? more weight? I probaly dont need it but for 60 bucks, who knows?
 
There are absolutely no downsides to having a bigger Hard Drive. It will not make any more noise than a smaller one, nor take any longer to boot up, nor weigh any more. The only thing that would affect your battery life would be if the speed of the hard drive was different - in which it isn't.

Go with the 40GB, you won't regret it ;) .

Good luck with your beautiful new machine,
JOD8FY
 
JOD8FY said:
There are absolutely no downsides to having a bigger Hard Drive. It will not make any more noise than a smaller one, nor take any longer to boot up, nor weigh any more. The only thing that would affect your battery life would be if the speed of the hard drive was different - in which it isn't.

Go with the 40GB, you won't regret it ;) .

Good luck with your beautiful new machine,
JOD8FY

Let's not forget though- in theory... a faster hd, while using more power to spin quicker- will also be in use a lot less then a slower drive.


On topic- the only problem I've ever had with a larger drive is how quick I seem to accumulate junk on it. Kinda like goldfish-I'll grow to fill the tank you give me. :)
 
JOD8FY said:
There are absolutely no downsides to having a bigger Hard Drive. It will not make any more noise than a smaller one, nor take any longer to boot up, nor weigh any more. The only thing that would affect your battery life would be if the speed of the hard drive was different - in which it isn't.

Go with the 40GB, you won't regret it ;) .

Good luck with your beautiful new machine,
JOD8FY

Well, actually, there is a difference between hd's of different sizes. :D Remember the ipod? The 40 gig model weighs more and has bigger dimension due to an extra platter in the drive. Which would mean that the drive at least weighs more. It might also have other drawbacks due to modified mechanisms for the drive.

Of course, this would all have minimal impact impact on system performance. Especially since laptop harddrives use one platter at 40 gigs. But, I digress.
 
I'm not aware of any downsides either, but I'm of the opinion that apple needs to get the drive sizes up in their laptops. Toshiba has been making an 80 gig laptop HD for about a year (I have one in my toshiba laptop). Given the sizes of itunes libraries, the growing popularity of home video editing, and the capacties of ipods, a 30 or 40 gig hard drive in an ibook doesn't cut it any more.
 
It will be harder to upgrade later. I bought my iBook a few years ago with a custom 30 GB configuration. The standard back then was only 20 GB. I am glad I got the maximum that Apple would install for me. I would have done more if I could. It was a $100 extra option at the time to go from 20 GB to 30 GB. I don't know how expensive or possible it would be to upgrade it now.

Get the larger capacity harddrive.
 
BornAgainMac said:
It will be harder to upgrade later. I bought my iBook a few years ago with a custom 30 GB configuration. The standard back then was only 20 GB. I am glad I got the maximum that Apple would install for me. I would have done more if I could. It was a $100 extra option at the time to go from 20 GB to 30 GB. I don't know how expensive or possible it would be to upgrade it now.

Get the larger capacity harddrive.

You guys just make me fel better about waiting. I was at the Apple store last night to buy a 12"PB. I had been told the previous week that they carry the base and top of the line models at the store. I assumed that that meant they would have a 12" Superdrive with 80GB HD. I was at the register, and I looked at the box. It said 60GB. I was fighting with myself for a few minutes, but finally decided to order the 80GB and wait a few days. And my mom let me go the extra $12 for faster shipping :)
 
thrillz3 said:
You guys just make me fel better about waiting. I was at the Apple store last night to buy a 12"PB. I had been told the previous week that they carry the base and top of the line models at the store. I assumed that that meant they would have a 12" Superdrive with 80GB HD. I was at the register, and I looked at the box. It said 60GB. I was fighting with myself for a few minutes, but finally decided to order the 80GB and wait a few days. And my mom let me go the extra $12 for faster shipping :)

Congrats, is your Mom looking to adopt another child?
 
Chip NoVaMac said:
Congrats, is your Mom looking to adopt another child?

Heh...I owe her a lot for this. She's repairing my 2 yr old Sony Vaio 800Mhz, and using that to teach with. Of course, now I will help her use that, grade papers, and so much more.

And I promised to take care of her when she gets old :D
 
i believe people have mentioned this, but it should be fully noted. battery life is really the only downside at hand with an HD, and that is based on the speed of the HD. 7200 RPM takes a lot more power and creates a lot more heat than the 5400 and the 4200.
 
How many platters do current HDs have?

I remember, back in the day, when (for example, using today's numbers) a 30GB model was the same as the 40GB model. This was because there would be two platters each holding 10GB per side. So if one side of a platter didn't check out they would just sell the model as a 30GB instead of a 40GB.

Do HD manufacturers still do things like this?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.