eMac HD upgrade

[Naimfan]

All--

I have a 1.0 GHz eMac for my son (the ATI one--not the USB2, 1 Gb of RAM)--he uses it to play games, research stuff on World Book, some beginning iMovie etc. It has a 40 Gb HD, which is rapidly filling up. I've looked at several possibilities, and have three questions:

First, how hard is it to change the HD in an eMac? I've poked around most every computer I've owned, and have all the right tools (I think!), so I'm not concerned about actually installing it.

Second, looking at the specifications on the Apple web site and at system profiler it simply says the HD is on the ATA bus. Fine. Can I use an Ultra ATA drive?

Third, any meaningful differences among brands? Newegg lists a Western Digital Caviar 160 Gb drive for 50.99, only $7 more than the 80 Gb. Any issues with using that drive?

Thanks in advance!

Bob

 

[mad jew]

That 160GB drive should be fine. Changing the eMac hard disk isn't the easiest. It's set up to be about as difficult (not quite) as changing an iBook hard drive, i my experience. You've gotta take quite a bit apart before you can get to the drive. Just be careful at the stage when you're unclipping the bottom case because it's very easy to break the clips. Having said that, I broke some on a few machines and it doesn't really matter.

If you're not confident at changing the drive, then buy a cheap external case and run it through the Firewire drive. It'd be cheaper than getting a technician to change it for you.