G4 Laptop Hard Disks

[quackers82]

I only joined the Mac Club when they were Intel, but the old Power PC's go so cheap on eBay I'm thinking why not, i love nostalgia when it comes to computers.

I've seen a G4 Laptop but the hard disk is dead according to the seller, do they take a standard IDE Hard Disk? the newer SATA? or some Apple only hard disk?

 

[128keaton]

I only joined the Mac Club when they were Intel, but the old Power PC's go so cheap on eBay I'm thinking why not, i love nostalgia when it comes to computers.

I've seen a G4 Laptop but the hard disk is dead according to the seller, do they take a standard IDE Hard Disk? the newer SATA? or some Apple only hard disk?

They take a 2.5" PATA HDD.

 

[HansiS]

Hi!

They take standard 2,5" IDE Drives. When you are looking for SSDs, then you should consider buying an IDE-to-mSATA-Adapter in 2,5"-Size, because mSATA-SSDs are better, cheaper etc..

 

[eyoungren]

They take a 2.5" PATA HDD.

^^^This. PATA is IDE if you didn't know.

Incidentally, be aware that the major drive manufacturers stopped making PATA drives years ago. Anything you find new is coming from the dwindling stock that the drive manufacturers had on hand when they stopped production.

So, finding a PATA drive is most likely going to be a craigslist, Amazon, eBay or online retailer type thing.

There are some here who have fit either PATA SSDs or SATA SSDs with either a PATA enclosure or PATA interface into these PowerBooks as well. If you go that route be sure to get the right parts. Those that have done this can tell you exactly what you need.

 

[128keaton]

^^^This. PATA is IDE if you didn't know.

Incidentally, be aware that the major drive manufacturers stopped making PATA drives years ago. Anything you find new is coming from the dwindling stock that the drive manufacturers had on hand when they stopped production.

So, finding a PATA drive is most likely going to be a craigslist, Amazon, eBay or online retailer type thing.

There are some here who have fit either PATA SSDs or SATA SSDs with either a PATA enclosure or PATA interface into these PowerBooks as well. If you go that route be sure to get the right parts. Those that have done this can tell you exactly what you need.

Yes, I knew it was IDE, I just put PATA for clarity's sake.

 

[eyoungren]

Hi!

They take standard 2,5" IDE Drives. When you are looking for SSDs, then you should consider buying an IDE-to-mSATA-Adapter in 2,5"-Size, because mSATA-SSDs are better, cheaper etc..

Well, they certainly aren't larger! What you say may be true buy I have yet to see a 320GB SSD to replace my 320GB WD Scorpio Blue. And if they do exist you'll be in the poor house when you're done paying for it.

Just saying.

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Yes, I knew it was IDE, I just put PATA for clarity's sake.

No worries man, I was quoting you with that clarification directed to the OP. You know what you're about and I recognize that.

 

[bunnspecial]

Yes, any standard 2.5" 44 pin laptop IDE drive will work.

I recommend a 5400rpm drive or faster. Some of us have 7200 RPM drives in our computers and they work fine(great, in fact) but in my experience are noisy and drain the battery.

Depending on how much money you want to spend, many of us have also experimented with mSATA SSDs in 2.5" IDE adapters. The 12" Powerbook I'm typing this post from has such a set up. The ATA bus in many Powerbooks maxes out(theoretically) at 100 mb/s. Those of us who have posted benchmarks can typically get read speeds of around 80mb/s.

There are also pre-made IDE SSDs, but these are expensive and less than ideal. Many of the benchmarks posted here show speeds not much better than a good 7200rpm drive.

 

[bunnspecial]

Well, they certainly aren't larger! What you say may be true buy I have yet to see a 320GB SSD to replace my 320GB WD Scorpio Blue. And if they do exist you'll be in the poor house when you're done paying for it.

mSATA drives are actually beginning to get affordable, although still more expensive than their 2.5" counterparts.

I was at Microcenter over the weekend, and they had some 128gb mSATA drives for $75. They were off brand(or maybe their house brand) but I'd still consider that decently cheap.

2.5" drives are actually getting really reasonable. I bought two back in December for two different Macbooks. A 128gb cost me around $45, and a 240gb around $90. When Applecare is out on my MBP in April, I'm probably going to splurge on a good 500gb SSD for it. I want a Samsung 850 or equivalent, and those are running around $300.

They're still pricey, but only continuing to come down. A few years ago, $1/gb was the "magic number" and they couldn't be found for less than that.

Even so, I wouldn't be in a big hurry to trade a WD Blue for an SSD.

 

[weckart]

Well, they certainly aren't larger! What you say may be true buy I have yet to see a 320GB SSD to replace my 320GB WD Scorpio Blue. And if they do exist you'll be in the poor house when you're done paying for it.

Just saying.

Actually, the price of ssds has tumbled somewhat, whilst that of the Scorpion Blue has gone in the opposite direction. The current price of a 256GB mSATA drive is usually in the £75-£85 region, with offers in the £50-£60 area every time Crucial or Sandisk decides to have a blowout.

That is very favourable compared with the cost of procuring the WD 320GB from the few sellers left in China, especially if the postal services select you as the winner of the import VAT due lottery when they get your parcel.

For you in the States, it is probably a straight choice between mechanical or digital storage with a similar cost for both. For us in Europe only SSD makes any economic sense now for larger drives.

 

[bunnspecial]

Actually, the price of ssds has tumbled somewhat, whilst that of the Scorpion Blue has gone in the opposite direction. The current price of a 256GB mSATA drive is usually in the £75-£85 region, with offers in the £50-£60 area every time Crucial or Sandisk decides to have a blowout.

That is very favourable compared with the cost of procuring the WD 320GB from the few sellers left in China, especially if the postal services select you as the winner of the import VAT due lottery when they get your parcel.

For you in the States, it is probably a straight choice between mechanical or digital storage with a similar cost for both. For us in Europe only SSD makes any economic sense now for larger drives.

I didn't look at laptop drives, but at least when I was in a bricks and mortar computer store the other day(a real, honest to goodness computer store and not a glorified electronics store) they had refurbished desktop IDE drives stacked on the shelves for very reasonable prices. I picked up a pair of WD 7200 RPM 160gb drive $14 each. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything larger on the shelf(at least in IDE) but I thought that was more than reasonable for what it was.

They also had lots and lots of refurbished SATA drives that were even cheaper(capacity for capacity) than the IDE drives. It wasn't a dramatic difference-I think that an 80gb IDE was $7, and an 80gb SATA was $6.

Still, it was nice to walk into a B&M shop and buy an IDE drive off the shelf.

 

[128keaton]

Well, they certainly aren't larger! What you say may be true buy I have yet to see a 320GB SSD to replace my 320GB WD Scorpio Blue. And if they do exist you'll be in the poor house when you're done paying for it.

Just saying.

----------


No worries man, I was quoting you with that clarification directed to the OP. You know what you're about and I recognize that.

All good.

Also, A solid state hybrid drive might be worth looking into.

 

[reco2011]

I only joined the Mac Club when they were Intel, but the old Power PC's go so cheap on eBay I'm thinking why not, i love nostalgia when it comes to computers.

I've seen a G4 Laptop but the hard disk is dead according to the seller, do they take a standard IDE Hard Disk? the newer SATA? or some Apple only hard disk?

Whichever drive you choose to install be certain to understand what it will take to install the drive. Some systems can be a real pain to replace the hard drive.

 

[bunnspecial]

Whichever drive you choose to install be certain to understand what it will take to install the drive. Some systems can be a real pain to replace the hard drive.

Good point on this.

Most Powerbooks are relatively easy, with the exception of the 12" Powerbook.

Speaking from experience, probably the easiest is the Lombard/Pismo, which just require popping off the keyboard and you have pretty ready access to almost everything(although have thermal paste ready, as you really need to remove the heatsink and processor to have the best access). After that I would say is the TiBook, as you only need to remove the bottom case. The 15 and 17" AlBooks are not too much worse, but require removal of the top case.

The 12" Powerbook and all flavors of iBook are a nightmare. I've never worked on a Clamshell, so can't comment. The iBook G3 "Snow" is tough, while the iBook G4 is a little better. The 12" Powerbook is a big pain, and require operations like popping keys off the keyboard to access the screws that allow you to remove it.

Also, with any of them, invest in a good set of screwdrivers, and always use the proper driver with the proper slot. Nothing can make a difficult job even worse than a stripped out screw head.

 

[ptdebate]

Well, they certainly aren't larger! What you say may be true buy I have yet to see a 320GB SSD to replace my 320GB WD Scorpio Blue. And if they do exist you'll be in the poor house when you're done paying for it.

Just saying.

I believe he was specifically comparing mSATA SSDs to actual IDE SSDs in which case the mSATA drives offer far better, cheaper options.