Good place to have a hard drive upgraded? Quiet hard drives?

[rishi13]

Hello,

On my old Macbook Pro, I had my HDD upgraded at a local authorized Apple service dealer and they really botched my computer up. The fibers in the SuperDrive were terrible cut up, and there were gaps between the upper and lower casing. They ultimately fixed it a little bit but it was still not as good as the factory job. Another complaint I had was that the HDD was noticeably louder and I could feel it click and move on my left palm.

Do you think this was due to the reason that an OEM HDD does not come with the HDD noise dampener the factory ones do? Any suggestions on what I should do or buy (if I prefer a quiet drive that I won't feel the click on) and where I should get it done (Will Best Buy do an equally poor job)? I am looking to get at least 320 GB 5400 RPM HDD (but will probably end up getting a 500 GB because they are not much more expensive). Also, if someone could comment if the battery life of my current HDD compared to these newer ones, that would be great. I currently am using a MBP 15.4" SR 2.2 GHz 120 GB 5400 RPM Stock Fujitsu MHY2120BH with 4GB RAM 128MB GeFore 8600M GT.

Your help is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[rishi13]

Anyone?

 

[Cliff3]

Just do it yourself, unless you want to leave your warranty intact. Otherwise I'd be inclined to call your local Apple store and see who they recommend. It's not difficult provided you're patient, careful, and have the right tools. An illustrated DIY guide is here (there are no mechanical differences between your MBP and the one in the guide).

I installed a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm drive in my MBP a few months ago. Battery life, quietness, and heat are all fine.

 

[rishi13]

Just do it yourself, unless you want to leave your warranty intact. Otherwise I'd be inclined to call your local Apple store and see who they recommend. It's not difficult provided you're patient, careful, and have the right tools. An illustrated DIY guide is here (there are no mechanical differences between your MBP and the one in the guide).

I installed a Seagate 320GB 7200rpm drive in my MBP a few months ago. Battery life, quietness, and heat are all fine.

Thanks for the information. I forgot to mention that I have done it before as well, but I too left a gap above the SuperDrive. Do you have any tips on how to prevent this gap?

 

[Cliff3]

Thanks for the information. I forgot to mention that I have done it before as well, but I too left a gap above the SuperDrive. Do you have any tips on how to prevent this gap?

The front of the case top is tough to both detach and reassemble, and in the absence of a photo I have to guess that you didn't snap the top down all the way along the front edge of the case.