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Gotta change my internal drive......some suggestions pls

Joeytpg

Joeytpg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 1, 2004
467
0
Vienna, Austria
Hi guys, I need to change my MAcbook's internal drive (I only have 1 gb left, and cannot free more space)

Recommend me a good internal drive, (I need 250 gb OR MORE)

is it easy to swap the drives? I have an Apple reseller store around here, so I can take my macbook and get them to swap them for me, but I'd like to know if it's too hard?

thanks :)
 
Joeytpg said:
Hi guys, I need to change my MAcbook's internal drive (I only have 1 gb left, and cannot free more space)

Recommend me a good internal drive, (I need 250 gb OR MORE)

is it easy to swap the drives? I have an Apple reseller store around here, so I can take my macbook and get them to swap them for me, but I'd like to know if it's too hard?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

It's actually quite easy to replace the hard drive. There are several YouTube videos that illustrate how easy it is. Check them out.

Also, why not just get some CDs/DVDs and burn some stuff off? That'd be easier than installing a new HDD, though beneficial at the same time...

As for capacity, there are 320 GB drives on MacSales.com, but they're not cheap...

Good luck!
 
The most popular among Mac users is the Western Digital 320GB...either the 7200RPM or 5400RPM, whatever one you can afford.
 
Just buy a western digital passport essential 320gb hard-drive (External Drive) then use Super-Duper or CarbonCopyCloner. Use the software to create a bootable clone of your drive (Make sure you have the new external drive to a GUID partition scheme or else boot-camp wont work). Once the disk is copied. Then boot off the usb drive to make sure that it works. This is done by using the option button at boot. Once it boots shut down your computer. Crack the case open on the external drive to remove the drive. Then take out the batter and the "L" bracket in the battery compartment on the mac. Slide the old hd out remove the for t8 torx screws. Then attach the emi shield on to the drive you removed from the passport external drive and then replace into your computer. If you want then you can replace your old drive into the external case. In the end you have a 320 gb internal drive and the old drive that will be in the external case. (By the way this drive will still be bootable off of usb.) I just did this yesterday and i bought the 320gb external drive for 119.99 at circuit city as opposed to just a drive off of macsales or new-egg for 160.00.
 
I have been thinking about doing the same thing. I have a 60GB drive on my CD MB. I just checked Newegg and saw that one of the drives is 89.99(Hitachi travelstar) after mail in rebate! Is the WD Scorpio worth $20 more at 109?

It is probably time to pull the trigger, as I will be starting a new job soon and won't have time.
 
Samsung 500GB M6, Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB, Western Digital Scorpio 250GB/320GB.

Also, do the swap yourself as it's a piece of cake; just take out the battery, remove the RAM cover, pull the drive out and replace!
 
I'm running a 250gb hd out of a WD Passport that I wasn't using, turns out they just put standard Scorpios in their Passports (at least they did in january, before the fancy essential and studio ones came out)
 
Good brands (in order) according to the proportion of dead drives which are replaced in my shop on a regular basis;

Hitachi
Western Digital
and a distant third...
Samsumg


Brands to avoid, also in order;


Toshiba
Seagate
Fujitsu


I'd avoid the WD Passport drives if you're looking for a cheap external case to swap it out with, my experience (and there's been several that have come into the shop) is that they're slow as balls, and often don't work on machines which don't provide enough USB power. There's no other source for power on those things so if your machine is too weak, you're SOL.
 
i'm not quite the hardware kind of guy so i was wondering would this:
Western Digital 750GB SATAII,7200rpm,32MB
fit in my macbook black (think it's 4 generation)

and is there a possibility to upgrade your graphics card?..

sorry if my questions are quite stupid?..but i really am a noob when it comes to hardware..
 
ShortyExcl. said:
i'm not quite the hardware kind of guy so i was wondering would this:
Western Digital 750GB SATAII,7200rpm,32MB
fit in my macbook black (think it's 4 generation)

and is there a possibility to upgrade your graphics card?..

sorry if my questions are quite stupid?..but i really am a noob when it comes to hardware..
Click to expand...

Sounds like it is a desktop (3.5") disk so no won't fit your MacBook - you need a 2.5" SATA laptop drive (9.5mm maximum height)

No there is no graphics card as such on a MacBook - it is integrated and cannot be updated....
 
logana said:
Sounds like it is a desktop (3.5") disk so no won't fit your MacBook - you need a 2.5" SATA laptop drive (9.5mm maximum height)

No there is no graphics card as such on a MacBook - it is integrated and cannot be updated....
Click to expand...

K thanks for your (fast) response..i found out that the store where i'm going to buy it has another section for notebook hard drives..sorry for the bother..but thanks for the help -_-'
 
I would go external because you may lose battery life if you upgrade to 7200rpm. If you use external, you can disconnect it when traveling.
 
KoolStar said:
Crack the case open on the external drive to remove the drive.
Click to expand...
thereby voiding the warranty
KoolStar said:
I just did this yesterday and i bought the 320gb external drive for 119.99 at circuit city as opposed to just a drive off of macsales or new-egg for 160.00.
Click to expand...
... and you got a non-warranty 5400 RPM drive instead of the 7200 RPM drives you are comparing price to.

The MacSales price for the WD 320 5400 RPM with warranty is $114. The Samsung 320 5400 RPM is available for $100 with 3 year warranty.
 
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