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

Hard Drive failure

D

dbowlin17

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 28, 2009
61
0
I am looking to replace my powerbook g4 hard drive. I currently have a 60gb. I am interested in something around that size. Does anyone know what brands are good hard drive brands?
 
If you're going to go through the trouble to replace the drive, I would get the largest capacity you can find—would boost resale value as well.
 
I would agree with both previous posts, Seagate or Western Digital, and get something larger. These days you'll pay about the same or a 60GB Drive as a 160GB drive, and not much more for a 250GB. Just make sure you look for the right interface. I'm pretty certain that all Powerbook G4s used the IDE connection, so make sure you get that (some mfgrs refer to it as ATA-100)
 
Thank you. Also, any advice for RAM manufacturers? cause i will probably upgrade the Ram to 1.25gb. I am thinking of maybe 120 or so for hard drive space. Don't even need 60, but why not go for it.
 
dbowlin17 said:
Thank you. Also, any advice for RAM manufacturers? cause i will probably upgrade the Ram to 1.25gb. I am thinking of maybe 120 or so for hard drive space. Don't even need 60, but why not go for it.
Click to expand...

Don't forget that larger capacity drives are faster than smaller ones. So even if you don't use the space, the parts that you do use will be faster. I don't know how important this issue is to you, but it is worth noting.
 
Thiol said:
Don't forget that larger capacity drives are faster than smaller ones. So even if you don't use the space, the parts that you do use will be faster. I don't know how important this issue is to you, but it is worth noting.
Click to expand...

so a 250gb 5400 RPM Hard Drive is better than a 120gb 7200 RPM Hard Drive? doesn't more RPM mean it will wear out quicker?
 
dbowlin17 said:
so a 250gb 5400 RPM Hard Drive is better than a 120gb 7200 RPM Hard Drive? doesn't more RPM mean it will wear out quicker?
Click to expand...
In most cases, yes, the 250GB drive would be faster. I don't think that a 7200 RPM drive would wear faster just from my observations; how often does a hard drive fail because the motor died or the spindle bearing wore out?
 
dbowlin17 said:
so a 250gb 5400 RPM Hard Drive is better than a 120gb 7200 RPM Hard Drive? doesn't more RPM mean it will wear out quicker?
Click to expand...

Get the 5400rpm drive. I've had some 7200's that vibrate quite a bit. You won't see a whole lot of speed difference on a G4 PB. It'd be heck to go through the hassle of opening that bad boy up only to find the drive has a vibration you're not happy with. The 5400 is still a substantial upgrade to the stock version.
 
following the ifixit guide, i took apart my 12" G4 (1.33ghz) powerbook over the weekend b/c disk utility/SMART indicated that the HDD was failing. a new 160gb 5400rpm seagate drive is enroute from newegg for $55 after -$5 promo code and free shipping. hopefully this will tide me over until macbooks start shipping with snow leopard and the new intel westmere cpu's.
 
vexingv said:
following the ifixit guide, i took apart my 12" G4 (1.33ghz) powerbook over the weekend b/c disk utility/SMART indicated that the HDD was failing. a new 160gb 5400rpm seagate drive is enroute from newegg for $55 after -$5 promo code and free shipping. hopefully this will tide me over until macbooks start shipping with snow leopard and the new intel westmere cpu's.
Click to expand...

what is the SMART that you used in which indicated your HDD failing? I need to try that, I ran Apple Hardware tests, but it passed.
 
downloading the SMART thing now. issue, everyone says go for the 5400rpm drive, but that was just an example. I can not find a 5400rpm drive on either tigerdirect or newegg. would you recommend going for the 7200?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back