Hard Drive Upgrade

[zatix]

I want to upgrade my 13-inch Mid 2009 macbook pro with a new hard drive.

I'd like to increase the size (I thought about 750gbs) and also the speed (7200rpm). I'd also like not to increase the noise of my macbook.

Will the battery last much less with the 7200 rpms?

Do you have any suggestions?

Many thanks.

 

[maflynn]

The battery life of your laptop won't take any appreciable hit.
Most 7200 rpm batteries have spin up and read/write power usage identical to that of the 5400 which means no battery impact.

 

[HellDiverUK]

Get yourself a Seagate Momentus XT. Best "real" HDD for a MacBook Pro. Almost as quick as a SSD, but cheaper and more space.

 

[Ccrew]

Get yourself a Seagate Momentus XT. Best "real" HDD for a MacBook Pro. Almost as quick as a SSD, but cheaper and more space.

So incorrect in so many ways.

Known to be problematic, and they only cache frequently used files, not everything, so if you have a large file that's not in cache it's no different at all from a regular hard drive.

 

[jgz]

Get yourself a Seagate Momentus XT. Best "real" HDD for a MacBook Pro. Almost as quick as a SSD, but cheaper and more space.

a friend of mine uses the same hard drive, and he told me, that it works like a charm...

Don't know, but I love my SSD/HDD in Optibay Setup as well. If I would use the cd drive, then for sure I'll switch to a Seagate Momentus, because it seems to be the best choice if you are looking for the best combination of speed and storage size!

 

[HellDiverUK]

So incorrect in so many ways.

Known to be problematic, and they only cache frequently used files, not everything, so if you have a large file that's not in cache it's no different at all from a regular hard drive.

One old firmware last year, now long gone, had problems on SOME machines. Current drives ship with SD28 or newer, which runs perfectly.

Even without the SSD caching, the drive is still the fastest 7200rpm laptop drive available. With the SSD cache, it far outperforms any other mechanical 2.5" drive.

If the drive was no good, why are Dell now fitting it to laptops, desktops AND workstations? Yes, a £5k workstation can be specified with a 500GB Momentus XT as a boot drive. Dell are confident enough to put the drives in their workstations, then there's really nothing wrong with them.

I have one in my MacBook Pro, it's been faultless for over a year. I'd have one in my Lenovo, only for the fact the Lenovo takes 7mm drives, and the Momentus XT is a 9.5mm unit. I also have the Momentus XT in 500GB form in a dozen Dell workstations at work, all doing heavy Adobe work, again with no problems. They're working out to be faster than the WD Velociraptor 300GB drives they replaced, too.

I take it you've never owned a Momentus XT, and are wrongly regurgitating outdated internet folklore.


The fail is massive in your post.

 

[maflynn]

If the drive was no good, why are Dell now fitting it to laptops, desktops AND workstations? Yes, a £5k workstation can be specified with a 500GB Momentus XT as a boot drive. Dell are confident enough to put the drives in their workstations, then there's really nothing wrong with them.

Using dell as your justification as to why a drive is good, is not helping your cause. Just because they use means its any good. They've put cheap parts in their products in the past.

 

[HellDiverUK]

Using dell as your justification as to why a drive is good, is not helping your cause. Just because they use means its any good. They've put cheap parts in their products in the past.

Yeah, they obviously fit cheap parts to computers that are certified to run £10k software packages.

 

[stridemat]

Yeah, they obviously fit cheap parts to computers that are certified to run £10k software packages.

No computer parts are better quality than other computer parts. Especially when talking about OEM's.

Price is the key factor. Even for machines that are certified to run £10,000 software packages.

 

[zatix]

Thank you all for replying. in conclusion you suggest me to buy a Momentus XT.

i have been looking a bit (http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/products/laptops/laptop-hdd/) and looks like the one of 7200rpms has an interface of 6gpbs but I think my macbook pro only supports 3gbps.. Is this ok? Should I get the one of 5400rpms?

thanks

 

[Apok]

I just put a Western Digital Scorpio Blue in my 2010 MBP, and it works great. No problems what-so-ever as of yet.

 

[bdodds1985]

you want to keep the optical drive in right? and your looking for space with decent speeds? so an SSD in pretty much out of the question. I've heard good things about both the western digital and seagate drives.
both links are 750gb's but the western digital is 3gb/s and the seagate is 6gb/s.
I don't own a 2009 but from what I read it is only a 3gb/s sata II. someone correct me if I am wrong.
Try the Western Digital one. You can see the reviews on amazon are pretty clear.

 

[heisenberg123]

got a Samsung Spinpoint M8 1TB, so far so good

 

[bdodds1985]

got a Samsung Spinpoint M8 1TB, so far so good

internal?

 

[heisenberg123]

internal?

yes

 

[zatix]

Ok, so I have to decide among these:

SEAGATE ST9750420AS MOMENTUS 7200.5 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM 16MB 
€ 93  + taxes 
************************************* 
WESTERN DIGITAL WD7500BPKT SKORPIO BLACK 750GB 16MB SATA3 7200RPM 2.5IN  
€ 98  + taxes 
************************************* 
HITACHI 0J12283 TRAVELSTAR 7K750 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM HTS727575A9E364 
€ 89  + taxes

Which want should I take?

Many thanks

 

[stavs]

Ok, so I have to decide among these:

SEAGATE ST9750420AS MOMENTUS 7200.5 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM 16MB 
€ 93  + taxes 
************************************* 
WESTERN DIGITAL WD7500BPKT SKORPIO BLACK 750GB 16MB SATA3 7200RPM 2.5IN  
€ 98  + taxes 
************************************* 
HITACHI 0J12283 TRAVELSTAR 7K750 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM HTS727575A9E364 
€ 89  + taxes

Which want should I take?

Many thanks

I've personally had the best luck with Hitachi drives. Each person will have their own opinion though.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

I want to upgrade my 13-inch Mid 2009 macbook pro with a new hard drive. I'd like to increase the size (I thought about 750gbs) and also the speed (7200rpm). I'd also like not to increase the noise of my macbook. Will the battery last much less with the 7200 rpms?

7.200 rpm drives are bad for the battery life. 5.200-5.400 rpm drives have a read/write speed of > 100 MByte/s and are very silent. I've two 1 TB (Western Digital WD10TPVT) in my Mid-2009 and Early-2011 MBPs with no performance problems and no audible noise. I recommend the newer WD10JPVT, because it has a higher storage density.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_storage_density#Effects_on_performance
and
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=140

 

[heisenberg123]

Samsung 1TB 5400RPM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152291

 

[Mal]

Ok, so I have to decide among these:

SEAGATE ST9750420AS MOMENTUS 7200.5 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM 16MB 
€ 93  + taxes 
************************************* 
WESTERN DIGITAL WD7500BPKT SKORPIO BLACK 750GB 16MB SATA3 7200RPM 2.5IN  
€ 98  + taxes 
************************************* 
HITACHI 0J12283 TRAVELSTAR 7K750 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM HTS727575A9E364 
€ 89  + taxes

Which want should I take?

Many thanks

With no other appreciable differences, always go for the cheapest drive. All three of those drives are good drives, but the Hitachi is the cheapest and still has a good warranty, so I'd go for that.

jW

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

both links are 750gb's but the western digital is 3gb/s and the seagate is 6gb/s.

No problem for HDDs.

I don't own a 2009 but from what I read it is only a 3gb/s sata II. someone correct me if I am wrong.

No, that is correct.

 

[cube]

Momentus XT.

 

[bdodds1985]

7.200 rpm drives are bad for the battery life. 5.200-5.400 rpm drives have a read/write speed of > 100 MByte/s and are very silent. I've two 1 TB (Western Digital WD10TPVT) in my Mid-2009 and Early-2011 MBPs with no performance problems and no audible noise. I recommend the newer WD10JPVT, because it has a higher storage density.

More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_storage_density#Effects_on_performance
and
http://wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=140

I didn't realize 7200 rpm drives were so loud and could drain the battery that much compared to a 5400 rpm drive.

from Op's options it looks like with those choices he/she doesn't want to spend more than $100 and needs a 7200rpm speed.

But I appreciate your advice and the links were helpful to me.

 

[zatix]

What about buying a SEAGATE ST750LX003 MOMENTUS XT 750GB SATA 2.5IN 7200RPM HYBRID 8GB SSD ?

If the interface is 6gpbs and the one of my macbook pro mid 2009 is 3gbps is still compatible?

thanks

 

[carrieann]

hdapm?

Is it still recommended to get the utility to install hdapm when upgrading your hard drive for 2009 MBP's? I had my western digital blue 750gb 5400 die after only 18 months, and while it's still under warranty, I'm wondering if it's because I didn't intall hdapm? If so, I wanted to let this user know he'll have to do the same thing!!