HD replacement for Rev A MBP - suggestions needed

[bambam1981]

I bought my Macbook Pro in February or March of 2006 and it's still running strong. The hard drive, however, is full and I'd like to get a new, larger, faster one.

I'm aware that I need a SATA drive and that it's form factor should be 2.5". I'm also aware that the max transfer rate for my drive is 1.5 Gb/s, can I use one that is 3.0 Gb/s? I think the current drive is 4200 or 5400 RPM, can I use one that is 7200RPM (this computer is mostly used while on AC power)? What about maximum capacity? Are there any limitations due to BIOS or the motherboard? Here is the drive I'm looking at, please let me know if this will work or if you have a similar, better solution.

Here are some of the specs from my MBP:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 2 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP11.0055.B08
SMC Version (system): 1.2f10

TOSHIBA MK1032GSX:

Capacity: 100.03 GB (100,030,242,816 bytes)
Model: TOSHIBA MK1032GSX
Revision: AS024B
Native Command Queuing: Yes
Queue Depth: 32

Please let me know if you think I'm missing anything - I'm looking for at least a couple of different peoples' opinions, or if you have a link that points to replacement HD requirements that would also be very helpful. Thanks a lot!

 

[runebinder]

Not sure if your model supports SATA II or not, you can use a SATA II drive as the MBP will just use it at 1.5Gbps if not. You will be able to use a 7200rpm drive fine, might get a bit more vibration on it though. The Seagate Momentus XT may be worth taking a look at, supposed to be fairly quick.

Depending on your budget, if you can afford it go for a SSD. Not going to find anything faster, has no moving parts so quiet and less fragile than a mechanical HDD.

 

[bambam1981]

So you're saying that regardless of whether it supports SATAII that the drive should work, but just at the lower SATAI speed. Thanks, that's reassuring. I didn't know that vibration could be a problem, maybe I'll just stick with 5400.

I initially considered a SSD but considering how old this computer and that it is hardly ever used on battery power I don't think the cost is worth it.