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Francy.net

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 14, 2011
6
0
Milan
Hi,
where can i buy a hdd 7200rpm (ata) for my powerbook5,6 with at least 200GB?

Thanks in advance for reply.

F.Leotta
 

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
eBay. AFAIK, there are no more manufacturers still building PATA drives, so you're stuck looking for used or NOS drives.
 

California

macrumors 68040
Aug 21, 2004
3,885
90
Hi,
where can i buy a hdd 7200rpm (ata) for my powerbook5,6 with at least 200GB?

Thanks in advance for reply.

F.Leotta

No one ever made a PATA laptop drive over 100gb that was 7200 rpm.

The larger 250gb and 320gb PATA laptop drives for PBs are 5400rpm, but because of their larger platter size, they run almost as fast as the Seagate and Hitachi 100gb 7200rpm drives.

I have a 320gb 5400 drive in my PB, almost as fast as my old 100gb 7200 rpms drives. BTW I saw a batch of 100gbs on ebay that were refurbed a while ago but I am pretty sure they are no longer in production.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
eBay. AFAIK, there are no more manufacturers still building PATA drives, so you're stuck looking for used or NOS drives.
Not true. Western Digital makes PATA desktop and laptop drives. Scorpio Blue series. 100, 250, 320GB sizes. 5400rpm though, but the cache wizardry has them performing much faster than that.

You can go to Western Digital's site. Newegg.com also has other drive manufacturers that still make PATA drives.
 

seveej

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2009
827
51
Helsinki, Finland
The larger 250gb and 320gb PATA laptop drives for PBs are 5400rpm, but because of their larger platter size, they run almost as fast as the Seagate and Hitachi 100gb 7200rpm drives.

I second this. Theoretical max transfer speed is a function of data density X drive head travel speed. Thus the 7200 rpm gives a theoretical advantage of 33%, which can thus be compensated by a similarly higher data density.

Furthermore, I have very dubious experiences with 7200 rpm hard drives in laptops, they generally;
- consume more power than similar 5400 rpm drives
- create more noise
- generate more heat.

RGDS,
 

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
Not true. Western Digital makes PATA desktop and laptop drives. Scorpio Blue series. 100, 250, 320GB sizes. 5400rpm though, but the cache wizardry has them performing much faster than that.

You can go to Western Digital's site. Newegg.com also has other drive manufacturers that still make PATA drives.

2.5" PATA drives aren't made anymore, haven't been made for a few years. And only a very few OEM's still make 3.5" PATA drives.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
2.5" PATA drives aren't made anymore, haven't been made for a few years. And only a very few OEM's still make 3.5" PATA drives.
OK.

I'm curious though. Why can I go down to Best Buy and Frys Electronics and buy a brand new, sealed-box 2.5" laptop PATA drive made by WD, their Scorpio Blue series? Did WD stop making them and there is still original stock out there?

Why is WD still advertising them on their site?
 

Intell

macrumors P6
Jan 24, 2010
18,955
509
Inside
OK.

I'm curious though. Why can I go down to Best Buy and Frys Electronics and buy a brand new, sealed-box 2.5" laptop PATA drive made by WD, their Scorpio Blue series? Did WD stop making them and there is still original stock out there?

Why is WD still advertising them on their site?

Very possibly. Neither BB or Fry's site even shows them anymore. WD's site hasn't listed them in a while and Amazon's stock is wearing thin of them as well.
 

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
Not true. Western Digital makes PATA desktop and laptop drives. Scorpio Blue series. 100, 250, 320GB sizes. 5400rpm though, but the cache wizardry has them performing much faster than that.

You can go to Western Digital's site. Newegg.com also has other drive manufacturers that still make PATA drives.

I didn't see any 2.5" on Newegg last time I checked, just 3.5" and the 2.5" on Amazon are NOS and running in the $2/GB range, which is totally outrageous.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,793
26,883
I didn't see any 2.5" on Newegg last time I checked, just 3.5" and the 2.5" on Amazon are NOS and running in the $2/GB range, which is totally outrageous.
I just did a Google search for "newegg.com western+digital+pata+laptop+drive" and came up with at least three hits, one for the 320 Western Digital Scorpio Blue, one for the 250 and one for the 80. Farther down is one for the 120GB drive.

Sometimes the search engines on websites suck so I tend to use Google to search sites directly.
 

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
mmhh ....I have a doubt ... and if I bought a ssd -IDE/PATA(120MB)
What do you suggest?

I hope that was a typo and you meant 120GB. If this is your main computer and you do not want to upgrade, a SSD is the best choice but they can be fairly expensive for PATA options, again given the older bus tech.

I posted some numbers for a 32GB Kingspec here -- https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1498614/. Higher density drives will yield you better numbers, but it's already a massive upgrade over the PATA mechanical drive that was in there.

Whatever you do though, do NOT buy a JMicron drive if you can help it.
 

ybz90

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2009
609
2
I apologize, I meant GB. jmicron why not?

Rgds

Anandtech was really the first to expose them for what they were. They were the first generation of controllers when SSDs first hit the market and had a host of problems ranging from stuttering and sleep issues to long-term garbage collection issues. Some users have no issues, especially if you don't have too many R/W to the drive. But if you use it a lot, it could become a problem.

It's worth noting that JMicron claims to have corrected this problems, but I can't speak that with any authority.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2614/9
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738/17
 

noodle654

macrumors 68020
Jun 2, 2005
2,070
22
Never Ender
I recently acquired a PB 17", and replaced the stock 4200RPM HDD with a 7200RPM, which I bought off eBay, a brand new Seagate 80GB. While it is fast (faster than before), it puts off some more noise, heat, and vibration. As others have said, WD Scorpio Blue is probably the way to go.
 
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