Judging Hard Drives

[alex.purple.mac]

I would like to upgrade the hard drive on my macbook. I have the first generation intel macbook, with the (terribly small) 80gb hard drive. I was wondering what to look for when upgrading to a larger hard drive, apart from size and price obviously.

I was only looking to upgrade to about 160gb max, as most of my content is backed up on my hard drive anyway. What could i expect to pay for that size hard drive? Where is a good place in the UK to buy from, either online or in store?

Alternatively, what is stopping me opening up my external hard drive and putting that in my macbook?

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

Don't get 160GB, 320GB is only few pounds more. Get this

 

[spinnerlys]

Some HDDs on Amazon.UK

Make sure you only buy one with a maximum height of 9.5mm.


Hard Drive Replacement Instructions

Also MRoogle is an invaluable and good tool to search this board, and your question comes up daily, so you will find plenty of answers with that MRoogle tool.

 

[alex.purple.mac]

If you don't mind me asking, and if you have the time, could you explain some of the things that i am unsure about. For example;

1) What is the cache? And what is a good amount?
2) What is OEM?
3) What is SATA / SATAII?
4) What are the compatibility issues with a hard drive? For example, could i buy any 2.5 inch hard drive and put it in my mac?

Thanks

 

[Hellhammer]

1) What is the cache? And what is a good amount?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cache

Basically, data that is used a lot can be stored there for faster access. 8MB is fine

2) What is OEM?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OEM

Don't worry about this

3) What is SATA / SATAII?

Interface of the drive. Your MacBook has SATA I, but SATA II is backwards compatible, so SATA II HD works

4) What are the compatibility issues with a hard drive? For example, could i buy any 2.5 inch hard drive and put it in my mac?

Yes, as long as it's not taller than 9.5mm

 

[alex.purple.mac]

Ok cool, thanks for your help.

I know western digital is a good make, but is it much better than other makes? Are they justified in the premium they charge?

 

[Hellhammer]

Ok cool, thanks for your help.

I know western digital is a good make, but is it much better than other makes? Are they justified in the premium they charge?

They don't charge premium, usually I find them being the cheapest option. I personally prefer WD but other makes are fine too

 

[RITZFit]

WD Scorpio Blue seems to be pretty popular around here. I have a 320g blue in my mbp. I've never had probs with it (nor any other WB laptop drives I've had )