Macbook Pro 13" HDD Upgrade Recommendation

[DougieShizzle]

Hello, I'm new to the forums and I'm currently trying to spec out my Macbook Pro (13" 2009 model) as much as possible. I've already upgraded my ram to 4 gigs and I'm currently looking to replace my hard-drive. My main issues are quietness and performance.

I was hoping some members could throw out some recommendations! Please note I want the system to remain as quiet as it currently is with the stock HDD. Here is one of the drives I've been considering.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4434267&CatId=1277

Thanks, hope for some great feedback.

 

[polaris20]

Hello, I'm new to the forums and I'm currently trying to spec out my Macbook Pro (13" 2009 model) as much as possible. I've already upgraded my ram to 4 gigs and I'm currently looking to replace my hard-drive. My main issues are quietness and performance.

I was hoping some members could throw out some recommendations! Please note I want the system to remain as quiet as it currently is with the stock HDD. Here is one of the drives I've been considering.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4434267&CatId=1277

Thanks, hope for some great feedback.

I had tried that drive in both my 15" MBP and my 13" MBP, and in both cases it vibrated annoyingly. In the 13", pretty much any 7.2K drive vibrated more than my personal liking, though the WD 320GB was much better in the 13" than the 500GB Seagate was.

I ended up sticking the 500GB Seagate in an OWC enclosure, the 320GB 7.2K WD in my 15", and a Toshiba 500GB 5.4K in my 13", and I'm happy with them all now.

 

[reebzor]

I went with a 500gb WD Scorpio Blue. I opted to not get a 7200rpm drive because I felt the heat/vibration and the extra power consumption were not worth the minimal speed increase to me. My Scorpio blue is a pretty solid drive, I have a bunch of WD drives, I just prefer them.

 

[DougieShizzle]

Has anyone used any quiet 7200 RPM drives? Power consumption is not an issues; however, vibration and quietness are.

 

[sn0warmy]

I was definitely going to recommend a 7200rpm drive (unless you can afford an SSD slc drive - $700+).

I upgraded to the 320gb version of this Hitachi drive in my uMBP:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822145275

**I am EXTREMELY happy with this harddrive. It's still very quiet, doesn't run any hotter than my stock 5400rpm Hitachi drive did (38 - 40 degrees celsius on average with both drives), and I haven't noticed any significant decrease in time on battery power.

I've also heard extremely good things about the WD Scorpio Black in our machines:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280

The 7200rpm drive upgrade made a big difference in performance. Especially with lagging in games/video rendering, which seems odd but a lot of other reviews will tell you the same thing.

 

[DougieShizzle]

The WD Scorpio Black sounds very promising, def my leading choice at this time.

 

[thesmoth]

I got a seagate 320 gig 7200.4 drive for $50 canadian on sale, and I haven't noticed any difference in noise over my old 5400 rpm stock drive.

Some people say they are way louder, but if you install it properly and transfer the 4 metal 'nubs' from the old drive to you new drive so that it sits in the rubber holder then it should be fine.