MacBook Pro Mid 2009 HD Upgrade

[SneakyDiquey]

I'm interested in upgrading the HD in my MBP and these are it's details;

MacBook Pro Mid 2009
13", 2.53Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB DDR3 RAM

After doing a little digging the last few days I really like the sounds of the Seagate Momentus XT 750GB, but am not sure if it's compatible with my MBP.

Currently I have the stock 250GB 5400rpm HD, and was considering 2 options.

1. replace the HD in a straight swap, or;
2. replace the SuperDrive with the new HD

If Momentus XT is not compatible, is there any HD's that are recommended? As you may be able to tell I think my biggest concern is compatibility and making sure everything runs smoothly!

I'm not really considering a SSD due to the limited HD space and the price, and I'm either looking for 750GB or 1TB capacity with 7200rpm.

I'm a little worried about transferring all my data across but I do have a time machine. when the new HD gets installed can I just do a full restore and it will transfer every across no fuss and then wipe everything off the old one?

Ultimately I wouldn't mind leaving the 250GB hard drive in there if I can use it as extra storage, or is it more advisable to get an enclosure for it because running 2 HD's will make the MacBook significantly hotter?



I'm bursting with questions lol

 

[Sgt93]

I have the same setup and would say a WD Scorpio Black 750 but mine just failed me. I'm going SSD this time.

 

[SneakyDiquey]

I have the same setup and would say a WD Scorpio Black 750 but mine just failed me. I'm going SSD this time.

which setup do you have exactly? just replacing the HD or replacing the SuperDrive?

what type of SSD are you going for now if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Sgt93]

which setup do you have exactly? just replacing the HD or replacing the SuperDrive?

what type of SSD are you going for now if you don't mind me asking?

It's in my signature. I replaced stock HDScorpio Black which failed me a few weeks ago (I will send in as it's under warranty) but decided its time to go with a SSD. Ordered a Crucial M4 512GB.

 

[netslacker]

OP:

Did you end up with the Momentus XT? I've been debating this drive for a week now but have read both success and failure with the late 2009 MBP. I've pretty much read everything I can find on this drive with this model MBP and it seems that you just have to roll the dice or avoid altogether. Just wondering your experience and what you ended up with. I need more space so my options that I've narrowed down to are 1tb wd scorpio blue, momentus xt 750gb or a USB drive (blah).

Or, if any others have success with the XT 750gb in a late 2009 MBP we'd love to hear your experiences...

Thanks,
R

 

[SneakyDiquey]

like yourself, I got a lot of mixed reviews when looking through the net and experiences with the momentus XT. I just couldn't settle on another hard drive after how well I heard it perform with other MacBooks. I saw a video on YouTube for someone installing the 750GB XT (made fairly recently - march or April 2012) and that's what made my mind up. it seemed to run smooth on his and he was pretty happy with it when I asked him for some feedback on it.

so I bit the bullet and went and bought one..... twas a SUCCESS!

my MBP handles it nicely, had no dramas whatever so ever and hoping it stays that way. performance-wise I love it, it was exactly what I needed.

the price of SSD's and their limited capacity deterred me, even though I was heavily considering keeping my old 250GB in there and replacing the optical bay drive with an SSD. but it was working out to too much for me and the trade-off for performance vs. capacity wouldn't have suited what I wanted. I will probably save that for a later upgrade to this model once prices drop a lot.

the first thing I noticed with the XT was the improvement over boot up speed, it was about 45 seconds for me before and now it's 17!! and it just loads things in general quicker too.

so bottom line, I'm over the moon with the purchase and definitely recommend it if your considering it

 

[SneakyDiquey]

by the way this was the video I watched that convinced me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg4Ylme5mCw&feature=my_favorites&list=FLNybeGb44wAANEuFMky17SQ