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Macbook Replacement Internal Hard Drive

N

ndubya

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 3, 2008
1
0
I was hoping I might be able to get some advice from the experts here, I'm an Information Systems Students, and a recent convert to Macs. I need to upgrade my internal hard drive on my 13 inch macbook. I've had my macbook for a year I've loved it, but I need an upgrade to I can run bootcamp with enough storage on both partitions.

I was hoping to get a drive bigger than 200 gigs. What models would you recommend, and who do you recommend I go to to purchase said drive.

Thanks for your help!
 
I have a macbook pro with originally 100gb of memory, after I replaced the HD with a 250gb one, my battery power went from lasting 4 hours to not even 40 mins. I have to connect it everytime I use it.

I would recommend you to get the time capsule and put things that you don't use there, that way you can still get them whenever you want.

Hope that helps
 
I use bootcamp with Vista. I wish I didn't have to, but that is life. I primarily use it for MS Office. I partitioned my HD for the Windows side to have 32GB. If I ever need more space I have a WD Passport that I can connect to to give me enough room for docs, ect.. Vista is a resource hog. I'm about to download Office 2007 on the Windows side. IMO 32GB is enough and then if you need more get a cheap external HD. I don't want to use my Time Capsule for it. The WD Passport is cheap and does the job.

With that solution, you should have to get a new internal HD.
 
DeusInvictus7 said:
replacing or upgrading the hard drive shouldnt have any effect on the battery...especially if it is spinning at the same RPMs...
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure . . . I have a 40GB PATA drive and a 250GB PATA drive both at 5400rpm. When plugged into identical external enclosures, the 250GB requires being plugged into 2 USB ports for added power, while the 40GB works with only the one port.

I'm not sure if the same holds true for SATA, but there is a significant additional power draw for a 250GB PATA versus a smaller drive.

To the original poster . . . does your Macbook support PATA or SATA drives? If it supports PATA, the only drive I know of that exceeds 200GB is the Western Digital Scorpio 250GB drive. I just upgraded my AppleTV with one of those and so far, so good!

If it supports SATA, you have many more options available and it depends on your size needs / budgetary constraints.
 
Another vote for the 320GB Western Digital SATA drive - using one in my MacBook with a 20GB partition for BootCamp.....

Excellent drive.
 
logana said:
Another vote for the 320GB Western Digital SATA drive - using one in my MacBook with a 20GB partition for BootCamp.....

Excellent drive.
Click to expand...

And another vote from me, too. Upgraded to it from a standard Macbook 120Gb drive about 4 months ago and so far so good! No change in battery life has been noted. Old 120 drive is now used in an external USB enclosure.
 
I vote for the 320GB Western Digital as well, that's what I have in my macbook. They also have a 500GB samsung drive but it was out of my price range so I settled for the 320GB till I need/can afford the 500GB.
 
Another vote for the WD Scorpio 320 GB from either newegg.com or macsales.com, both are good vendors. No battery consumption problems for me. Drive works great, haven't had any conflicts with the fall detection features of the MacBook or the hard drive itself. At roughly $110, it's a good deal, as I paid $140 from macsales.com about 4 month ago. Samsung and Hitachi also have 320 GB offerings. Samsung also has a 500 GB model that physically fits the MacBook, but it's relatively new and a bit pricey, for now. Hard drive installation on a MacBook is a breeze. Good luck and enjoy the extra space.
 
Hi, I'm new here, this post interested me, I have a Macbook Pro 3,1. Can anyone let me know if the 320gb WD Hard Drive discussed would be compatible with my mac? I can only see reference to Macbooks.
Thanks
 
I just installed the 5400rpm 320GB Western Digital drive into my MacBook, not bad so far. I noticed that there this drives vibrates quite a bit. Didn't notice any vibrations with the original Fujitsu 160GB drive.

Anyone else feeling vibrations from the Western Digital drive? Any ideas how to damp the vibrations?
 
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