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MBP 13" HDD decision

Fenix90

Fenix90

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 8, 2010
18
0
I'm thinking of buying the 13" MBP 2.53GHz C2D and I thought of the idea of buying it as is with the warranty and buying a WD 500GB 5400RPM HDD separately. I did the math for configuring a MBP with the 500GB HDD option and one without it and adding the WD from Newegg on the side (Tax included). The difference came out to about $65. Is it worth paying a little more to have the 500GB HDD already installed and configured or do it myself. I already have a Snow Leopard copy my dad bought and I know how to mechanically install it. But my beef is that I heard you have to partition it a certain way or it won't work. I dunno if it's true or not. If anyone has a thought on this or personal experience on this subject, it would be greatly appreciated.

BTW: Yes I am aware that the MBP is WAY overdue for an update (thinking it'll be announced at the WWDC). I just want an opinion on the whether or not I should get the HDD separately or with the computer.:cool:
 
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I say do it yourself. Keep the apple stock HDD though, you can use it for backup or for an Optibay configuration
 
Seperate. It is a very quick, very easy process to install a hard drive in a MBP unibody. Save your money.
 
HDD upgrade void warranty?

Another thing I was curious about is if I upgraded the HDD myself, would it void the AppleCare Protection Plan? I would hope that it wouldn't.:confused:
 
Fenix90 said:
Another thing I was curious about is if I upgraded the HDD myself, would it void the AppleCare Protection Plan? I would hope that it wouldn't.:confused:
Click to expand...

It doesn't void your warrantee. In fact the instructions on how to replace the hard drive and in the owners manual that comes with your new mbp.

I say do it yourself. Not only do you save money, but you get a spare disk drive (the original one that came in the mbp). Buy an external enclosure and put that spare drive in it.
 
It's way easy. Just get an external enclosure from Newegg as well, for like $10, and before you do the swap use disk utility to zero-out the HD using the 'Mac Journaled' option. The actual swap only takes a couple minutes. You could even put that extra $65 towards a 7200 rpm drive for some extra speed. :D
 
While I'm a big WD fan, the couple of WD Scorpio Black drives I've had have been noisy and vibrated. I'd go the Seagate or Hitachi 7200rpm disks, or just get a Scorpio Blue which are 5400rpm but are still a nice performing drive.

I love my SSD, but now my Pro is my only computer I'm finding I'm going to need more space soon, and I'm probably going to go for the Hitachi 7200rpm 500GB disk.
 
Fenix90 said:
Any ideas on a good HDD with minimal power requirements?:D
Click to expand...

kjaxplicit24 said:
Hitachi 500gb 7200 rpm on sale at newegg right now actually for $85
Click to expand...

HellDiverUK said:
While I'm a big WD fan, the couple of WD Scorpio Black drives I've had have been noisy and vibrated. I'd go the Seagate or Hitachi 7200rpm disks, or just get a Scorpio Blue which are 5400rpm but are still a nice performing drive.

I love my SSD, but now my Pro is my only computer I'm finding I'm going to need more space soon, and I'm probably going to go for the Hitachi 7200rpm 500GB disk.
Click to expand...

I bought the WD 320GB/7200 drive. I like it, but it's a bit noisy in a quiet room. I bought the Hitachi 7K500 drive too, but it was pretty much just as noisy plus I heard head-parking and didn't want to jump through the hoops to remove it, so it went back to Newegg. It's nice they just dropped the price. I bought it 2 weeks ago and it was $100 shipped.
 
Everyone has different opinions and in some cases experiences with the same drive in the same model MacBook Pro. Try one and if it doesn't work well swap it out. I had a bad eperience with a WD Scorpio Blue but a good one with a Seagate 7,200 rpm Momentus.
It is best to keep the stock drive in case you have to send the computer in for repairs, some have reported APple swapping out the upgraded drive and replacing it with another stock drive!
You can always use it in a cheap USB case for backup.
 
I'm looking more along the lines of something quiet and low power usage. I've been looking at some 5400rpm drives but I dunno which one to get.:confused:
 
Fenix90 said:
I'm looking more along the lines of something quiet and low power usage. I've been looking at some 5400rpm drives but I dunno which one to get.:confused:
Click to expand...

Check out hitachi travelstar 5k500.b -- good speed, quiet and extremely power efficient.
 
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