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My MBP harddrive failed and what would be the cheapest way to replace it?

piatti

piatti

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 9, 2010
819
0
USA
I was thinking this is my chance to get a SSD. Can you recommend one? It doesn't have to be too big, as I store all my movies and music in an external. (is there a short way to write external hard drive? does EHDD work?)

I heard that SSD is more stable and doens't fail as well as HDD do from online sources but someone I know has been saying otherwise.

Could anyone recommend a good youtube video or screenshot tutorial (screenshot is better) for replacing the harddrive? I heard you need a cable too. Not sure how to get one.

I was also thinking while at it, I should upgrade the RAM to 8GB, where should I buy these RAM?

But the only thing that worries me is that it might slightly be not worth it because my MBP hinge is slightly broken and is wobbly at a certain angle and can't be upright and has to be slightly leaning back.

The whole thing would cost about $75 for the SSD plus $40 for the RAM? about $115. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211582
 
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As for SSDs:

As for replacing options (you don't need an extra cable for replacing the HDD with an SSD, unless you remove the optical disk drive (ODD)):
MacBook, MacBook Pro: Replacing the Hard Disk Drive, transferring data to the new HDD

the guide includes:
  • 0. Identify your MacBook or MacBook Pro
  • 1. Getting a new HDD
  • 2. Guides to replace the internal HDD with a newer one
  • 3. Transferring data from the old HDD to the new HDD
  • 4. Using the optical disk drive (ODD) slot for placing an SSD or HDD inside the MB/P (OPTIBAY)
​


As for replacing RAM (which can be had via Newegg, Amazon, MacSales, Crucial, Corsair and others):
 
I just tried 2 diff SSD's in my MBP(late 08 unibody) and neither worked properly, Corsair or Crucial, have you looked into the Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid?
 
Hmm.. I'm looking at this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591

And it's 7200 and 500GB for 100bucks. Sounds good, but I read 7200 is louder than 5400, and I like quiet. What does Solid State Hybrid mean?

Just checking, HDD fails faster than SSD, right?

----------

IN the buying guide by HellHammer it says that for MBP before 2011 you should get intel 320 series, so I checked one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167066

and it seems to be SATA II. Is MBP 2010 not compatible with SATA III?
It's kind of more expensive than other SSDs I've saw.

And would you still revive this MBP although the hinge is not working 100% properly?
 
SSDs are more stable than an HDD because there are no moving parts. For a MBP I would highly recommend an intel drive. I have an Intel 520 in my MBP and it works flawlessly plus it comes with a 5 year warranty. If an Intel drive (510, 520, 320, 330) is out of reach then I would go with OWC or Samsung those drives have been used by users here and no one has really reported any problems. You get what you pay for and if you get a cheap drive there is a possibility it will not work well with your machine so I would spend a little extra and go with one of the name brand drives it will be money well spent for sure. Plus your looking at smaller drives and they are pretty cheap anyway no reason to go with an off brand. The 2010 MBP is only SATA II not SATA III, SATA II is rated at 3gb/s However a SATA III drive is backwards compatible with SATA II it will perform at the SATA II rate rather than the SATA III rate. The momentus drive has a 4GB SSD cache where it will store your most used applications and files. You have to open them a few times before it learns your habits and what not.
 
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Medic278 said:
SSDs are more stable than an HDD because there are no moving parts.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Due to the limited number of read/write cycles of SSDs, platter HDDs are more reliable for long term use.

Modern spinning drives are much more reliable than they used to be.

I'm actually swapping my Samsung 470 SSD for a 750gb Segate Hybrid. I need space and piece of mind.
 
coolbreeze said:
I disagree. Due to the limited number of read/write cycles of SSDs, platter HDDs are more reliable for long term use.

Modern spinning drives are much more reliable than they used to be.

I'm actually swapping my Samsung 470 SSD for a 750gb Segate Hybrid. I need space and piece of mind.
Click to expand...


Are you buying this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

It says hybrid drive, what does that mean?

Who am I to believe. I just heard today from someone that HDDs are more reliable than SSD because of limited read/write cycles, just like you said. But others say that it's more stable because of no moving parts.
 
piatti said:
Are you buying this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

It says hybrid drive, what does that mean?

Who am I to believe. I just heard today from someone that HDDs are more reliable than SSD because of limited read/write cycles, just like you said. But others say that it's more stable because of no moving parts.
Click to expand...

A Hybrid drive uses both technologies. A very small SSD contains the OS and the other drive is used to store data.

Hypotheticals and theories are okay to base a decision on.
Here is a real world example of my use of SSD's.

I have two windows machines that house over 80,000 photos, a 24 GB SQL Server database and over 35,000 reports varying from 5-11 pages. These machines are in operation 24,7, and have been for three years. The SSD's have held up under a very heavy load. Other servers in my environment, using traditional hard drives with not nearly the load, have failed. The production of $85-$100,000.00 per week from the department using these two machines more than qualifies the initial investment of $850.00. And the speed...
 
piatti said:
Who am I to believe. I just heard today from someone that HDDs are more reliable than SSD because of limited read/write cycles, just like you said. But others say that it's more stable because of no moving parts.
Click to expand...

Every drive _will_ fail eventually; thats why you have an external hard drive and use Time Machine for backups (unless there is nothing of any value at all on your computer).

The limited read/write cycles don't really matter, but SSD drives, just like other drives, will just fail at some point for no good reason whatsoever. Personally, I think maxing out the RAM and buying a large hard drive will give you more value for money.
 
piatti said:
Are you buying this one? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148837

It says hybrid drive, what does that mean?

Who am I to believe. I just heard today from someone that HDDs are more reliable than SSD because of limited read/write cycles, just like you said. But others say that it's more stable because of no moving parts.
Click to expand...

Write endurance is not realistically applicable anymore. True years ago when SSD's where only a few megabytes and only able to handle a few thousand writes this did apply.

Even several years ago SSD drives had a write endurance of a 2 million write cycles. This article was based on a 60GB SSD capable of 80MB/s to give you an idea of the age. If written to continuously it would take 51years to wear out the drive. Ignore the date on the top of the article for some reason it updates constantly rather than having the original date set.

Some current drives have an MTBF of 2 million hours or more. That is roughly 228 years of use. So don't let write endurance get you down. The odds are that SSD will outlive the hard drive by a very long time.

Don't bother with the hybrids. They give you no control over what is stored where and the SSD portion is pitiful. Since you say you don't need much storage just get a decent 64GB or 128GB SSD. If you need a lot of space get the small SSD for your OS and Apps. Then put in a second regular hard drive for storage. You just need an Optibay adapter to turn the optical drive bay into a hard drive bay. Knockoffs of these can be had for about $15 on eBay the last I checked.
 
velocityg4 said:
Write endurance is not realistically applicable anymore. True years ago when SSD's where only a few megabytes and only able to handle a few thousand writes this did apply.

Even several years ago SSD drives had a write endurance of a 2 million write cycles. This article was based on a 60GB SSD capable of 80MB/s to give you an idea of the age. If written to continuously it would take 51years to wear out the drive. Ignore the date on the top of the article for some reason it updates constantly rather than having the original date set.

Some current drives have an MTBF of 2 million hours or more. That is roughly 228 years of use. So don't let write endurance get you down. The odds are that SSD will outlive the hard drive by a very long time.

Don't bother with the hybrids. They give you no control over what is stored where and the SSD portion is pitiful. Since you say you don't need much storage just get a decent 64GB or 128GB SSD. If you need a lot of space get the small SSD for your OS and Apps. Then put in a second regular hard drive for storage. You just need an Optibay adapter to turn the optical drive bay into a hard drive bay. Knockoffs of these can be had for about $15 on eBay the last I checked.
Click to expand...


Thank you for the article. I agree with you completely modern SSDs are far more reliable than an HDD. They will most likely outlive your machine. SSDs rarely fail and none of us have a 200 life year span anyway so I wouldn't stress it. You'll be much happier getting an SSD rather than an HDD which is prone to failure, although modern drives are much better they still have moving parts. Get an SSD you won't regret it.
 
Some current drives have an MTBF of 2 million hours or more. That is roughly 228 years of use. So don't let write endurance get you down. The odds are that SSD will outlive the hard drive by a very long time.

Don't bother with the hybrids. They give you no control over what is stored where and the SSD portion is pitiful.
Click to expand...
Why is that?
Since you say you don't need much storage just get a decent 64GB or 128GB SSD. If you need a lot of space get the small SSD for your OS and Apps. Then put in a second regular hard drive for storage. You just need an Optibay adapter to turn the optical drive bay into a hard drive bay. Knockoffs of these can be had for about $15 on eBay the last I checked.
Click to expand...

I couldn't find anything when I searched for Optibay adapter in eBay.
I do have 2010 MacBook which someone told me can only house upto 500GB.
 
Hybrid HDD learn your most used apps and files and store them. There is not way that you can choose which items to place in in the cache. So in a sense you really don't have any control over whats stored in the small HDD chance you get. While you will get some performance jump on some apps its more likely going to behave like any other 7200RMP HDD than a true SSD.
 
piatti said:
Why is that?


I couldn't find anything when I searched for Optibay adapter in eBay.
I do have 2010 MacBook which someone told me can only house upto 500GB.
Click to expand...

The OS and user do not see the SSD portion on hybrid drives. The SSD portion is only visible to the drives controller. Which predicts based on past usage filling up the small SSD portion with the most used files.

As for the Optibay knockoff. I guess eBay cracked down on the use of the name Optibay. Presumably from a complaint by the vendor. Instead search for "Hard Drive Caddy Optical Macbook".

You want SATA to SATA for your model of Mac, older ones use SATA to PATA. Get a 9.5mm model which should be all you get with Macbook in the search.
 
Medic278 said:
SSDs are more stable than an HDD because there are no moving parts. For a MBP I would highly recommend an intel drive. I have an Intel 520 in my MBP and it works flawlessly plus it comes with a 5 year warranty. If an Intel drive (510, 520, 320, 330) is out of reach then I would go with OWC or Samsung those drives have been used by users here and no one has really reported any problems. You get what you pay for and if you get a cheap drive there is a possibility it will not work well with your machine so I would spend a little extra and go with one of the name brand drives it will be money well spent for sure. Plus your looking at smaller drives and they are pretty cheap anyway no reason to go with an off brand. The 2010 MBP is only SATA II not SATA III, SATA II is rated at 3gb/s However a SATA III drive is backwards compatible with SATA II it will perform at the SATA II rate rather than the SATA III rate. The momentus drive has a 4GB SSD cache where it will store your most used applications and files. You have to open them a few times before it learns your habits and what not.
Click to expand...

What about this, it seems to be a better deal than the intel 80GB for $140, it being 120GB for $100 after rebate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227706
 
piatti said:
And it's 7200 and 500GB for 100bucks. Sounds good, but I read 7200 is louder than 5400, and I like quiet. What does Solid State Hybrid mean?

Just checking, HDD fails faster than SSD, right?
Click to expand...


These are commonly repeated rumors with no credibility behind them. SSD failure rates are all over the place. 7200 drives can be louder, but you need to look at reviews on the specific drive you're considering.

Medic278 said:
SSDs are more stable than an HDD because there are no moving parts.
Click to expand...

You're 100% wrong. This has been repeated because it sounds logical, yet you're comparing one aspect of failure. In no way is one definitively more reliable than the other, and both technologies have their bad products/batches.
 
@thekev

Ok now I'm really confused as to what to buy. What do you suggest buying?
 
piatti said:
@thekev

Ok now I'm really confused as to what to buy. What do you suggest buying?
Click to expand...

If you don't need lots of space just get the size SSD you need. If you store a lot of files get an SSD that can handle your OS and apps, probably 64GB possibly 128GB if you have a lot of software. Then a regular hard drive for data and a hard drive optical bay caddy I suggested.

As for an SSD the Crucial M4 line is well priced and gets great reviews.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...689&isNodeId=1&Description=crucial+m4&x=0&y=0

For the vast majority of people just a 64GB SSD will provide more than enough storage for software, OS and data. Only you can know how much space you need.
 
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