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Optibay alternative in the UK?

A

Austin00

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 10, 2010
90
0
Hello MR,

Just wondering if anyone from the UK has completed the 2nd hard drive mod?

I'm stumped as to where to get these optical drive replacement bays from over here, as I'm not too keen on paying import tax etc on something from america.

I've spotted this on ebay
More expensive caddy

And this one in this MR thread
Cheaper Caddy
Thread

Do either of these caddys seem suitable for this mod?

Also, as i will be installing this into a mid-2010 13 MBP, should i expect any more tid-bits to remove as opposed to the late 2009 model?

Many thanks!
Austin
 
I'm in Germany and I ordered the newmodeUS caddy which is super cheap and qualitatively looks very good (you can see it in this YouTube video). (Tip: Skip to 1:47 to avoid unpacking misery).

So this is $42. I ordered one for myself day before yesterday. This isn't inside the UK but taking GBP. currency exchange rates into account (I had to do the same with EUR.) its very much worth it. Next option within Europe is from France - this hard drive caddy, same thing basically but much more expensive.

I selected FedEx International Priority shipment with newmodeUS (there are numerous other cheaper / costlier shipping options) and believe it or not, they shipped the package within 2 hours of payment and emailed me the FedEx tracking number ! Very fast.

Careful note: the YT video above is that of a PATA connector, however, you want a SATA one, namely this model: OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF. The NF at the end stands for "no face-plate" and this is very important for the unibody MacBook Pro.

Lastly, you can use the coupon code: FB072808 to score a teensy 5% discount on the total price. Will easily buy you a muffin :)

Hope this helps.
 
Gorilla Power said:
I'm in Germany and I ordered the newmodeUS caddy which is super cheap and qualitatively looks very good (you can see it in this YouTube video). (Tip: Skip to 1:47 to avoid unpacking misery).

So this is $42. I ordered one for myself day before yesterday. This isn't inside the UK but taking GBP. currency exchange rates into account (I had to do the same with EUR.) its very much worth it. Next option within Europe is from France - this hard drive caddy, same thing basically but much more expensive.

I selected FedEx International Priority shipment with newmodeUS (there are numerous other cheaper / costlier shipping options) and believe it or not, they shipped the package within 2 hours of payment and emailed me the FedEx tracking number ! Very fast.

Careful note: the YT video above is that of a PATA connector, however, you want a SATA one, namely this model: OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF. The NF at the end stands for "no face-plate" and this is very important for the unibody MacBook Pro.

Lastly, you can use the coupon code: FB072808 to score a teensy 5% discount on the total price. Will easily buy you a muffin :)

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thats cool, thanks for your help Gorilla!
I'm still leaning towards that cheaper eBay one if someone can shed some light. It's a quarter of the price of the newmodeUS one.
 
Gorilla Power said:
I'm in Germany and I ordered the newmodeUS caddy which is super cheap and qualitatively looks very good (you can see it in this YouTube video). (Tip: Skip to 1:47 to avoid unpacking misery).

So this is $42. I ordered one for myself day before yesterday. This isn't inside the UK but taking GBP. currency exchange rates into account (I had to do the same with EUR.) its very much worth it. Next option within Europe is from France - this hard drive caddy, same thing basically but much more expensive.

I selected FedEx International Priority shipment with newmodeUS (there are numerous other cheaper / costlier shipping options) and believe it or not, they shipped the package within 2 hours of payment and emailed me the FedEx tracking number ! Very fast.

Careful note: the YT video above is that of a PATA connector, however, you want a SATA one, namely this model: OBHD9-SATA-SATA-NF. The NF at the end stands for "no face-plate" and this is very important for the unibody MacBook Pro.

Lastly, you can use the coupon code: FB072808 to score a teensy 5% discount on the total price. Will easily buy you a muffin :)

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing the coupon code. Just ordered a caddy for my 2010 15" uMBP.

Do you know where is a good place to order the superdrive enclosure? Preferably one that has a drive cover? I was gonna go for the Optibay set with the free enclosure, but seeing as it was so cheap and didn't even have a slot cover I passed on that and went with newmodeus.
 
Austin00 said:
Hello MR,

Just wondering if anyone from the UK has completed the 2nd hard drive mod?

I'm stumped as to where to get these optical drive replacement bays from over here, as I'm not too keen on paying import tax etc on something from america.

I've spotted this on ebay
More expensive caddy

And this one in this MR thread
Cheaper Caddy
Thread

Do either of these caddys seem suitable for this mod?

Also, as i will be installing this into a mid-2010 13 MBP, should i expect any more tid-bits to remove as opposed to the late 2009 model?

Many thanks!
Austin
Click to expand...

the bay in the second link (Cheaper Caddy) will not work for a MBP. I have the same for my T500. you need a plateless one, as noted by Gorilla Power.

I looked up ebay myself and foundanother option here.

I also need to do some more research to see if the MBP accepts a bay for 2.5" HDD of a height of 12.5mm. Although, I'll probably still buy the Seagate hybrid SDD/HDD momentus.

A firewire-powered enclosure for the stock DVD drive would seal the deal!
 
Has anyone found a external enclosure for the MBP internal DVD drive that would run on a single USB port? The ones I see require 2 USB ports or one USB plus a external power supply.
 
hatbrox said:
Has anyone found a external enclosure for the MBP internal DVD drive that would run on a single USB port? The ones I see require 2 USB ports or one USB plus a external power supply.
Click to expand...

I didn't find one in Germany (or Europe) either, so got this one from China. Its surprisingly cheap, got delivered very fast and works fine.

Don't let the main auction picture disgust you, I don't know why they put it there in the first place lol, but the enclosure actually looks like the first 4 pictures in the description. Also super cheap shipping. Mine was even registered even though it doesn't say so, so I had sign for it.
 
Gorilla Power said:
I didn't find one in Germany (or Europe) either, so got this one from China. Its surprisingly cheap, got delivered very fast and works fine.

Don't let the main auction picture disgust you, I don't know why they put it there in the first place lol, but the enclosure actually looks like the first 4 pictures in the description. Also super cheap shipping. Mine was even registered even though it doesn't say so, so I had sign for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the post,

don't you still need to connect 2 USB cables (data + power) to get enough juice to power the DVD drive?
 
hello,
If I use an external enclosure for the optical drive, can I then boot from USB ? E.g when I want to install Windows in bootcamp ?
 
Hello,
FYI, there is a reseller for Optibays in Germany called Netaffairs. The Optibay costs 95 € and the external case for the SuperDrive is offered.
 
Very Happy

Just fitted the newmodeUS caddy in a late 2009 17" MBP. I am based in the UK and went for Fedex international priority, arrived in three days. Everything went smoothly and now I have a 256gb Crucial SSD and a Seagate 500gb, my machine now flies, best upgrade ever and now have over twice the HD space.

Installation was fairly easy, its the first time iv'e ever done anything like this except for fitting ram. The hardest thing was getting all the screws back they are very small and fiddly, a magnetic screwdriver was a necessity. Found a number of helpful youtube videos showing the correct procedure

Thanks Gorrilla power for the links
 
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