Planning to buy base 13" cMBP ... some questions

[thekb]

I am going to purchase a 13" classic MBP soon, but have questions about replacing the hard drive.

It will be replacing my imac as my primary computer and I currently have a 1TB HD. It was a pain getting my virtual Windows machine situated using virtual box and I would prefer not to have to recreate it. Plus, I have a large photo collection and much prefer a 1TB HD anyway.

However, the base MBP I would be getting comes with 500GB HD. Is it difficult to replace the HD in a MBP? What 1TB HD would be the best one to use? I assume then that I could just restore from the CCC clone and it would function identically to my imac now?

Also, my imac has Lion. WOuld it be much simpler to upgrade the iMac to Mountain Lion first, then update the clone before buying a new cMBP that comes with Mountain Lion?

Thanks

 

[markus843]

What year is your macbook that you're getting? Anyways if it's going to be a 2012 model it's honestly not that hard, just look up a video and it shows exactly what to do. Took me 15 minutes.

 

[thekb]

Yes, it would be a new one.

Do you have any recommendations on which one would be a good choice?

 

[MikieMcBikie]

What year is your imac? the only issue i could see is missing drivers for the new hardware. I just recently moved from an imac to a 13" pro, but I didnt try to use the ccc i had because of system differences. I just shared the old system on the network and copied the files I needed to the new machine. I dont think this will help you with the virtual machine tho. I did have good luck previously with restoring my user from a mac mini to the imac once before, and it was pretty much the same machine since I wasnt copying over the OS. but i didnt have a vm to worry about wither so....

replacing the HD in a 13" cmbp is easy. like said above, do a google search for videos, and you will see. Just need a basic screwdriver and a little patience.

As far as what brand you get for the new HD, well, read reviews and make your choice. I went with best warranty myself. Sorry cant remember the brand off hand, it is one forthe old system not the new one (I went with a 256 boot app drive and put the "old" 1TB drive in the optical drive slot)

 

[thekb]

What year is your imac? the only issue i could see is missing drivers for the new hardware. I just recently moved from an imac to a 13" pro, but I didnt try to use the ccc i had because of system differences. I just shared the old system on the network and copied the files I needed to the new machine. I dont think this will help you with the virtual machine tho. I did have good luck previously with restoring my user from a mac mini to the imac once before, and it was pretty much the same machine since I wasnt copying over the OS. but i didnt have a vm to worry about wither so....

replacing the HD in a 13" cmbp is easy. like said above, do a google search for videos, and you will see. Just need a basic screwdriver and a little patience.

As far as what brand you get for the new HD, well, read reviews and make your choice. I went with best warranty myself. Sorry cant remember the brand off hand, it is one forthe old system not the new one (I went with a 256 boot app drive and put the "old" 1TB drive in the optical drive slot)

Thanks, Mikie ... hadn't thought about new drivers. The iMac is from the current generation (2011) so it is very recent and i would guess that if I updated to Mountain Lion first it should contain most of what I need, right?

And good news about ease of replacement. I didn't think it would be too bad, but I wasn't sure if the MBPs were finicky about getting a particular kind of HD. I would get 7200 of course. Would it affect the fans or run like stock?

EDIT: You know ... looking around in Finder, it looks like there is a .vdi file that is about the size of the HD I allocated for my Windows VM. Do I just copy that .vdi file over to another computer and it would run from that in exactly the same setup as I currently have?