PowerBook G4 Hard Drive!

[JCPH]

Hello all,

I need a little help finding a new hard drive for my 1.67GHz PowerBook G4 (Alum.). First, what is the difference between ATA and SATA (I know they are connectors but please explain). Which of these will work in my PowerBook? Second, which HD would you recommend?

Thanks,

JCPH

 

[California]

Hello all,

I need a little help finding a new hard drive for my 1.67GHz PowerBook G4 (Alum.). First, what is the difference between ATA and SATA (I know they are connectors but please explain). Which of these will work in my PowerBook? Second, which HD would you recommend?

Thanks,

JCPH

The connectors are different and I have no idea why. You need an ATA drive or a PATA drive (Same difference). If you want speed, I'd get a 7200rpm drive. If you want capacity, I'd get a 160gb drive. I think they now have 200gb drives -- but probably pricey. I have 100gb 7200rpm Hitachi Travelstars in my mac mini and my Powerbook G4 -- very fast.

 

[JCPH]

Thanks, I'll look into one of those.

Also, does anyone know if there is a real difference between ATA-100 and ATA-1 and so forth? Or are all ATAs the same and all PATAs the same and all SATAs the same (regardless of "_-#").

 

[reflex]

ATA-33, 66, 100 and 133 are different speeds. They indicate the maximum throughput of the drives, in MB per second (or was that megabit, I don't remember).

So the higher the number, the faster the drive will theoretically be, if everything else is the same.

Btw, take into account that notebook harddisks come in two heights: 9.5mm and 12mm. I think the Powerbook can only accomodate the 9.5mm type.

 

[JCPH]

Thanks reflex, it's all beginning to make sense. It's a shame it just isn't...well...logical.

 

[JCPH]

I think I'm going to go with this one: Seagate Momentus 7200.1 or this one: Hitachi 100GB 7200RPM

What do you think about these HD? Which should I get? From what I've read the Seagate is better (and it happens to be cheaper).

 

[yellow]

<-- prefers Seagate all the way.