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Samsung or Western Digital 320GB Drive?

S

SeanEE89

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 15, 2008
116
0
VA, United States
I was wondering if it would even make a difference on which Hard Drive I bought to upgrade my MacBook(white) Hard Drive with?

People have told me there is a feature with the western digital drive that conflicts with the MAC OSX and that I should get the Samsung drive is that true?

Or should I probably just wait for the 500GB Toshiba HDD comes out at the end of the month and pick one of those up?
 
I have a white 2.2 MB. I put in the WD 320 last week. I have not had any problems. Plus it seems to run cooler than the HDD that came in the MB. Others on here have used the WD too.
 
WDC is in mine works great, very impressed with speed.

Friend had the samsung arive dead. However all drives are prone to DOA.
 
I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?
 
SeanEE89 said:
I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a great solution simply because you can still use your old drive as a portable external that is USB - Powered.

And it provides a great way to transfer the data between your old and new drives.

Plus there are no screws to take apart the passport drives, they are "snap-tight".
 
That seems to be the move to make right now, seeing that they are (or were) selling for $150 at your local BestBuy. I just can't seem to justify really needing it right now :)

SeanEE89 said:
I've read around a little bit and from what people have been saying should I just go out and buy the 320GB Western Digital Passport and swap the drive in the Mac with the external one in the case?
Click to expand...
 
All I was worried about was if I would have trouble with closing it back up. I also like the fact that it is USB (powered) that way I will not have to worry about finding a power source.

I planned on buying it when I get my MacBook and installing it right when I boot my Mac up for the first time. I can just do it like that right, because the MacBook comes with the factory install disc so itll install and boot up like brand new right?
 
brandonshough said:
WDC is in mine works great, very impressed with speed.
Click to expand...
Me too, it came eerily close to the 3.5" Seagate in these tests: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/436452/

Mac Pro:

attachment.php


My Mac Book:

attachment.php


:cool:
 
SeanEE89 said:
I was wondering if it would even make a difference on which Hard Drive I bought to upgrade my MacBook(white) Hard Drive with?

People have told me there is a feature with the western digital drive that conflicts with the MAC OSX and that I should get the Samsung drive is that true?

Or should I probably just wait for the 500GB Toshiba HDD comes out at the end of the month and pick one of those up?
Click to expand...

Toshiba are bringing out a 500GB the same time as Samsung then?
 
About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.
 
I think I will wait to get a 500GB Hard Drive and just get the 320GB.

When I get off work Im gonna see if I can go snatch up a 320GB Passport at the best buy around the corner from my house.

When I have seen the 500GB Hard Drives prove themselves I think I will buy one and use it in the passport external enclosure.
 
SeanEE89 said:
I think I will wait to get a 500GB Hard Drive and just get the 320GB.

When I get off work Im gonna see if I can go snatch up a 320GB Passport at the best buy around the corner from my house.

When I have seen the 500GB Hard Drives prove themselves I think I will buy one and use it in the passport external enclosure.
Click to expand...

Theoretically, the bigger the drive the greater the density which improves speed.

In other words it is guaranteed the 500s will outperform the 320s all day long.
 
since it's the newest thread about the passport portable 320gb i thought i could ask. anyone found a seller that ships outside of the u.s (to europe) ??
 
smes3817 said:
About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.
Click to expand...

The Model that is in the Passport is WD3200BEVT. Here are the specs.

2.5-inch SATA Hard Drives
320 GB, 3 Gb/s, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM
 
smes3817 said:
About the Passport swap, I hear the Passport Scorpio drives have a 2MB cache while the retail ones (not Passport) have the 8MB cache. Even the model numbers between the actual drives themselves, out of the cases are slightly different.

Because of that, I just bought a Scorpio 320GB drive and separate case last night from Newegg.
Click to expand...

That's not true, i know a buddy that got the same model as me that was pulled from a passport shell.

I got mine from NewEgg.
 
djinn said:
I did the passport swap yesterday and it worked out perfectly.
Click to expand...

Im in the Middle of this process today. I have a question on formating the wd drive. I connected the drive via USB and went to format it before using Carbon Copy to clone it. I went into disc utility and saw the erase tab. Under there you can select the current internal Hd:

111.8 GB Fujitsu MHW2....
Macintosh HD

and you can see the WD Passport Drive:

298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E...
WD Passport

I can select both options ( the "298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" and the "WD Passport") I tried to use the erase function in the "WD passport" to change it to Mac OS Extended Journal (HFS)...and all went well. The "WD Passport" shows as Mac OS Extended Journal. BUT when I select the "the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT). I thought ok...Ill just have to reformat that and I did...it renamed my "WD Passport" to Dsk something or another and its still a Mac OS Extended Journal. Again when I look at the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E..., it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT).

Is there anything I can do to get this going, I have hit a speed bump and I need some advise. The physical part of this is not going to be hard ( I have replaced HD's before...albeit in PC's...but hey Iam a newbie convert).

Sorry if this question is confusing.
 
I've just ordered a WD 250gb for my 2.0 macbook.

I've always used WD drives and have always been a fan of them. Never had problems with any of the WD drives I've owned.
 
tekulvi said:
Im in the Middle of this process today. I have a question on formating the wd drive. I connected the drive via USB and went to format it before using Carbon Copy to clone it. I went into disc utility and saw the erase tab. Under there you can select the current internal Hd:

111.8 GB Fujitsu MHW2....
Macintosh HD

and you can see the WD Passport Drive:

298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E...
WD Passport

I can select both options ( the "298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" and the "WD Passport") I tried to use the erase function in the "WD passport" to change it to Mac OS Extended Journal (HFS)...and all went well. The "WD Passport" shows as Mac OS Extended Journal. BUT when I select the "the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E" it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT). I thought ok...Ill just have to reformat that and I did...it renamed my "WD Passport" to Dsk something or another and its still a Mac OS Extended Journal. Again when I look at the 298.1 GB WD 3200EBV E..., it still shows as MS-DOS (FAT).

Is there anything I can do to get this going, I have hit a speed bump and I need some advise. The physical part of this is not going to be hard ( I have replaced HD's before...albeit in PC's...but hey Iam a newbie convert).

Sorry if this question is confusing.
Click to expand...

Select the root drive, create a single partition, but also go into options and check GUID. By default it selects MBR. Try that.
 
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