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Scorpio Blue 320Gb or 500Gb Upgrade

B

Burrens

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 29, 2009
6
0
I am planning to purchase a 13" Macbook Pro base model (first Mac by the way), and I want to upgrade from the stock 160Gb HDD.

I don't really see myself needing 500Gb, but I have read that a higher density drive outperforms a lower density drive. Newegg currently has the 500 WD Scorpio Blue drive listed for $30 over the 320Gb edition. Will I see significant performance increase by going with the 500Gb model instead of the 320Gb one?

What about power consumption? Is one better than the other?

Thanks in advance.
 
Have a look here:
Scorpio Blue and Black Review

I opted for the Scorpio Blue ;)

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Burrens said:
I am planning to purchase a 13" Macbook Pro base model (first Mac by the way), and I want to upgrade from the stock 160Gb HDD.

I don't really see myself needing 500Gb, but I have read that a higher density drive outperforms a lower density drive. Newegg currently has the 500 WD Scorpio Blue drive listed for $30 over the 320Gb edition. Will I see significant performance increase by going with the 500Gb model instead of the 320Gb one?

What about power consumption? Is one better than the other?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

It's $30, just go for the 500 GB model.
 
If two drives are made by the same manufacturer and have the same spindle speed, even if they are different sizes, they should use (for all practical purposes) the same amount of power.
One could argue that the larger drive uses less power because the head doesn't have to move as much because of the more closely packed data.
 
SaintsMac said:
I just installed the Scorpio Blue 500GB yesterday from the stock 160 and I love it! It is a solid HD.
Click to expand...

Are you noticing less heat/noise over the stock drive? Can you comment on battery consumption. Also, what did you end up doing to the stock drive?

I guess my concern is that I will be paying 46% more for the 500Gb one and I don't necessarily know that I should. Then again I can be easily swayed. I have 40Gb free on my 160Gb windows drive, but I do want at least 320Gb. I am wondering if the $30 is worth the performance increase and not so much the storage increase.
 
Burrens said:
Are you noticing less heat/noise over the stock drive? Can you comment on battery consumption. Also, what did you end up doing to the stock drive?

I guess my concern is that I will be paying 46% more for the 500Gb one and I don't necessarily know that I should. Then again I can be easily swayed. I have 40Gb free on my 160Gb windows drive, but I do want at least 320Gb. I am wondering if the $30 is worth the performance increase and not so much the storage increase.
Click to expand...

Yes, it is worth the extra few $$$
Very quiet, cool and the 5400 doesn't strain the battery

I put the stock drive in an external slimline case... dirt cheap and very portable

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
I was either thinking of putting mine in an external enclosure or selling it to buy a larger external back-up drive.

For those out there with 320Gb or 500Gb drives, how much space do you guys allocate on an external drive partition for Time Machine?
 
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So all you guys replacing hard drives don't ever take your macbook to applecare? Or you guys put in the stock hard drive everytime you need to?

What kind of tools is needed to switch the hard drive and where can I get them locally?
 
trevorplease said:
So all you guys replacing hard drives don't ever take your macbook to applecare? Or you guys put in the stock hard drive everytime you need to?

What kind of tools is needed to switch the hard drive and where can I get them locally?
Click to expand...

Phillips 00
Torx #6

You will just have to check around
I got mine at Lowes
But you can do better online

Most will recommend putting in the stock drive if you have to send the Mac back for any reason


Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
When it comes to Hard Drive selection there is only one rule as to capacity.

It is much better to have extra capacity that is not needed, then it is to need extra capacity and not have it !!!
Click to expand...
 
So I can just go to city mill or home depot for the tools?

And, OS X will be installed on both drives without any problems? Confusing business, having never owned a laptop in my life.
 
OS X will install fine. I say get the larger drive. Space always seems to get used.

I've gotten 3 of these and I did get one that had significant vibration. Enough that I did a return/replace. So be prepared you might have go through this to upgrade.

I bought an external USB drive for $20 to test mine before I installed it into the Mac. Didn't even mount in the case. Just hooked up the controller to the drive and plugged it in.

Mind you I have an early 2008 MBP so technically the drive is not user replaceable so I wanted to be sure that it was OK before I installed. You will have an easier time with the new macs.

WARNING though: Do NOT upgrade the EFI firmware to V1.7. I understand that it is not compatible with replacement drives. There should be a fix coming sometime for this. Check other threads for this.
 
trevorplease said:
So I can just go to city mill or home depot for the tools?

And, OS X will be installed on both drives without any problems? Confusing business, having never owned a laptop in my life.
Click to expand...



Yeah it will of course be on your original one, and you can use the OSX reinstall disks that come with the Macbook to put it on the new hard drive.
 
Why would you have to replace the stock drive when you send you notebook to Apple Care? I thought upgrading the RAM and HDD did not void the warranty.

Am I missing something?
 
Sending in a notebook with an upgraded drive/ram can be an issue.

Not that Apple won't repair the notebook ... but they may repair it to original spec.

If it was built with a 160GB and sent in with a 250GB, it could come back with a 160GB, if the HDD was at fault.

Same for the RAM, in fact I sent in a notebook where we added a RAM module, when it came back the 3rd party ram had been removed. It was returned to us, but Apple would not reinstall it.

Along these lines .... say your notebook won't boot. You reinstall the original HDD and now it boots.

You may have figured out the trouble and saved the notebook from being sent back to Apple.
 
Burrens said:
I have 40Gb free on my 160Gb windows drive, but I do want at least 320Gb. I am wondering if the $30 is worth the performance increase and not so much the storage increase.
Click to expand...

Hard drives slow down as they get fuller. Its good to have free space to help maintain max speed.
 
Skydiver32 said:
NewEgg has a 2nd 500Gb Scorpio with the shock protector. Is anybody using this one? It's $10 more expensive and but more importantly would this feature affect the drive?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136381
Would this be the correct drive for 13MBP?
Click to expand...

Yes it would be the correct drive. However, all WD notebook drives have the feature called Shockguard, which is not the same as the free-fall sensor. Also, the reason this particular drive is $10 more at Newegg than the other is that it's probably a 'retail' packaged drive, in a box. The cheaper one is an OEM drive which is shipped bare, wrapped in bubble wrap and a plastic envelope. They are identical drives, other than the RTL at the end of the model number. Just check out Western Digital's website for the following information:

From Western Digital's Scorpio Black (7200 rpm) page:

* WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks during shipping and handling and in daily operation.
* WD's SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long term reliability due to less head wear and improved shock tolerance.

Free-fall sensor - As an added layer of protection, if the drive (or the system it's in) is dropped while in use, WD's free-fall sensor detects that the drive is falling and, in less than 200 milliseconds, parks the head to help prevent damage and data loss.

Largest Scorpio Black drive is 320gig.

Model: WD3200BEKT - without free fall sensor
Model: WD3200BJKT - with free fall sensor
​
From Western Digital's Scorpio Blue (5400 rpm) page:
Reliable and rugged - WD's ShockGuard technology protects the drive mechanics and platter surfaces from shocks. WD's SecurePark parks the recording heads off the disk surface during spin up, spin down, and when the drive is off. This ensures the recording head never touches the disk surface resulting in improved long-term reliability due to less head wear, and improved non-operational shock tolerance.

Largest Scorpio Blue drive is 500gig.

Model: WD5000BEVT - no free fall sensor available in any Scorpio Blue model.​

These are just the facts. Available on Western Digital's website.
 
Z06jerry said:
Hard drives slow down as they get fuller. Its good to have free space to help maintain max speed.
Click to expand...

Myth. Only time they slow down is when you are almost out of space totally.

They do not slow down by putting stuff on them.
 
nizmoz said:
Myth. Only time they slow down is when you are almost out of space totally.

They do not slow down by putting stuff on them.
Click to expand...

Seems to me you are contradicting yourself somewhat.

I have never seen it stated exactly how much free space needs to be maintained to avoid any slowdowns, if you have please share your source.

http://www.speed-up-your-slow-computer.com/free-up-disk-space.html

For the OP to save $30 on a 320gb vs 500gb seems kind of of foolish. Just my 2¢
 
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