Upgrade RAM, HD myself vs. Apple.Ca??

[Chanel]

Hey everyone, hope you're all doing well!

What would you guys recommend?
I'm interested in the 2.2GHz, 120GB, 1GB RAM, Dual Core MacBook.
Now I could upgrade to 4GB RAM and a 250GB HD on the site,
but those prices seem astronomical!
On macsales.com, I can get 4GB RAM for $117
(http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other.../53IM2DDR4GBK/)
On Apple.ca that would cost $935.
Also, I was wondering what (if I take this route) would be the best 250GB+ HD I could get? There are a couple here:
(http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Sea...20Drive&sort=a)

I would be saving literally hundreds of dollars doing it myself, I think that's pretty important being a student and all. I was wondering also, if this in any way voids the warranty on the MacBook? I know I read it somewhere, I just forget . Has anyone heard of getting a HD larger than 250GB in a Macbook?
I would appreciate any opinions or criticisms on what you guys think the best approach is!

Cheers,
Chanel

 

[MacinDoc]

Replacing the RAM and HD yourself will not void the MB warranty, but those components you replace will be covered by their manufacturers' warranties, not Apple's. If you have even the slightest amount of mechanical inclination, I say go for it!

With respect to HDs, I would be a bit cautious with the current line of Seagate drives. Apple has had some serious problems with its batch of Seagates, and there is no indication whether any other Seagates might be affected. Many ppl seem to think that WD is a second tier HD maker. That leaves Hitachi. I don't know about their 250GB drive, but the 7K2 200GB one is outstanding in terms of speed, energy consumption and heat production.

 

[scienide09]

Replacing the RAM and HD yourself will not void the MB warranty, but those components you replace will be covered by their manufacturers' warranties, not Apple's. If you have even the slightest amount of mechanical inclination, I say go for it!

I give a second vote for do it yourself. Just remember to keep the Apple RAM and older drive in case you need to have Apple look at your MacBook in the future.

 

[GfulDedFan]

Hey Chanel -

Upgrading the RAM and HD yourself does not void your warranty. It's also is a lot cheaper than upgrading the items from Apple. As a bonus, when you upgrade yourself, you retain the removed items as opposed to Apple customizing your order; so, if you upgraded to a 250GB HD, your old one (the 120 or 160 that came with your MacBook) could be inserted into an enclosure and used as a spare external drive.

The site that you posted is a good one to look for those items.

-GDF

 

[Chanel]

I give a second vote for do it yourself. Just remember to keep the Apple RAM and older drive in case you need to have Apple look at your MacBook in the future.

If I do it I would definately keep the memory and put the HD in an external case and use as a backup HD.
How big of a difference do you think there would be between a Hitachi 250GB 5400rpm HD, and a Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm HD?
And I've never had to install an operating system to a blank HD, so when you install Leopard on
a brand new HD, is it as simple as putting in the disc and following through with a normal installation?
Does a copy of the Leopard disc come with the Macbok when you buy it off Apple.ca?

Cheers,
Chanel

 

[GfulDedFan]

If I do it I would definately keep the memory and put the HD in an external case and use as a backup HD.
How big of a difference do you think there would be between a Hitachi 250GB 5400rpm HD, and a Hitachi 200GB 7200rpm HD?

One has more space, the other has faster access speed. I have read that the faster (7200) is noisy, uses battery faster, and gets hotter. I don't notice those in my 120GB 7200.

I've never had to install an operating system to a blank HD, so when you install Leopard on
a brand new HD, is it as simple as putting in the disc and following through with a normal installation?

First you need to goto Disc Utility on the Leopard disk and format it for Mac OS Extended (journaled)

Does a copy of the Leopard disc come with the Macbok when you buy it off Apple.ca?

yes...but to make sure, check out the details on the purchase of "What's in the Box"

 

[silverblack]

I did exactly what you wanted to do

I have a 2.2GHz Santa Rosa Macbook, and I upgraded it with 4GB of ram and a 250GB HDD myself - took 5 minutes. The ram were from Kingston, and the HDD was from WD. Both under Cdn $400, from a local store (Ontario).

For ram, I would never buy it online, as I want to be able to exchange them face-to-face if there were ever a problem - which usually appear right away after installation (crashes). The ram for macbooks are very standard nowadays. You should find them in your local computer part stores. Same for the HDDs too. No need to wait and paid for shipping.

I went with the cheaper WD drive (compared to Seagate or Hitachi) because I have had problem in the past with a Hitachi drive, and now the Seagate drives seem to be no good either. In other words, they can all fail when it's time. So I may as well buy the cheapest one (they all come with 5 years warranty anyway). I use an external 500GB drive with Time machine, so I have nothing to worry about.

For reinstallation of Leopard, you must use the dvds that comes with your macbook. The retail Leopard DVD won't work, I tried it. It will say something like - "Your hardware does not allow installation of this version of OS X". To transfer your files, you can either - do a carboncopy or superduper clone on another HDD; or buy a USB enclosure to put your original HDD - and let Migration Assistant to transfer everything over when you setup your new OS.

Email me if you have any question
silverblack@rogers.com

 

[eman]

Upgrade it yourself. Easy to do.

 

[noodle654]

Do it! If it is "user replaceable" I dont see how it can void your warranty.

 

[lord patton]

Definitely do it yourself. The prices Apple charges for RAM are like Mr. Burns charging a 100% surcharge for tickets

If you are don't have anything to back-up, just install from the discs that come with your macBook. If you do have stuff to save (if, for example, you use your MacBook for a week before getting around to the HD swap) then buy an external enclosure, make a clone of the internal HD using Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper, and then your MB will be good to go as soon as you swap the HDs.

 

[TimJim]

Apple wont upgrade the HD for you i don't think and it wont void your warranty unless you brake something when you are doing the upgrade, good luck.

 

[joegomolski]

Upgrade RAM, HD myself vs. Apple.Ca??

This topic has been talked about in a number of discussions.

And I have never hear anyone say that you should go with the Apple upgrade.

I've bought HDD upgrades, and more RAM, from macsales. And I have never had a problem.

On their website look for the self instructions section. And you'll find a Quicktime movie that will go through every step of the upgrade process.

Simple enough that even I can follow it.