Upgraded to a 320GB 7200RPM Hitachi Travelstar! Whoo hoo!

[majordude]

I just finished upgrading to a new Hitachi Travelstar 320GB 7200RPM drive!

I started with a 100GB 7200RPM Hitachi when I bought my MBP (about a year and a half ago and it saved me $100 off of the slower 160 being offered at the time).

About a year ago I upgraded to a 200GB 7200RPM Hitachi and it served me well until I outgrew it.

So now I have the latest and greatest. It took me about 40 minutes to make the swap. It would have been quicker but there is an aluminum bracket that secures the drive inside the MBP and -- of course -- I forgot to put it back. I was literally on the last screw before I realized what I did. I looked down and I said, "What the hell is that?!" and then I let out the loudest "D'oh!" this side of Springfield!

Still, it saved me $100 for the swap at an authorized repair center!

Any ideas on some el cheapo enclosures for my other drives? Those enclosures from Snap-In look like the ticket. What do you think?

 

[dragonmantek]

couldn't help you, but congratulations.

320 is not enough for me though ;P

 

[majordude]

320 is not enough for me though ;P

Well, I have an external 1TB (320 isn't enough for me either!).

 

[Fuchal]

Awesome! I have a WD 5400rpm 320GB in my Blackbook. I was very happy with the easy Macbook swap. It's awesome having so much space!

 

[majordude]

Awesome! I have a WD 5400rpm 320GB in my Blackbook. I was very happy with the easy Macbook swap. It's awesome having so much space!

Sweet!

The funny thing... well, not funny because it's a little irritating... but last August I bought the 200GB Travelstar for $200. This August I bought a 320GB Travelstar for $160!

I'd hate to be in the HD business. Their sales value is about as good as the housing market out here in Mexifornia. More for less in just one year!

 

[alphaod]

Congrats.

 

[ayeying]

Congrats. I upgraded to a 320GB, 7200rpm the first day I got my MacBook Pro. Great drive. I have a western digital though.

 

[sk47]

Congrats. I personally would've went either the samsung or western digital route, but hitachi is always an option as well!

 

[monkey86]

cool, just about to on my 12" pb xD (250gb though)

i got a couple of caddies as i have a few old drives lying around from ebay search for 2.5" IDE/SATA usb/firewire hdd caddy

 

[majordude]

Congrats. I personally would've went either the samsung or western digital route, but hitachi is always an option as well!

Hitachi is consistently faster than those drives (see http://www.barefeats.com/note03.html and elsewhere)... and I'll never buy another WD drive again. I've been through two or three of their el crappo My Book external drives because the drive has either died or the enclosure has died.

 

[DaveTheGrey]

Congrats! I updated recently my MBP to the 500GB Samsung Spinpoint. Good to know you have enough space
(swap process could be easier though. cough apple? cough)

 

[majordude]

(swap process could be easier though. cough apple? cough)

Yeah. Why Apple hides the hard drive behind about 19 screws (instead of a panel with two screws) I'll never know. It's really an irritating design for us DIY people.

My guess is that Apple wants you to buy the biggest hard drive and most memory you can from THEM at the time of purchase. Hell, I figure I saved at least $250 on memory and HDs by buying them third party and installing it myself.

 

[sk47]

Hitachi is consistently faster than those drives (see http://www.barefeats.com/note03.html and elsewhere)... and I'll never buy another WD drive again. I've been through two or three of their el crappo My Book external drives because the drive has either died or the enclosure has died.

yeah, hitachi drives are good (but keep in mind that the samsung 500 is thinner than the hitachi 500, the latter which can only fit in the 17inch mbp while the former can fit in both 15 and 17inch mbps)
lol... it's just that I've had wd and samsung drives my entire life with no problems, so felt no need to switch to any other company. Likewise, I've heard great things about the hitachi so hopefully, you'll be sticking to them throughout =)

 

[panzer06]

I just
Any ideas on some el cheapo enclosures for my other drives? Those enclosures from Snap-In look like the ticket. What do you think?

I have the Snap-in enclosure. Works as advertised but a little cheaply made. Plate on back that labels ports fell off day one but it works.

Cheers,

 

[deltaiscain]

congrats, i'm still using a 200gb 7200rpm. i just wiped everything, and intalled only bare essential, and i'm using 65 gb, so i don't think i need a larger one

 

[MowingDevil]

... and I'll never buy another WD drive again. I've been through two or three of their el crappo My Book external drives because the drive has either died or the enclosure has died.

I've never had a problem w/ my WD My Book Premium 500gb f/w drive....I did have a problem w/ a Maxtor 300gb f/w drive but sent it back & they refurbished it no questions asked. So between the 2 of them I'm close to a tb.

Just picked up a Glyph Portagig f/w-800 200gb 7200 bus powered hd for my new laptop. Haven't put it to use yet but it seems like a very solid unit for such a small drive.

 

[majordude]

I did have a problem w/ a Maxtor 300gb f/w drive but sent it back & they refurbished it no questions asked.

To me, that's like saying the lock on the safe had problems so I sent it back for repairs. My data is irreplaceable, if the damn drive doesn't work 100% it simply doesn't work.

I've found that IBM/Hitachi to be the most reliable, Seagate second, Toshiba third, Maxtor forth and WD fifth... a very, very distant fifth.

 

[koolit]

Wd

Congrats. I upgraded to a 320GB, 7200rpm the first day I got my MacBook Pro. Great drive. I have a western digital though.

Hey there, can I ask you if your WD drive makes more noise than the original one you replaced?

I changed my 200gb 7200rpm drive for a Western Digital WD3200BEKT 7200 - since then every 30 seconds or so the drive sounds like its just been woken up. Wondered if its characteristic of the WD drives or not?

Any comments you have would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Rick.

 

[klagermkii]

I changed my 200gb 7200rpm drive for a Western Digital WD3200BEKT 7200 - since then every 30 seconds or so the drive sounds like its just been woken up. Wondered if its characteristic of the WD drives or not?

Had nothing like that with my WD3200BEKT. I think it's got a louder ambient noise now than with the old 120GB Fujitsu, but I don't have any problems with startup sounds/strange clicking/whining every 30 seconds.

It does vibrate slightly more than the original drive though, although this is only noticeable if you put it on a hollow surface. You can hear the vibration transmit through the whole surface then.

Hitachi is consistently faster than those drives (see http://www.barefeats.com/note03.html and elsewhere)

Ah but that was for the 5400 rpm version of the Western Digital drive, so I thought if the 5400 rpm version was that fast how much faster would the 7200 rpm be Anyway it's been a good many years since I was last burnt with Western Digital so I'll give them a chance again.

 

[poppe]

Hey guys, I just wanted to get an update on how your battery lives were doing on your laptops? Specifically the 320 and 500 hard drive replacements. I've out grown my 160 about 3 days after I ordered my MBP (2 years ago almost) and would love to upgrade to the 500.

 

[majordude]

Hey guys, I just wanted to get an update on how your battery lives were doing on your laptops? Specifically the 320 and 500 hard drive replacements. I've out grown my 160 about 3 days after I ordered my MBP (2 years ago almost) and would love to upgrade to the 500.

I hardly ever run off my battery so I really don't have any input for you.

 

[poppe]

I hardly ever run off my battery so I really don't have any input for you.

Okay sounds good. That is what I run my most on. Thank you

 

[vm7118]

have you noticed any increase in vibration or noise?

i bought the hitachi 7k320 the day it was available at OWC back in early july, and it's only given me trouble ever since. i actually recently sent it out to hitachi to get it repaired/replaced, and hopefully a later model replacement will have those kinks worked out.

in the meantime, i've ordered myself a seagate 7200rpm 320gb drive, which could be even faster, and it definitely draws less power, and hopefully it's silent the drive i'm using now is my stock 160gb 7200rpm (also a seagate). this hitachi mess left a sour taste in my mouth... and i wish tom's hardware had done this comparison a couple months ago:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/notebook-hard-drive,2006-17.html

although, admittedly, the hitachi was the only one available at the time. i wish i had listened, for once, to the old "never buy first gen hardware" mantra, since it seems the seagate or even the WD may be better choices.

 

[majordude]

have you noticed any increase in vibration or noise?

No. I can't even hear the drive. All I hear are the fans when needed and my external Fantom drive when accessed.

Again, this is why I got the Hitachi:

http://barefeats.com/note03.html

Over the past two years they have always been faster than the Seagates. Barefeats doesn't test for noise so I can't comment on that.

 

[MowingDevil]

To me, that's like saying the lock on the safe had problems so I sent it back for repairs. My data is irreplaceable, if the damn drive doesn't work 100% it simply doesn't work.

I've found that IBM/Hitachi to be the most reliable, Seagate second, Toshiba third, Maxtor forth and WD fifth... a very, very distant fifth.

It wasn't like that. My drive started to make an unusual whirring sound so I backed everything up & sent it in just to be safe. They fixed the problem & its been great ever since.