I just got a powerbook off of eBay (to replace my old Ti) and I'm interested in upgrading it as it is pretty much stock. So any sugguestions on the best hard drives, ram would be appreciated. oh and does anybody know if Micro Center or Comp USA can install this stuff?
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Upgrading a 12" Powerbook 1ghz
- Thread starter wilburdl
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Hey,
I got the 1GHZ Powerbook and upgraded the 512mb RAM to 1.25 GHZ by replacing the 256mb sd RAM that is user replacable (it defulats with at least one 256 card but that is soldered to the logic board I believe). I replaced it with a 1GB RAM from Crucial (UK).
The hard drive looks tricky but I really need to do that soon. I haven't had the need to cause I bought a 2.4 MacBook Pro the other week and replaced the hard drive in there to 250GB (Which was fun!) to replace the Powerbook anyway.
Hope that helps a little.
I got the 1GHZ Powerbook and upgraded the 512mb RAM to 1.25 GHZ by replacing the 256mb sd RAM that is user replacable (it defulats with at least one 256 card but that is soldered to the logic board I believe). I replaced it with a 1GB RAM from Crucial (UK).
The hard drive looks tricky but I really need to do that soon. I haven't had the need to cause I bought a 2.4 MacBook Pro the other week and replaced the hard drive in there to 250GB (Which was fun!) to replace the Powerbook anyway.
Hope that helps a little.
I recently resurrected an old 12" 1ghz powerbook with a dead hard drive. I bought a 7200k Hitachi drive from New Egg and used the instructions from ifixit to install it. It was very easy to do if you read carefully and don't go too fast. I wouldn't have attempted the swap without those instructions.
The 7200 drive is a dream and the machine runs leopard amazingly well with only 512MB of ram!
The 7200 drive is a dream and the machine runs leopard amazingly well with only 512MB of ram!
Cool. So you'd recommend the 7200rpm HDD from Hitachi. I was wondering if it got hot or wear down the battery. I was trying to remember that site as well! Thanks.
Did Crucial make the RAM or was it a store? I'm interested in knowing the brand. Thanks.
I thought I'd chime in......
I just rebuilt my 12"PB and max'd the ram from NewEgg and I used the Seagate Momentous 7200 rpm drive and it runs like a new machine.
I have not noticed and drcrease in Battery run time either. You'll be happy with the upgrades. I am only running Tiger however after X-Mas I runn Leopard too!
Good Luck
I just rebuilt my 12"PB and max'd the ram from NewEgg and I used the Seagate Momentous 7200 rpm drive and it runs like a new machine.
I have not noticed and drcrease in Battery run time either. You'll be happy with the upgrades. I am only running Tiger however after X-Mas I runn Leopard too!
Good Luck
The 7200k Hitachi doesn't seem any hotter and the battery (which is already a year old or so) gets about 3 hours so I don't notice any drain. There are tons of reviews for this drive on Newegg and most people were happy with it. That's why I bought it.
Why can't I get a quiet drive in my PB?
I upgraded my 1.5 GHz 12" PB recently (768 RAM --> 1.25 ; 60 GB HD --> 120 GB).
What I can't understand is why I can't get a hard drive that is quiet. The first drive I used was a Western Digital 120 GB (from New Egg). It made noise like this:
www.melodicmovement.com
Then I got a Seagate from MicroCenter. It's steady-state is louder (more background whirling noise) and also has the occasional (like, every 5-15 seconds) click.
Hell, even the hard drive I put in the wife's MacBook (a 160 GB Western Digital) has this weird noise (although not as noticeable).
All the drives were OEM models. What the hell? Am I really that unlucky? I have a week or two to return the second drive to MicroCenter if I want to try again. On the plus side, I'm getting really comfortable opening this thing up. On the down side, I don't want to get cockyevery time I put it back together it seems the case is a little more reluctant to snap back. I don't want to press my luck and have the cumulative damage destroy a very, very capable machine (running Leopard, btw).
Any advice?
I upgraded my 1.5 GHz 12" PB recently (768 RAM --> 1.25 ; 60 GB HD --> 120 GB).
What I can't understand is why I can't get a hard drive that is quiet. The first drive I used was a Western Digital 120 GB (from New Egg). It made noise like this:
www.melodicmovement.com
Then I got a Seagate from MicroCenter. It's steady-state is louder (more background whirling noise) and also has the occasional (like, every 5-15 seconds) click.
Hell, even the hard drive I put in the wife's MacBook (a 160 GB Western Digital) has this weird noise (although not as noticeable).
All the drives were OEM models. What the hell? Am I really that unlucky? I have a week or two to return the second drive to MicroCenter if I want to try again. On the plus side, I'm getting really comfortable opening this thing up. On the down side, I don't want to get cockyevery time I put it back together it seems the case is a little more reluctant to snap back. I don't want to press my luck and have the cumulative damage destroy a very, very capable machine (running Leopard, btw).
Any advice?
I've got a 1.33 Ghz 12" Powerbook that I upgraded with more RAM and a new 100 GB 7200 Seagate Momentus Drive (replacing the stock 4200 RPM 60 GB Hitachi I had in there). I went with the Seagate over the Hitachi because I read that the Seagate was much quieter, seems very quiet to me in operation too!
The upgrade has helped alot (boot up and application starts are much faster) and totalled maybe $200. The online instructions for replacing the hard drive are critical, and it's not that hard, just need to go slow and take your time. I screwed up and made the mistake of using some needle nose pliers to disconnect the microphone plug from the logic board and ended up accidentally pulling out a wire (ack!)... dead microphone, which I never used any way, but still, go slow! I used a ice cube tray to keep track of all the screws.
Given that you have a 1Ghz machine, if you have some money to spend you may consider doing a processor upgrade to 1.67Ghz. Right now they're selling for $359. If Apple doesn't come out with another small laptop in the next year I may consider doing that myself. By the way, I think you can buy other upgrades from Daystar along with the processor and they'll install them for you (you need to ship your computer in to get the processor upgrade).
The upgrade has helped alot (boot up and application starts are much faster) and totalled maybe $200. The online instructions for replacing the hard drive are critical, and it's not that hard, just need to go slow and take your time. I screwed up and made the mistake of using some needle nose pliers to disconnect the microphone plug from the logic board and ended up accidentally pulling out a wire (ack!)... dead microphone, which I never used any way, but still, go slow! I used a ice cube tray to keep track of all the screws.
Given that you have a 1Ghz machine, if you have some money to spend you may consider doing a processor upgrade to 1.67Ghz. Right now they're selling for $359. If Apple doesn't come out with another small laptop in the next year I may consider doing that myself. By the way, I think you can buy other upgrades from Daystar along with the processor and they'll install them for you (you need to ship your computer in to get the processor upgrade).
Okay, I've had my "new" powerbook for a couple of days and it's noticeably faster than the old Ti (of course). I like the smaller (and lighter) form factor as well. Considering I only paid $500 on Ebay for it I feel like I'll never buy a new computer again.
I appreciate all the input. I was trying to find a difference between the Hitachi and Seagate and if what was posted is true then I'd happily pay a lil' extra for a quieter drive. I didn't know you could upgrade the processor though. After I upgrade the 1gb RAM and 7200 rpm HDD I can't imagine really needing a faster processor (I have a G5 as my main computer).
But my question still remains--I'd like to know a retailer who installs the harddrives. If the prices aren't too rediculous I'd prefer that option over doing it myself. I keep looking at the ifixit guide and after counting all those screws, think I may be pushing my DIY limits.
hhhmm
OK, what exactly is stopping me? sensors? ports? screw holes? the pure shape of the MLB?
Thanks
OK, what exactly is stopping me? sensors? ports? screw holes? the pure shape of the MLB?
Thanks