Upgrading a HDD in a new Macbook Pro 13"

[Ash9414]

When I get a 13" Macbook Pro later this year, I'm not sure whether to leave the HD at the 250GB standard then upgrade to a 500GB 5400RPM WD Scorpio Blue for ~£80, upgrade to 320GB on the Apple Store website so I don't have to do any work inside the laptop for £40, or just install a 500GB HD straight away so I don't have to clone my HD.

So the three choices are (in case you got a bit confused):

• Leave the HD at 250GB, and upgrade later to 500GB
• Upgrade to 320GB from the Apple Store
• Upgrade to a WD 500GB straight from when I get my MBP

Also, how would one go about installing a new drive, and what tools would be needed?

 

[Hellhammer]

Get the 250GB and upgrade IF needed

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd_h/

 

[Ash9414]

Get the 250GB and upgrade IF needed

http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/macbookpro_13_unibody_hd_h/

Will I see any speed difference between the 250GB and the 320GB? Also, if I get the 320GB then I may not have to upgrade at all, but this doesn't mean that I could get the 320GB and upgrade to 500GB later too as it's only £40.

If I go for the 320GB and it goes wrong, will I be able to exchange it at an Apple Store because it isn't the base model?

Do you know what tools I will need and perhaps where to get them?

 

[Hellhammer]

Will I see any speed difference between the 250GB and the 320GB? Also, if I get the 320GB then I may not have to upgrade at all, but this doesn't mean that I could get the 320GB and upgrade to 500GB later too as it's only £40.

Not really.. It's up to you, 320GB now or 500GB later on if needed.

If I go for the 320GB and it goes wrong, will I be able to exchange it at an Apple Store because it isn't the base model?

You can't exchange the whole Mac but they can replace the HD with new 320GB

Do you know what tools I will need and perhaps where to get them?

Just some small screwdrivers, don't remember the exact specs

 

[Ash9414]

Not really.. It's up to you, 320GB now or 500GB later on if needed.



You can't exchange the whole Mac but they can replace the HD with new 320GB



Just some small screwdrivers, don't remember the exact specs

I've read some tutorials of how to transfer the data before switching the hard drives, and I don't think I would feel confident in doing it. Also, I've just looked at how much hard drive space I have in my current Windows XP laptop and it seems as if this only had 40GB of space when I got it 5 or 6 years ago. At this moment, I have about 5GB left out of the 40GB, so I think 250GB would now be enough? As you say I can always upgrade if I need to but after finding out this about my current HDD I don't think I'll need to... However, I will be putting 4 or 5 movies onto my MBP but I've heard they only take up around 1GB each which isn't too much. I only have about 5GB of music and I don't think that will grow too quickly within the next few years, it will probably just double in size. So would you recommend that I should just get the 250GB drive too?

P.S. I may partition my drive to run a version of Windows eventually, how much of the 250GB would you say would be needed for Windows? I will probably only use it for the games that I have for Windows already (Spore, BF2142 and some others) so I don't think it will be that much.

 

[Hellhammer]

I've read some tutorials of how to transfer the data before switching the hard drives, and I don't think I would feel confident in doing it. Also, I've just looked at how much hard drive space I have in my current Windows XP laptop and it seems as if this only had 40GB of space when I got it 5 or 6 years ago. At this moment, I have about 5GB left out of the 40GB, so I think 250GB would now be enough? As you say I can always upgrade if I need to but after finding out this about my current HDD I don't think I'll need to... However, I will be putting 4 or 5 movies onto my MBP but I've heard they only take up around 1GB each which isn't too much. I only have about 5GB of music and I don't think that will grow too quickly within the next few years, it will probably just double in size. So would you recommend that I should just get the 250GB drive too?

P.S. I may partition my drive to run a version of Windows eventually, how much of the 250GB would you say would be needed for Windows? I will probably only use it for the games that I have for Windows already (Spore, BF2142 and some others) so I don't think it will be that much.

250GB will be more than fine and you can always get an external for movies and other space hogging data.

You're fine with ~50GB with those games, you can always add it if needed

 

[Ash9414]

250GB will be more than fine and you can always get an external for movies and other space hogging data.

You're fine with ~50GB with those games, you can always add it if needed

You can add to a partition? I thought you had to erase your old partition and then create a new one with more space?

Also, what would you consider space hogging data? I will only have a few movies on my MBP so I can put them on my iPod touch. Maybe up to about 10 or so, which is only 10GB maybe even a little less.

Can you partition an external hard drive too? You said I could always put the movies on the external, so I'm guessing you meant I could split the external for Time Machine and then for anything else I may need it for?

 

[Hellhammer]

You can add to a partition? I thought you had to erase your old partition and then create a new one with more space?

Yes

Also, what would you consider space hogging data? I will only have a few movies on my MBP so I can put them on my iPod touch. Maybe up to about 10 or so, which is only 10GB maybe even a little less.

Standard movies aren't that space hogging unless you have a lot of them but HD movies/TV series, high quality music and HQ photos. Sounds like you don't have any of those, so you're fine.

Can you partition an external hard drive too? You said I could always put the movies on the external, so I'm guessing you meant I could split the external for Time Machine and then for anything else I may need it for?

Yeah, you can do that. It's recommended so TM won't fill the whole HD

 

[spaceballl]

Save up a bit and get an SSD? You will not regret that one...

 

[Ash9414]

Standard movies aren't that space hogging unless you have a lot of them but HD movies/TV series, high quality music and HQ photos. Sounds like you don't have any of those, so you're fine.

I just have normal DVDs I think, and all my music is off of a CD. I don't have a camera so I will only have photos from the internet for wallpapers etc.

Yeah, you can do that. It's recommended so TM won't fill the whole HD

Ok, so with a 500GB, how much would you say to give to Time Machine? Around 450GB?

Also, I found out the specs of both Spore and Battlefield 2142.

Spore:
OS Windows XP/Vista or Mac OS X 10.5.3 or higher
CPU Intel Core Duo Processor
RAM 1024MB
Hard Drive At least 4.7GB of hard drive space for installation, plus additional space for creations.
Video ATI X1600 or nVidia 7300GT with 128MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100 (For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least: Intel Integrated Chipset GMA X3100 with Dual 2.0GHz CPUs, or 1.7GHz Core 2 Duo equivalent. On the Mac, this game will not run on the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.)
Internet Internet connection required

Note: On the box and CD, there is a simple of a PC and a Mac, so I'm guessing this works on both PC and Mac because it also gives the specs for Macs as well (which I have written above).

BF2142:
Required Internet Connection
OS Windows Xp with Admin Rights
Processor 1.7GHz Intel Pentium 4/AMD Athlon XP/Sempron
Memory 512MB RAM
Hard Drive 3.0GB
DVD-ROM 8 Speed
Video Card 128MB (Supported chipsets: nVidia GeForce FX 5700 or greater; ATI Radeon 9500 or greater. Note: Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported.
Sound Card DirectX 9.0c compatible
DirectX Version 9.0c [included]
Online Multiplayer 128Kbps or faster
Input Keyboard, Mouse

Seeing as it looks like Spore will run on a Mac, I don't think I'll bother creating a partition for Windows as none of my friends really play BF2142 anymore and I can always use my Mum's computer. I've never really played Spore because it needs 1GB of RAM, and my Mum's only has 512MB I believe. So do you think Spore will run on a 13" MBP?

 

[Hellhammer]

Ok, so with a 500GB, how much would you say to give to Time Machine? Around 450GB?

Not so much, like 300GB, even less depending on how much stuff you have in your internal.

Also, I found out the specs of both Spore and Battlefield 2142.

Seeing as it looks like Spore will run on a Mac, I don't think I'll bother creating a partition for Windows as none of my friends really play BF2142 anymore and I can always use my Mum's computer. I've never really played Spore because it needs 1GB of RAM, and my Mum's only has 512MB I believe. So do you think Spore will run on a 13" MBP?

There is Mac version of BF2142 too. 13" MBP will run them both fine

 

[Ash9414]

Not so much, like 300GB, even less depending on how much stuff you have in your internal.



There is Mac version of BF2142 too. 13" MBP will run them both fine

Will they run them good on an external monitor too (20"-23" range) because it will probably get hot if I play the games on the laptop. (When I get an external monitor I will also get something like a BookArc to keep the MBP cool).

Also, why do you say that I shouldn't devote so much to Time Machine? Surely it's better to have more stuff backed up in case you need it in the future?

 

[Hellhammer]

Will they run them good on an external monitor too (20"-23" range) because it will probably get hot if I play the games on the laptop. (When I get an external monitor I will also get something like a BookArc to keep the MBP cool).

Ext monitor is a harder question.. It'll likely run them fine at low settings

Also, why do you say that I shouldn't devote so much to Time Machine? Surely it's better to have more stuff backed up in case you need it in the future?

But if there isn't more stuff to back up? You can later on resize it to give more space for TM if needed

 

[Ash9414]

Save up a bit and get an SSD? You will not regret that one...

I can't really afford a SSD at the moment, I'm going to use the money I save with the BGS promotion and the HE discount to get an external monitor along with an Apple wireless KB and mouse. I've heard the SSD prices will get lower within the next year, so if I feel my MBP is a little slow for my needs then I may look into SSDs, although I don't think I'll be needing one.

 

[Ash9414]

Ext monitor is a harder question.. It'll likely run them fine at low settings



But if there isn't more stuff to back up? You can later on resize it to give more space for TM if needed

Well if I only have a 250GB hard drive then I suppose I won't have much to back up. I'll probably decide that later as I haven't even got the MBP yet!

If you say those games will run on low settings on an external display, will they run at high settings on the 13" screen? Also, how do you know what the highest settings are that your system can run? Will it just not load the game if you are asking it to use too higher settings?

 

[Hellhammer]

If you say those games will run on low settings on an external display, will they run at high settings on the 13" screen? Also, how do you know what the highest settings are that your system can run? Will it just not load the game if you are asking it to use too higher settings?

Probably medium settings at 1280x800, hard to say, depends on game. It can run it at highest settings but the gameplay will be VERY choppy, you get like few FPS i.e. unplayable. Smooth gameplay is +30FPS which you should achieve with lower settings

 

[Ash9414]

Probably medium settings at 1280x800, hard to say, depends on game. It can run it at highest settings but the gameplay will be VERY choppy, you get like few FPS i.e. unplayable. Smooth gameplay is +30FPS which you should achieve with lower settings

Ok, that's alright though because you probably won't see much of a difference on a 13" screen. Regarding the external display, will standard definition movies look good on a 21.5" screen, and will the quality of OSX look good on it? I'm looking at two 22" (21.5") monitors atm;

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=274817

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/.../EN/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

 

[Hellhammer]

Ok, that's alright though because you probably won't see much of a difference on a 13" screen. Regarding the external display, will standard definition movies look good on a 21.5" screen, and will the quality of OSX look good on it? I'm looking at two 22" (21.5") monitors atm;

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=274817

http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/.../EN/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=feature

SD quality movies won't look THAT good but IMO they suck in all screens OS X will be native res and look like it was made for that screen, so it'll look good. The Dell link ain't working for me

 

[Ash9414]

SD quality movies won't look THAT good but IMO they suck in all screens OS X will be native res and look like it was made for that screen, so it'll look good. The Dell link ain't working for me

Try this one?

http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1&sku=274817

The Dell is more expensive, but I'm guessing it's better value for money. What do you think?

 

[Ash9414]

That one doesn't work either, try searching this:

SX2210 Full HD 22"(56 cm) Widescreen Flat Panel Monitor

 

[kernkraft]

It's such a common dilemma, that there are hundreds of threads about it.


I would recommend getting the standard HDD, in the meantime, ordering a 320-500 GB 7200rpm HDD with large buffer and with that 'drop thingy'.

Start your computer, enjoy it for a little bit, THEN either do a clean install on the new HDD or clone it.

In 12-18 months, upgrade to SSD. They are far too expensive now and what you would get is significantly lower grade, much more expensive and with a lot less storage.

So, to summarise, get a 7200rpm HDD, but not from Apple!

 

[Ash9414]

It's such a common dilemma, that there are hundreds of threads about it.


I would recommend getting the standard HDD, in the meantime, ordering a 320-500 GB 7200rpm HDD with large buffer and with that 'drop thingy'.

Start your computer, enjoy it for a little bit, THEN either do a clean install on the new HDD or clone it.

In 12-18 months, upgrade to SSD. They are far too expensive now and what you would get is significantly lower grade, much more expensive and with a lot less storage.

So, to summarise, get a 7200rpm HDD, but not from Apple!

Not sure if you've read all the posts in this thread, but I'm just gonna leave it at 250GB because I've only used 35GB of storage on my PC laptop that I'm typing on now over 6 years of use, so I don't think I'll fill 250GB too quickly.

 

[kernkraft]

Not sure if you've read all the posts in this thread, but I'm just gonna leave it at 250GB because I've only used 35GB of storage on my PC laptop that I'm typing on now over 6 years of use, so I don't think I'll fill 250GB too quickly.

Sorry, my mistake, but my point stands. The price difference in getting a faster-spinning drive is minor, the same applies to the buffer.


HOWEVER... IF 35 GB would be what I need, I would consider getting an SSD now. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-006-PA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910 This one is 64, if 30 is enough, you can almost get one half this price.

Anything above 64GB and you are still better off with a 7200rpm HDD. Scorpions are good. I have a Seagate, it's OK, but I would buy a Scorpion the next time.

 

[Ash9414]

Sorry, my mistake, but my point stands. The price difference in getting a faster-spinning drive is minor, the same applies to the buffer.


HOWEVER... IF 35 GB would be what I need, I would consider getting an SSD now. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-006-PA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910 This one is 64, if 30 is enough, you can almost get one half this price.

Anything above 64GB and you are still better off with a 7200rpm HDD. Scorpions are good. I have a Seagate, it's OK, but I would buy a Scorpion the next time.

I don't really need the extra speed of a SSD, although it would be nice I'd rather spend the money on peripherals and that external display above. Maybe I'll look into them more in a year or so.

 

[kernkraft]

I don't really need the extra speed of a SSD, although it would be nice I'd rather spend the money on peripherals and that external display above. Maybe I'll look into them more in a year or so.

You are right to prioratise, especially in favour of an external display. Of course, you can sell the original HDD on Ebay, so any HDD upgrade will not be much of an expense.

Having said that, you can always replace the HDD, but having an external display will make things just so much nicer!