Upgrading Imac C2D 2ghz Hard Drive. Which hard drive?

[moonislune]

So I've decided to finally take the plunge and upgrade my Imac 17" C2D 2.0ghz hard drive....unless I can be convinced otherwise. .. I know I'll lose any chance of buying AppleCare for this thing if I do the upgrade myself.

The stock hard drive is getting pretty full and Ive moved as much as I can off of it and onto dvds or external drives...just need more space mostly for video and sound editing. When I was looking at the specs on the stock 120gb drive, to my horror it only has 8mb cache while the newer drives have 16mb cache...so I'm also opting for a small performance gain. So I've found 2 drives at my local compusa. Has anyone reading this done this before? What drive did you use? Has the drive been RELIABLE? Many many thanks as always MacRumors members!

Maxtor 500GB $169.00
Link: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=sata&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=sata&No=20&Ns=display%5Fprice%7C0&Ntk=All&product_code=333926&Pn=Basics_500GB_Hard_Drive

Western Digital 500gb $139.00
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=SEARCH&Ntt=sata&N=0&Dx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&D=sata&No=20&Ns=display%5Fprice%7C0&Ntk=All&product_code=338830&Pn=Caviar_SE16_500GB_Hard_Drive

 

[devincco]

Out of those 2, go with the Western Digital. You may want to look at Seagates. They have a 5yr warranty. Also if you can wait, you can probably find better deals online saving yourself $20+.

 

[solvs]

This one's only $109 with free shipping:

http://shop4.outpost.com/{9hdxfcoHP...yWfj63JKQ**.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

But I don't know if it's the one with only a year's warranty. If you can find it for a good price, get the Seagate. As said, 5 year warranty, and they're my new brand of choice after some issues with a Hitachi and some with WD. Be aware though that upgrading your hdd is a pain in the butt in the new iMacs. Good luck.

Edit: Here's another for $127:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/7H500F0/

5 year warranty. The Seagate is $150. OWC is a great place to buy stuff, second only to Newegg.

 

[jiggie2g]

Don't bother with Brick and Motor.

It is just a waste of money so buy PC Parts at comp usa or best buy.They will charge you $15 for a freaking $3 USB cable. online vendors offer the best deals. Newegg or Zip Zoom Fly are best online.

Try this, 500GB Seagate SATA Perpendicular Drive (Seagate is the best hard drive maker). Only $129.99 w/free shipping. 5yr warranty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=seagate+500gb&x=0&y=0

 

[moonislune]

Out of those 2, go with the Western Digital. You may want to look at Seagates. They have a 5yr warranty. Also if you can wait, you can probably find better deals online saving yourself $20+.

Thanks. I was initially going for the WD, got to compusa, and sure enough...like the last 3 times they've had something on sale and "in-stock" online, I get to the store to find out they have none. I've read a few posts from other members. Seagate is looking nice and I like the 5 yr warranty!

 

[moonislune]

This one's only $109 with free shipping:

http://shop4.outpost.com/{9hdxfcoHP...yWfj63JKQ**.node1?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

But I don't know if it's the one with only a year's warranty. If you can find it for a good price, get the Seagate. As said, 5 year warranty, and they're my new brand of choice after some issues with a Hitachi and some with WD. Be aware though that upgrading your hdd is a pain in the butt in the new iMacs. Good luck.

Edit: Here's another for $127:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Maxtor/7H500F0/

5 year warranty. The Seagate is $150. OWC is a great place to buy stuff, second only to Newegg.

Thanks, these are awesome deals. I think the Seagate is looking like a winner.

 

[moonislune]

It is just a waste of money so buy PC Parts at comp usa or best buy.They will charge you $15 for a freaking $3 USB cable. online vendors offer the best deals. Newegg or Zip Zoom Fly are best online.

Try this, 500GB Seagate SATA Perpendicular Drive (Seagate is the best hard drive maker). Only $129.99 w/free shipping. 5yr warranty.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=seagate+500gb&x=0&y=0

I totally agree. I've gave compusa the benefit of the doubt way too many times...only to find that most employees are rude and they rarely have their advertised specials in stock (at least the really good ones). It looks like NewEgg has got a new customer. Thanks a lot, I went with that Seagate and was even able to get it overnighted so I can work on my imac tomorrow and it still came out cheaper than local.