Anybody upgrade to one of these? I'm currently brushing against capacity on my 320 GB/7200 RPM Hitachi and the 1TB of space sounds like a dream. But the rated speed of 5200 RPM disturbs me. Some sources say the increased capacity makes up for the slow spindle speed, and the 3 platters make it equivalent to a 7200 RPM drive. If you have it, have you noticed a speed hit? How loud is it?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB Drive
- Thread starter bill2p
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I imagine it's pretty quiet, although probably not as fast as a typical 7200 RPM drive because of the extra platter. I'd consider a 750GB 7200 RPM model in that case, unless you need the extra space.
Could just google and look at the sure-to-be many reviews of the drive in regards to power consumption.
I use one and frankly it's been a pleasant surprise. It's in one of my 15" MBP's for work (2010) and compared to Hitachi Travelstars 7200 for example it's actually fast, quiet & cool. I've grown to really like it. Battery life is better than expected and there are no downsides.
Success!
OK, it took a while to get everything, but I finally did the upgrade.
I put the WD 1 TB drive into a Sharkoon Quickstore Portable Pro USB enclosure that comes with a slider you can remove to accommodate the 12.5 mm height. At first, my MBP failed to recognize the drive at all, whatever I tried (panic!). A friend at work suggested I try it in another computer. I plugged it into my Dell 10v Hackintosh which recognized it immediately, and I then used the Disk Utility on the Dell to format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
The MBP then mounted the formatted WD 1 TB, no problem, and I cloned the MP's 320 GB start-up drive onto it. Then I swapped drives, which was a walk in the park on my 2nd generation MBP, even for a technically-challenged fumble-finger like me. The hardest part was fitting the MBP's battery back into its enclosure. Here's a tutorial.
When I restarted, the MBP took a good long time to boot up, and I first I thought I was hosed. But after sitting on a blank screen for about 20 seconds, the familiar Apple logo appeared and the boot-up proceeded normally.
It's still early in the game, but I've been using my MBP for a few hours and I don't notice any speed lags, compared to the 7200 RPM 320 GB drive I replaced. Everything I access, photos, applications, videos, loads just as quickly as before, if not more quickly. And I have all that space!
OK, it took a while to get everything, but I finally did the upgrade.
I put the WD 1 TB drive into a Sharkoon Quickstore Portable Pro USB enclosure that comes with a slider you can remove to accommodate the 12.5 mm height. At first, my MBP failed to recognize the drive at all, whatever I tried (panic!). A friend at work suggested I try it in another computer. I plugged it into my Dell 10v Hackintosh which recognized it immediately, and I then used the Disk Utility on the Dell to format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
The MBP then mounted the formatted WD 1 TB, no problem, and I cloned the MP's 320 GB start-up drive onto it. Then I swapped drives, which was a walk in the park on my 2nd generation MBP, even for a technically-challenged fumble-finger like me. The hardest part was fitting the MBP's battery back into its enclosure. Here's a tutorial.
When I restarted, the MBP took a good long time to boot up, and I first I thought I was hosed. But after sitting on a blank screen for about 20 seconds, the familiar Apple logo appeared and the boot-up proceeded normally.
It's still early in the game, but I've been using my MBP for a few hours and I don't notice any speed lags, compared to the 7200 RPM 320 GB drive I replaced. Everything I access, photos, applications, videos, loads just as quickly as before, if not more quickly. And I have all that space!
Last edited:
