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rarora

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 23, 2004
46
0
Where could one purchase a larger capacity Hard Disk for the Titanium powerbook? I have a 20GB and would like to upgrade.
 
rarora said:
Thanks for the reply, will these work? They aren't mac specific, just general notebook drives:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...380&manufactory=1540&DEPA=1&sortby=14&order=1

i do, in fact, believe that those will work. but check apple's site for the tech specs (historical) of your machine to make absolutely postive before you spend the money

also, once you decide on a brand/capacity, search www.pricewatch.com or www.pricegrabber.com, or www.buy.com to get the best price. good luck!
 
Yea i'm not keen on installing it myself, thanks for the info though. The technican around here is charging $95 /hour. To me, that's worth it, for a peace of mind. Most likely am going to go with 60GB, don't know which speed though, I've heard faster drives diminish battery life.
 
rarora said:
Yea i'm not keen on installing it myself, thanks for the info though. The technican around here is charging $95 /hour. To me, that's worth it, for a peace of mind. Most likely am going to go with 60GB, don't know which speed though, I've heard faster drives diminish battery life.

you kidding me? $95 an hour?

INSTALL IT YOURSELF.

it is easy.

i have no formal training, and i easily dis/reassembled that machine on several occasions.

don't pay him $200
 
self-install is easy - the hardest part is in buying the correct screw driver :) i'd recommend a hitachi 7200rpm drive for the tibook, because in my own experience it runs COOLER and a lot faster than the stock drive apple uses. i was so amazed when i put the hitachi in and discovered that the cooling fan hardly ever kicks in anymore... before the drive change it was on constantly.
 
Well if any of you live near Washington DC, let me know. I'll pay you to do it for me. I don't have a lot of time, and don't want to deal with downtime or a broken powerbook. I'm a tech savvy guy, but opening up the workings of a notebook seems like something I'd rather not touch. The instructions posted above are okay, does anyone have any instructions that are more detailed, ie better pictures, more descriptive words? Maybe it's just me, and once I crack open the case I'll feel better.
 
well, all i can say is this:

•shut down laptop, ground yourself, flip it over, unplug the power adapter, take out the battery.

•you open the laptop with a torx 8 screwdriver.

•once unscrewed pull the lower casing up and towards the front (cd side) of the laptop. set aside where it won't get stepped on

•the hard drive is in the center under the trackpad

•unscrew the one screw near the front (cd side) middle of the laptop. it is the screw that hold down the plastic part that separates the battery compartment from the hd. there are two, one on each side of the front of the hard drive (actually, the lower left and right corners, going by the label on the hd. remove the lower right one) removing this screw will give you a little extra maneuvering space.

•unscrew the two screws that go through the part i just mentioned. they hold black rubber bumpers on the hd which hold the hd in place. (the hd is not actually screwed to the laptop, it is held in place by these bumpers. )

•pop the hd cable off the motherboard, remove that cable from the old hard drive. put on new one.

•pull the hd out. unscrew the other two screws on the other side of the hd once it is removed. save the little "waxed paper" sheet for the new hd.

•reverse the steps for the new hd.

•install the old hd in an external firewire enclosure and use for backup purposes.
 
I take it that after powering the machine back on, I need to have a system disc inserted, in order to reload 10.3?
 
yep, just install from scratch if you like, OR

you could boot off the old hard drive that is connected via firewire (in a new case you bought)


then you can open up Disc Utility and do a Restore from the external HD to the intern hd. Name the new, internal HD the same as the external, and things should work fine. Once you have successfully booted from the new HD and run your most used apps and such (with no problems at all), reformat the old one to avoid any name conflicts.

then, backup your user folder to the old HD, just in case.

also - repair permissions on the new HD, and run disc utility on it... just to make sure everything is running smooth.
 
if you decide to do it yourself, i'll tell you this: it's really easier to do than you think it is, so be confident that you can do it, and be calm and do it slowly. be extra careful when you unplug the cable that connects hard drive to the mother board, and extra careful when you plug it in again with the new drive. if something goes wrong (it will not), it goes wrong here. the little connector should snap in without using much force and if it doesn't snap in immediately, take a minute to take a good breath and try again carefully.

(i'm making this a bigger issue than it actually is, but i'd hate if you broke the connector.)

by the way, what drive are you planning to buy? the hitachi 7200rpm or some cheaper model?
 
Uhh.. I have an 14" iBook, 15" PB, and Dual G4 desktop. What's your point?

You don't get it do you? I'll replace the PB/iBook's boot HD if there's a 10K rpm HD in the 2.5" form factor, which there isn't. It's hard to find a 7200 rpm HD as it, since your beloved Apple doesn't provide one as BTO 'cause they know they'll just tag on another $300 to the already overpriced PB.
 
wow, thanks for so many replies. I'm a newbie and recently "switched". I'd like to stay internal, my old pc laptop and a million devices spewing out of it, a million wires, a million knots etc. IMO it makes a laptop lose a little bit of the mobility (that you presumably paid extra for in the first place).
 
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