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Who was the one who bought a WD passport 160GB...

suneohair

suneohair

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 27, 2006
2,136
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and put the 160GB in the macbook and put the 80GB in the passport?

I am sure I read it on here like yesterday. I can't find the thread though. I wanted to ask how easy it was to take it apart. And how the drive performs. The specs make it out to be slower than the 160GB scorpio. But that could be because it is over SATA.
 
suneohair said:
and put the 160GB in the macbook and put the 80GB in the passport?

I am sure I read it on here like yesterday. I can't find the thread though. I wanted to ask how easy it was to take it apart. And how the drive performs. The specs make it out to be slower than the 160GB scorpio. But that could be because it is over SATA.
Click to expand...

That may have been me, but it was a 120gb not a 160gb. It was relatively easy to do. I looked at the specs before doing it, and they were roughly the same. And a word of warning, not all of the Passports have SATA drives. Make sure you run the WD utility to see which drive it is before ripping it apart or you might not be able to take it back (or buy at Costco, like I did).
 
Hmm. Thanks. I may avoid the hassle and just get the 160GB Hitachi. It would be nice to have the passport though. I wanted to buy it online considering it would most likely be cheaper. Thanks for the info.
 
I went to CostCo this morning and purchased a WD Passport 160GB (black) for $139. It does contain a WD Serial ATA hard drive. It is very easy to snap the case open and remove the hard drive with no tools.

I used this drive to replace a dead 60GB drive in a white MacBook.

Everything is installted and the computer is running great.

Good luck.

Macmaniac.
 
dtsone said:
I went to CostCo this morning and purchased a WD Passport 160GB (black) for $139. It does contain a WD Serial ATA hard drive. It is very easy to snap the case open and remove the hard drive with no tools.

I used this drive to replace a dead 60GB drive in a white MacBook.

Everything is installted and the computer is running great.

Good luck.

Macmaniac.
Click to expand...

They have the 160gb now?! Wow.... nice! I should go pick that one up.. kind of worried my 120gb won't cut it
 
holy cow, super cool trick. is the largest offered by the WD's still 160gb? if not that could be a sweet way to get something like a 300gb for the ole lappy :)
 
Could you tell me the drive model that was in it? Thanks. :D I am guessing it is the: WD1600BEVS

I am sorta leaning toward buying the 5K160, as it is a great performer. I could still buy an enclosure for the same price as buying the WD. Decisions decisions.
 
wait, does the western digital passport work with the macbook via 1 usb port without external power cord?? I read it doesnt. Id also be interested in switching my hdd in my laptop too. I wanted to buy an external hdd, but if i could just keep the larger one in my laptop, thatd be much easier
 
12991 said:
wait, does the western digital passport work with the macbook via 1 usb port without external power cord?? I read it doesnt. Id also be interested in switching my hdd in my laptop too. I wanted to buy an external hdd, but if i could just keep the larger one in my laptop, thatd be much easier
Click to expand...

Yes, it will work with only one USB port.
 
Costco is selling the 160GB Passport for a good price again ($150 CDN)...so this procedure does work? And it's not difficult? For those who have done it, how does the WD drive perform in the MacBook? Is it quiet, cool, etc.?
 
dtsone said:
I went to CostCo this morning and purchased a WD Passport 160GB (black) for $139. It does contain a WD Serial ATA hard drive. It is very easy to snap the case open and remove the hard drive with no tools.

I used this drive to replace a dead 60GB drive in a white MacBook.

Everything is installted and the computer is running great.

Good luck.

Macmaniac.
Click to expand...

What's the reasoning behind doing this? It's cheaper to just buy the hard drive separate and a 2.5 enclosure.
 
Airforce said:
What's the reasoning behind doing this? It's cheaper to just buy the hard drive separate and a 2.5 enclosure.
Click to expand...
CostCo is selling it for $150 CDN. I haven't seen a 160GB drive for less than $150, plus another $25 for the enclosure...the tradeoff is the warranty...which may not be worth saving $25.
 
i'm tempted to do this... but i've never had a good experience w/ WD.
 
I have a 120 GB passport (for $100 from Best Buy over Christmas). Its gorgeous, compact and works with the single USB port. I also just installed a 160 GB Hitachi from macsales.com and it was a breeze. I just checked out this this page and then partitioned the drive and loaded my backup from superduper. It cost $145 inc. shipping for the 160 GB and was DEFINITELY worth it. The passport is small enough to fit in my InCase sleeve so I always have 280 GB on me.
 
Hi all,

Just picked one of these 160 GB beauties up from my local CostCo for $99 ($99!), and am very happy. However, I'd like to disassemble this drive as well so as to swap out with my MBP's 100 GB, but truth be told, i see no easy way into the WD case. No screws under the feet, and if there's a screw under the serial number sticker, I'd as soon not have to break that to make this happen - we'll see.

Regardless: Any step-by-step instructions on getting the WD case open?

Thanks much,
MBJ
 
Just a heads up, Best Buy has the 120GB Passport for $69 this week, no rebates.

I bought one on Sunday and swapped the 120GB into my MB and the old 60GB into the enclosure. After re-installing OS X, my MB is a lot more responsive...even more than upgrading the RAM from 512MB -> 2GB.

Make sure to run WD Diagnostics on the drive to confirm that it's compatible with the Macbook before opening the enclosure and risk not being able to return it. The model should be 1200BEVS (SATA), not 1200BEVE (EIDE)
 
Hi Riotshield,

How difficult it is to take the drive out of the enclosure? The post before yours makes it sound like its actually quite hard!

I'd also read somewhere about WD SATA drives making macs kernel panic (due to their 'anti-drop' technology conflicting with the one inside the notebooks) - have you noticed this problem yourself?

Thanks in advance

bohrsatom
 
Hey bohrsatom,

It's not too hard to open the enclosure, but it's held together entirely by tabs (no screws) so it takes some time to avoid breaking them. I used the screwdriver on a Swiss army knife to gently pry the tabs one by one.

I haven't had any problems with the drive and the shock protection technology. Then again, I don't think I've had an occasion for it to kick in (yet, knock on wood).
 
riotshield said:
Hey bohrsatom,

It's not too hard to open the enclosure, but it's held together entirely by tabs (no screws) so it takes some time to avoid breaking them. I used the screwdriver on a Swiss army knife to gently pry the tabs one by one.

I haven't had any problems with the drive and the shock protection technology. Then again, I don't think I've had an occasion for it to kick in (yet, knock on wood).
Click to expand...

Knock on wood, just don't drop on wood... he he :cool:
 
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