upgrading hard drive for macbook pro

[mightymouse]

Hi guys,

I need some advice. I am planning to upgrade my macbook pro hard drive and of course there are several options:

250, 320GB 7200rpm or 5400rpm

I was wondering which is better and whether the 7200 rpm would be too hot for the macbook? also what brands should i consider? most mac owners recomend WD.

Thanks in advance

[mrt9888]

Heat should not be a problem as the hardrive in my macbook is usually around 35C, its jhust up to the speed you want, the 320gb seems to be the best value at the moment at Scan.

[Gordy]

The mbp will take the 7200rpm but most people advise against it as it makes more noise and increases the time the mbp fans go on. As well as affecting the battery life.

Unless you need the performance I would stick with 5200rpm.

[darrensen]

You will be fine running a 7200RPM drive. But as stated above, be aware of battery life and other points stated.

Unless you're video editing, stick with the 5400rpm drive.

[mightymouse]

thanks for the input guys, i thought so about the heat since my MBP is already running quite hot sometimes. but i didnt really think about the battery thanks for that. i guess i will stick with 5400 rpm however, any thoughts on brands? i know for desktop its good to stick with samsung but what about laptop??

[ShALLaX]

I recently installed a 320GB/7200RPM drive in someone's MBP. They've had no problems since I did it and they couldn't be happier!

[mightymouse]

what brand was the hard drive? ohh and is it easy?

[ShALLaX]

I forget the brand, I'm afraid... Samsung is coming to mind, though. If you've never done an HDD upgrade before on an MBP, it'll probably take you about an hour. It's not at all hard, but the first time you do one you have to figure out which screws to take out and how to unstick the FCC cable from the HDD.

To remove the HDD, you don't actually have to unscrew anything within the MBP, just lever it out with a screwdriver - it's held in with rubber grommets (you'll see!)

[Gordy]

Upgrading the hdd is not for the faint of heart, but a little confidence and labelling of screws helps.

ifixit.com have great guides for doing it.

I've used samsungs in all kinds of computers they are great, generally quiet too.

[ShALLaX]

I'll personally never use Samsung ever again. I had 5 Samsung Spinpoint 3.5" HDDs from different production batches and they ALL broke after 3 months within about a week of each other. I got them RMAed by Samsung and sold them as soon as I got them back!

[mightymouse]

never had problems with samsung and it seems that they are really good but the warranty is only 3 years. whereas the wd/seagate are 5. thanks for the tips on opening it up. i've actually found ifixit and have been doing a bit more research on it. gonna wait till the prices come down a bit since 500gb is out and i am not in desperate need yet. but thanks anyway, i will see what's on offer from scan.

cheers