[ou_bobcat]

Why didnt Apple make this an easier process? On my Dell it only took one screw to replace it. The complexity of doing doesnt really bother me as I replaced the whole freaking motherboard on the Dell twice.(neither of which was Dell's fault. The first I splilled a "beverage" on and the second was a defective from a third party supplier.) I just dont see why they make it such a complicated process.

[Detrius]

The iBooks in general are difficult to get into. They were not built to be upgradeable; they were built to be small, durable, and inexpensive. PowerBooks are easy to upgrade, especially the G3 series. The TiBooks aren't bad either (just about a half-dozen screws to get off the bottom cover). I haven't done one of the Aluminum ones yet.

[gigglebyte]

Detrius is correct..the ibooks are not designed to be upgraded...RAM and Airport are it...I think they also had to deal with the design factors and the layout of the iBook to get everything to just fit in there...the TiBooks (G4 Powerbooks) are very easy to replace the drive and are considered customer replacable but the new Al Powerbooks are NOT that easy...I have no idea why the redesigned them but they did and no longer are HD's considered customer replacable on the Powerbooks

[discotronic]

I think that designers at Apple should take another look at the whole hard drive setup in the iBook. Granted they are not considered user upgradeable but it should be. My PB 540c was fairly cramped but it was easy to upgrade the HD. I think it only took the removal of 5 screws. My 3400c was an easy fix also. After replacing the HD in my old Blueberry iBook I began to think that the interior designs where the worst in the business. Most of the design time was given to the overall look. The iBook isn't so cramped that a little design revision couldn't take care of it. I love my iBook but I feel that the HD should be an easy item to get to in ANY laptop.

If I deceide to upgrade the HD while the laptop is under warrenty I have to take it to Apple or an authorized repair center so the rest of my warranty isn't voided. A hard drive can go forever or in a matter of months. I guess that is a good way for Apple to make more money up front but in the long run it is bad for the buyer.

It's not a real big deal for me but it would be nice to be able to put a bigger HD in if I wanted.