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JoshKurtz · Dec 30, 2005, 11:49 PM

I've got the stock 4200 rpm 30GB drive. I know that the 7200 rpm drive will make it much faster but will my relatively slow processor be something to worry about or should I go for it?

mduell · Dec 31, 2005, 12:18 AM

I'd punt the iBook on ebay and spend the procedes plus how much you would spend on a fast hard drive on a new/refurb/used iBook G4.

Chito · Dec 31, 2005, 07:05 AM

mduell offers good advice. I took an iBook G3 800 apart to change the optical drive from a cd to a dvd and it was a MOTHER! Once I had it apart I wish I had bought a bigger drive for it but I hadn't and didn't want to wait to put it back together. It can be done but unless you're very confident in your skills and very paitent I wouldn't recommend it. Sell it and buy a G4 or wait for the Intel machines. The G3 has been long in the tooth for awhile now and things aren't going to get better for it.

JoshKurtz · Dec 31, 2005, 08:22 AM

It can be done but unless you're very confident in your skills and very paitent I wouldn't recommend it.

I'm not worried about the actual replacing of it. I might just sell it on eBay. Not a bad idea...

Chito, I just noticed that you're from Akron. I've been there a few times and had a lot of fun. Just wanted to give a nod your way.

Chito · Dec 31, 2005, 08:48 AM

And a nod back from Akron. What on earth did you do for fun in Akron? :-)

JoshKurtz · Dec 31, 2005, 11:33 PM

Touristy stuff. Went out to eat, got coffee. I have a friend from Cleveland that I'd go stay with for a weekend here and there. We went to Akron and hung out every once in a while. AA started there so I checked out the historical landmarks associated with it. I forget what college is around there but there were always college girls to pass the time with. This was, of course, before I met my little bride.

tr · Jan 1, 2006, 05:32 PM

i love how there's always someone to say "why don't you get rid of it?" when someone asks about upgrading. i mean, if i can improve performance for ~$100, and i'm willing to put up with the installation, why not? i have a 12" G3 700, and was planning on doing this myself. i had the dc-in board go out, and by following the pbfixit.com instructions, i had that thing repaired in less than an hour. and having done it once, i'm confident that it will take me half that time to open it up again.

wataru · Jan 1, 2006, 06:04 PM

I replaced my stock 4200rpm drive with a 7200rpm one and didn't notice much of a difference in performance. The extra space is nice (went from 40GB to 80GB) but that's about it. Given the cost (~$170 for the drive + ~$60 for installation) I wouldn't recommend it unless you're confident about installing it yourself. I would have installed mine myself but I didn't want to void my warranty.

JoshKurtz · Jan 1, 2006, 07:23 PM

I went on and ordered an 80GB 5400 rpm drive since it was the same price as a 60GB 7200 rpm and I don't have much $$$. I figured that I'd rather have an extra 20 gigs rather than an extra 1800 spins every minute.
I'm going to do it myself since I've tore apart and put back together every laptop that my wife and I have ever had. After reading tutorials on the iBook, it looks like it will be a little more of a pain with the tin foil looking plating and all but I'm up to the challenge. And my iBook is so far out of warranty that I have nothing to worry about voiding other than the iBook itself if I mess something up.

I'll post my results.

wataru · Jan 1, 2006, 09:03 PM

The G3s aren't quite as bad as the G4s. Good luck.

JoshKurtz · Jan 1, 2006, 09:09 PM

Thanks.

JoshuaZ · Jan 1, 2006, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by mduell

I'd punt the iBook on ebay and spend the procedes plus how much you would spend on a fast hard drive on a new/refurb/used iBook G4.

I agree. You'd be better off getting a new iBook as opposed to a new HD for a speed boost.

JoshKurtz · Jan 2, 2006, 10:08 AM

I agree. You'd be better off getting a new iBook as opposed to a new HD for a speed boost.

The speed boost isn't the main reason why I'm doing it. I'm sick of sending files upstairs to another computer that has more space since I keep running out. I want the extra space and I'm very happy with the performance of my 800MHz G3. The speed increase would be an added bonus though but not reason in and of itself for the upgrade. I probably should've clarified in my original post. I'm really just curious about the speed thing.
Having said all that, I've never really messed around with the G4 iBooks yet so I don't know what I'm missing. For the moment though, I'll let ignorance be bliss since I don't feel like spending any more than the $100 or so on the hard drive and if I sell my iBook I can only get around $500. That $600 won't be quite enough to get a newer G4 with enough ram so I'd have to fork out some extra cash that I don't have readily available.
And call me overly attached but I really want to keep this iBook until it dies. I just got it 6 months ago in the original plastic. It hadn't been used at all so, in a way, it's like a new iBook. Except for the whole G3 thing.

But the 512 stick really gives it a boost and Tiger runs much faster than Jaguar did.

RadarBob2 · Jan 2, 2006, 08:05 PM

Damn. I just lost my entire reply when i tried to post. So I'll summarize.

Ditto's on your decision and reasoning for it.

rjenkinson · Jan 2, 2006, 08:07 PM

replacing a hard drive on a G3 ibook is not as hard as some people make it out to be. provided you have some good instructions and the right screwdrivers, the worst that can be said about it is that it takes a fair bit of time. but it is not particularly difficult.

-r.