[aaronz]

The harddrive on my iBook G4 just died and I am in desperate need of fixing it ASAP. I took it in the the Apple Store here in Chicago and they will put in a new 30gig for $285 (200 for the drive, 85 for the labor). This seems pretty outrageous to me and I've found much larger harddrives for much cheaper on ebay and the like. But I'm not sure what kind I need and if I should by from ebay, etc, etc. I also need to find a non-Apple store to do the replacement for me because I'm not going to mess with it myself and Apple will only do the work if I but the HD from them. So. Any help, advice, recommended online stores, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Time is somewhat of the essence. Thanks!

[Sherman Homan]

Apple - Apple Consultants Network
Type in your Zip Code.

[frdmfghtr]

If you have the patience, you can do the drive replacement yourself.

Fixit Guide - DIY PowerBook, MacBook, & iBook Repair & Disassembly

Of course, you will want to BACK UP YOUR DATA to an external drive before you start. I did a full backup, and restored from that backup via Disk Utility when the new drive was installed--everything was right where I left it at the end.

Make sure you get the right type of drive and follow the step-by-step directions. I replaced the hard drive on a 12" iBook last year and while it took a few hours to do, the guide really helped. The only difficulty I can recall is that the guide had me removing the AirPort card, where my iBook (late 2005) had it located somewhere else. The guide may have been written for a slightly older revision, but was otherwise accurate and got me through the work fine.

There will be a screw guide available with the directions; as you remove screws (there will be A LOT of them), place them on the guide in the appropriate boxes, and you will have no problem with losing screws or putting them back in the wrong places.

The most important tool you will have if you try it yourself is PATIENCE. Don't rush.

[rach]

If you are going to do this upgrade yourself make sure that you buy all the right tools for the job.

I upgraded a 1.42 iBook quite recently and i must admit it did not go on without event and i am lucky that i recovered from what i did. Well to start i got a bottom casing screw stripped and my brother in law had to drill it out. This was a completely nerve wracking experience. I got it stripped because i used the wrong type of screwdriver by mistake. Because i damaged the bottom casing it needed replacing. In trying to get the top casing of i damaged the top casing latch so it was no longer closing properly. I also accidentally marked it as well so it needed replacing. Luckily i found a decent top and bottom lid for cheap so i replaced those parts myself.

The worst part about upgrading in my opinion is detaching the three connectors of from the motherboard. I said so in another thread that people have taken of their power connector socket because this part is very fragile. I thought that everything was ok with my upgrade at first but it was not as a few days later it dawned on me that it is was not ok. I had obviously loosened my power connector joint in upgrading. In my opinion you can upgrade without taking the power connector cable and the speaker connector out. The only cable that really needs to be removed in my opinion is the trackpad connector (which is pretty secure and not as fragile as the power connector socket).

Anyway after i upgraded i decided to put my HD back in so they would have not known that i upgraded myself (I planned to buy a bigger one anyway) and i took my laptop to be looked at for the loose power connector problems and to get a new HD fitted . When i was assessing what the problem was before i took my laptop to be upgraded/repaired i got another stripped screw for the lower metal shield but i managed to get that out after several hours myself but it tore one of the corners of the metal shield so i had to replace that. I had the right screw for that this time though.

Luckily i got away with what i did and i got my power connector issues fixed for free. I live in the UK and i was only charged £50 for my HD upgrade (which my home insurance paid for as the money they gave me to get the damaged casing fixed covered it). It was an Authorised Apple shop that carried out this work for me and they were great. I could have just taken it to them to upgrade my HD in the beginning instead of going through all what i did. I have to say for me it was not worth it.

I have Apple care until 09 and i was lucky to get away with what i did with my Applecare still in tact. I will not be opening this machine up again.

I wouldn't say that upgrading was that hard but it can be tricky. If you are also going to do it print out the iFixit guide and enlarge some of the pictures and print those of and place your screws on them where they should go. Keep everything ordered if you are going to upgrade yourself.

What i went through was nearly a case of worst case scenario but part of it was my own doing. Some people do upgrade without event.

If you don't feel confident though maybe don't do it yourself. Phone around a few different places and see what the best deal you can get. If you do not have any Applecare left you do not need to take it to a authorised Apple store to get your upgrade done.

[frdmfghtr]

Originally Posted by rach 

If you are going to do this upgrade yourself make sure that you buy all the right tools for the job.

Agreed--if the Phillips screwdriver doesn't fit exactly, get one that does. Same holds true for the Torx (star-shaped) head screwdriver you will need--get one that fits correctly. They are not hard to find; most good screwdriver sets will have a range of Torx head drivers, and they can be purchased individually at any decent hardware store.

[aaronz]

Thanks for all the responses. I decided to not risk it and do it myself, so I took it to a non-Apple store and they're doing it as I type. I bought a new drive at the store and as the only two brand options were Seagate and Western Digital, and since the very unhelpful employee mumbled something about hearing that WD is better for Macs, I went for that one. Has anyone had experience with WD? I have a Seagate external and haven't been too impressed.

[rach]

The 4200RPM drives generally are very quiet.
I have a WD1200VE drive in my iBook at the moment. I read good things about WD making quiet HD's before i bought my HD. Sometimes though if you are unlucky you may get a WD drive that may make clicking noises. If you look on their support forums and some other support forums you will see that quite a few people have had this complaint. I wish that i read those complaints before i bought my HD. My HD tends to make this clicking noise quite frequently and it could do with maybe having the FW updated.
If it was not for that I would be very happy with the drive but the clicking noises can be a bit irritating in a very quiet room. If you do not get one that clicks you won't really have any complaints i don't think.
In terms of performance i feel a difference from going from 4200RPM. In terms of speed I feel that the drive is a pretty decent performer.
Western Digital could also offer better support for Mac users. Their diagnostic tools is all in Windows format and it maybe hard to run some of their updated FW/patches on a Mac.

I have used Seagate IDE drives also the Seagate 5400.3 is a little faster but the WD is meant to be a bit quieter.