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jstein · Jul 8, 2002, 02:13 PM

Hello everyone,
It is time for me to upgrade my hardrive for Psimo 400. Right now my hardrvie is at 10gb. I was wondering what are some of the better internal hardrives on the market? I want to at least go up to 40gb. My Psimo is mostly used for multi-media functions. Also are there any compatibility issuses with OS X when it comes to upgrading to a new hardrive?

Thank You,
Joshua Stein
" never mistake action for activity "

andreas_g4 · Jul 8, 2002, 06:24 PM

I just upgraded my TiBook to a 40 GB IBM Travelstar. It spins at 4200 RPM. Not the fastest though, but even video editing (what I do once in a while) is ok. One advantage of this HD is: It is absolutely noiseless. Great. If you want a faster, bigger HD get the 48 or 60 GB versions. They spin at 5400 RPM. Faster, bigger, need more battery power. If you get an IBM Travelstar, you can't be wrong.

Paul Huang · Jul 8, 2002, 06:26 PM

IBM's TravelStars are much better than the older sub-12 GB units. 20, 30, 40, and 48 are all very quick. Don't let the 5,400 RPM 60 GB fool you. I have one and it's noisy compared to the 20, 30, 40, and 48 GB dirves. The slightly-higher RPM reduces latency only, but does not bring you much throughput enhancement (marginal at best).

You will easily gain a 15-25% edge in performance due to the increased speed and throughput (compared to your 12 GB).

howardm4 · Jul 8, 2002, 06:38 PM

go for the IBM Travelstar series.

Be aware that at the largest size (60GB), the speed is only 5400 RPM
which is sloooooooooooooow. So, you might want to stick w/ the 30-40GB.

I think there are reviews, etc on powerbookcentral.com (?)

seanyepez · Jul 8, 2002, 06:46 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by howardm4:
go for the IBM Travelstar series.

Be aware that at the largest size (60GB), the speed is only 5400 RPM
which is sloooooooooooooow. So, you might want to stick w/ the 30-40GB.

I think there are reviews, etc on powerbookcentral.com (?)<hr /></blockquote>Ignore the above post. The 60-gigabyte hard drive is the fastest laptop drive available today. 5,400 RPM is not impressive for a desktop drive, but most notebook drives are 4,200 RPM. Even 4,200 RPM drives offer decent performance, and that's what you have in your notebook right now.

I recommend the 40-gigabyte IBM TravelStar 40GN. It's about $140, and it's extremely quiet.

mrfett · Jul 8, 2002, 11:36 PM

I have the 60GB TravelStar coming to me. Is it really that loud? Or just not silent?

k2man · Jul 8, 2002, 11:46 PM

I have a 60 gig Travelstar in my Ti and love it. Seems fast, makes noise occassionally, but not enough to bug me, and it's a huge capacity. But I'm also looking for an external bus powered drive, and I'm thinking of either another 60 gig, or IBM's new 5400 40 gig, which is about $250 (sans case) and will fit in one of the smaller, ultra light Firewire cases. Check out <a href="http://www.barefeats.com" target="_blank">www.barefeats.com</a> for more opn this drive....

mrfett · Jul 8, 2002, 11:52 PM

i use my 'book for digital recording with logic audio, and was primarily interested in the speed bump. i use a 120GB EZQuest 7200RPM drive to record to, but the internal still gets used for caching and scratch space. I read (I think on Barefeats) that a fast internal will help, so i went for it. also, with the extra space, i think i'm gonna wipe my pc and put linux on it, and put virtual pc on my 'book.

jstein · Jul 8, 2002, 11:59 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by seanyepez:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by howardm4:
go for the IBM Travelstar series.

Be aware that at the largest size (60GB), the speed is only 5400 RPM
which is sloooooooooooooow. So, you might want to stick w/ the 30-40GB.

I think there are reviews, etc on powerbookcentral.com (?)<hr /></blockquote>Ignore the above post. The 60-gigabyte hard drive is the fastest laptop drive available today. 5,400 RPM is not impressive for a desktop drive, but most notebook drives are 4,200 RPM. Even 4,200 RPM drives offer decent performance, and that's what you have in your notebook right now.

I recommend the 40-gigabyte IBM TravelStar 40GN. It's about $140, and it's extremely quiet.<hr /></blockquote>Hmm,
I see that the IBM Travelstar series is the way to go. Thanks everyone

fulmer · Jul 8, 2002, 11:59 PM

I've installed and used a couple toshiba drives (10 GB and 30 GB) over the last couple of years. They both work very well. The 10 gig I installed in a wallstreet 292. the drive has been used a lot and still runs smooth and quick to this day.

the 30 gig was for my brother's compaq 1277 presario. it had a 4.x gig drive and windows 98 SE. Just this weekend we ditched that mess and I put in the 30 gig and installed win2k. That sucker is running pretty well now--like a new machine. back to the drive: it is quiet and runs smooth.

JHromadka · Jul 9, 2002, 03:46 PM

What speed is the stock hard drive that came with the PowerBook G4 400 MHz model? I have a paltry 10 GB drive that I'm looking to replace.

Paul Huang · Jul 9, 2002, 04:06 PM

4,200 has been the standard for most 2.5" drives 6 GB and larger. 5,400 is the next step up and is the current maximum.

seanyepez · Jul 9, 2002, 07:41 PM

The fastest drive out on the market right now is the IBM TravelStar 40GNX. It's a 5,400 RPM drive with 8 megabytes of data cache. It's faster than the 60GH, and it was reviewed very well by <a href="http://www.barefeats.com" target="_blank">www.barefeats.com</a>.

PeteWK · Jul 10, 2002, 01:48 AM

I just put a new IBM 5400 rpm drive in my DVI 667. I went with the 32 gig drive available on OWC's website for about 140 bucks shipped. I actually had a 30 gig 4200 rpm drive in the laptop when I got it and only replaced it for the advantage in video editing. It helps alot. This drive is 12.5 mm in height and will fit in either the Pismo or the Ti G4. My old Pismo was the recipient of the shorter drive.

PeteWK

mrfett · Jul 10, 2002, 02:48 AM

i just couldn't justify replacing one 40 gig for another. i saw that those were available, but i'm hoping the 60 will be fast enough to give me a boost. i'm trying to minimize the errors i get when using lots of plug-ins in logic.

That article has me second-guessing myself, though... i'm wondering if a 60 gig version with that 8MB cache is around the corner...

[ 07-10-2002, 03:19 AM: Message edited by: mrfett ]

seanyepez · Jul 10, 2002, 04:26 AM

If you're worried about performance, I suggest you get yourself a Western Digital 1200JB hard drive in a FireWire enclosure. They have 8 megabytes of data cache and a speed of 7,200 revolutions per minute. They're good drives. I'm using one right now. They're currently the fastest IDE solution for desktop computers, and combined with a good FireWire controller, you'll have a great scratch disk.

Carl Norum · Jul 10, 2002, 11:22 AM

There is a lot of travelstar worship going on in here. I've always found the Toshiba brand drives to be available cheaper online. I've not had the opportunity for a noise comparison between similar sized drives, but my 10 GB and 40 GB Toshiba drives were both much quieter than the Apple-installed 20 GB IBM drive in my younger brother's iBook.

mrfett · Jul 10, 2002, 02:15 PM

I have a 7200 rpm external with an oxford chipset already. right now i use it to record to. i guess one solution would be to boot from that also. i could partition it, putting a small boot partition on it and leaving the rest for data. hmmm... that would pretty much solve my dillemma i think. i don't know why i didn't think of it earlier!

thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

seanyepez · Jul 11, 2002, 12:33 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Carl Norum:
I've not had the opportunity for a noise comparison between similar sized drives, but my 10 GB and 40 GB Toshiba drives were both much quieter than the Apple-installed 20 GB IBM drive in my younger brother's iBook.<hr /></blockquote>It's not the size as much as it is the design of a drive when comparing relative noise.

IBM drives have become a good deal quieter since their TravelStar 20GN-series drives. They now use fluid bearings. That seems to help a lot. <img border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" title="" src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" />

Carl Norum · Jul 11, 2002, 11:00 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by seanyepez:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Carl Norum:
[qb]It's not the size as much as it is the design of a drive when comparing relative noise.<hr /></blockquote>Well, yeah, of course. I'm just saying that I've never done it. Obviously there are *some* manufacturing differences.

marka29 · Jul 11, 2002, 05:49 PM

Can you use a 9.5mm drive in a TiBook, instead of the standard 12.5mm drive? Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark

seanyepez · Jul 11, 2002, 05:51 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by marka29:
Can you use a 9.5mm drive in a TiBook, instead of the standard 12.5mm drive? Any information would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark<hr /></blockquote>Yes, you can use lower-height drives in the TiBook safely. The 30- and 40-gigabyte hard drives that ship with TiBooks are in fact 9.5-millimeter high drives. The 60-gigabyte drive, however, is 12.5 millimeters tall.

tonewheel · Jul 11, 2002, 06:03 PM

Just replaced the original 20GB TravelStar in my Ti500 with a new 60GB TravelStar. Once I had the correct Torx #8 screwdriver, the entire process took about 5 minutes. And yes, the thicker 12.5mm drive fits perfectly, thanks to the simple design of the side rail mounting system (complete with rubber shock mounts.)

BTW, the new 60GB TravelStar is actually quieter than the original 20GB drive, despite the fact that the spec sheets say otherwise. Absolutely no whirring or spinning is detectable unless you get your ear right down on the trackpad. Only occassional clicking and clacking of the head/arm can be heard. And it is defintely faster!

seanyepez · Jul 11, 2002, 06:50 PM

Great to hear. The 40-gigabyte drive I have is pretty quiet, too. It's the TravelStar 40GN.

matthewmodern · Jul 15, 2002, 01:40 PM

Can anyone confirm which is quieter, the 40GB 4200rpm or 60GB 5400rpm stock drives from Apple?

I ask becuase I am planning on buying a new PB, and the NUMBER ONE CRITERIA for me is getting the quietest machine possible.

I'd like to order after MW, Looking forward to input, thanks guys!

Paul Huang · Jul 15, 2002, 02:59 PM

40 GN is the quietest
40 GNX is slightly louder, but easily the fastest 2.5" drive on the market
60--there is only ONE 60 GB 2.5" drive on the market and Apple ships their custom config with this one. This beast is LOUD. Don't do it. I use it daily and it drives me insane.

Paul Huang · Jul 15, 2002, 03:00 PM

Of course, the 60 GN is much more quiet than all previous 6 GB, 12 GB (Toshiba or whatever) combined. Quietness is all relative.

michael127 · Jul 16, 2002, 01:22 AM

I am the owner of DVI TiBook 667 with a 30Gb drive, looking to purchase another drive. A small, portable firewire drive would be ideal, somewhere around 40GB...yet they are quite pricy. I could manage to have a larger, AC-powered desktop drive, but does anyone see cheap portable light-weight firewire drives out there?
The only thing I'm looking at now is a drive from piranhatech.com...80GB ext FW for about $150...great bargain.

suggestions?

Paul Huang · Jul 16, 2002, 09:55 AM

I consider the VST 30 GB drive for around $220 a good bargain. You cannot compare the 2.5 drive with 2.5 drive. The added weight (at least two pounds heavier) and need for a power cord is not worth the $100 in savings--if you value portability.

oeyvind · Jul 16, 2002, 10:19 AM

You guys, forget to mention about <a href="http://www.toshiba.com/taissdd/products/features/MK4019gax-Over.shtml" target="_blank">Toshiba MK4019GAX</a>, 40 GB, 5400 rpm and 16MB cache.

[ 07-16-2002, 10:20 AM: Message edited by: oeyvind ]

Carl Norum · Jul 16, 2002, 11:55 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Paul Huang:
60--there is only ONE 60 GB 2.5" drive on the market and Apple ships their custom config with this one.<hr /></blockquote>Not true - there are two available 60 GB drives. Toshiba makes a 9.5 mm model, and IBM makes a 12.5 mm model.

himself · Jul 20, 2002, 11:10 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by michael127:
I am the owner of DVI TiBook 667 with a 30Gb drive, looking to purchase another drive. A small, portable firewire drive would be ideal, somewhere around 40GB...yet they are quite pricy. I could manage to have a larger, AC-powered desktop drive, but does anyone see cheap portable light-weight firewire drives out there?
The only thing I'm looking at now is a drive from piranhatech.com...80GB ext FW for about $150...great bargain.

suggestions?<hr /></blockquote>Another option is to buy the hard drive and enclosure separately. you're likley to save some cash that way, at least with smaller configurations (30gig and lower).

michael127 · Jul 21, 2002, 12:32 PM

<a href="http://www.fwdepot.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=70" target="_blank">http://www.fwdepot.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=70</a>

what do you think of this for an enclosure?

catalystC · Aug 3, 2002, 05:17 AM

I would recommend the new Toshiba gax series drives.

They have become available in the resellers recently.

5400rpm, 9mm high, 16mb of cache vs 8mb for travelstar.

Very very quiet.

Fyre4ce · Aug 5, 2002, 09:25 PM

Just a note. I have the 30GN in my Pismo now and it's a great drive. But I'm thinking about upgrading to the 40 GNX for the speed. I've been saying for years now that the hard drive is the slowest system component, and it's used a lot, so you'll really feel any speed increase. My advice: go for speed. You won't regret it.

seanyepez · Aug 6, 2002, 05:15 AM

I use my Pismo as a bedroom computer, so I really need the low noise level offered by the 40GN series. I love it, and despite being based on AFC media ("pixie dust"), my drives have been perfectly reliable.