[chrisutley]

I have a 1GHz Al with the stock 4200 RPM drive inside. I'm wondering what upgrading to the Hitachi 7200 80GB would do for overall performance.

Anybody out there made this upgrade? If so, would you do it purely for performance, or is it only worth it if you need the extra storage?

[kastegir]

I have the 1.33gHz 12" Powerbook and upgraded from the stock 4200rpm drive to the Hitachi 60GB 7200rpm drive. It's noticeably faster and doesn't run any hotter than before. I did the upgrade a couple months ago and it's running great.

Just my $0.02. YMMV.

[RonnieoftheRose]

Originally posted by chrisutley:
I have a 1GHz Al with the stock 4200 RPM drive inside. I'm wondering what upgrading to the Hitachi 7200 80GB would do for overall performance.

Anything that requires disk activity will run faster. That means sites will load a little faster, system will boot faster, apps will launch faster, writing videos files form iMovie, iDVD or Final Cut will run faster...that's about it but it makes the user experience more pleasant.

[Simon]

I was wondering the same thing in this thread, maybe we can find some answers here.

I have a rev B 1GHz 12" PB with 768MB RAM and I am very happy with it. I don't want to upgrade to a rev C, but I wouldn't mind an inexpensive little speed-up, so I was thinking about getting a faster HD. I have a 40GB disk right now and I really don't need more space, so it's all just about speed vs. noise and power consumption. Here's what I'm currently wondering:

� I have a Toshiba MK4025GAS built in. It's got a UltraATA/100 interface, 8MB cache, and runs 4200rpm. What do the rev C 12" PBs have?

� I found a reasonably priced replacement: the Hitachi Travelstar 5K80 which offers the same cache and interface as my disk, but runs at 5400 rpm. Is this a good buy? Any experience here?

� Or what about a 7200rpm disk? I found the 60GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 with 8MB cache, Ultra ATA/133 interface and 7200rpm. Its specs look good, but is it really worth double the price of the 5400rpm Hitachi 5K80? How large will the benefit over the 5400rpm disk be?

� What about additional heat and power consumption? Will a 5400rpm or 7200rpm disk make my PB a lot hotter? Will the battery last noticeably less?

I'd really appreciate some comments/opinions especially from people who have done such an upgrade or have considered it already.

[anly]

According to testing results from barefeats, its worth it if speed is of concern
http://www.barefeats.com/fire39.html

quote:

The Hitachi Travelstar 7K60 beat (or tied) the best of the other notebook drives in 4 out of 6 tests, making it the fastest notebook drive money can buy. If you're looking for a 2.5 inch wide, 9.5mm thick notebook drive for your PowerBook or portable FireWire case, this is as good as it gets.


It's also impressive to see it do so well against one of the fastest 3.5 "desktop" drives. If you think a 3.5 inch drive enclosure will go faster on your FW400 port, you have another think coming.

[RonnieoftheRose]

I would wait for an 80GB 7200rpm drive. The more sectors they cram on a platter the faster the drive is.

[Powaqqatsi]

I would also like a 7200rpm drive but I'm really afraid about power consumption. Hearing people say "it's good, it doesn't use more power in my computer" isn't good enough. I wan't hard facts and numbers.

[phantomac]

Anyone with a 12" PB ever swapped the internal drive by him/herself?

[tooki]

It's like doing it in a 12" iBook, which is a harrowing experience that leaves you homicidal and suicidal all at the same time. Pay a professional to do it unless dealing with a 7-layered computer with 40+ screws (mostly unique) that each need to fit into a specific hole at a specific layer.

tooki

[Ruahrc]

http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20031031/index.html

Here is an interesting article that pretty much hits right at what you were looking for. They end up recommending the faster drives whenever possible since the impact on battery life was negligible to small, and the speed tradeoff was well worth the few minutes battery life you lost. And they really seemed to like those Hitachi drives, very nice ones indeed!

I was planning on doing the same thing myself with my 15" powerbook eventually. I only got the cheapest 60GB 4200rpm drive right now, but I had planned on upgrading to a bigger 7200rpm drive later on if I ever run out of space, or (more likely) want the extra speed. I guess it's the only rational explanation for not getting the 5400rpm hard drive when I ordered BTO.

Ruahrc

[TailsToo]

All depends on what you do. I upgraded my TI with an 80GB HD, and I don't seem to see that much of a speed increase (but it is louder!)

I guess I don't use as many disk-intensive Apps as some others here. I was more interested in the space, since I don't like to have less than 10GB free!

[amazing]

I've seen postings where people backed out of trying to self-install HDs in the AlPB, because of the complexity but mostly because of the 3 latches you have to release inside the optical drive slot. Apple must have a special tool for doing that, something with a small hook of the end for pulling the latch forward? Voiding the warranty is a significant deterent what with the repair history of the AlPB.

barefeat.com used to have tons of speed tests with internal drives when they were testing the Titaniums, because replacing the drives was so easy. Those sorts of tests have almost disappeared...just isn't worth the hassle and the headaches.

barefeats.com did do a test where they compared the internal HDs vs fw400 and fw800 drives. As far as I remember, there wasn't a single test in which the internal HD replacements were faster than either fw400 or fw800. If I've got some extra time I'll try to find that test, but maybe someone's got it bookmarked?

Best bang for the buck: Put a large 5400 rpm (or 7200) notebook HD in the smallest external enclosure. You'll be able to take if with you in the future when you get the next must-have Apple laptop, and you won't void your warranty.

[bmhome1]

I'm soooo tired telling people the 7200 drives WON'T add heat, noise, vibration nor battery consumption (worth mentioning). Going on second year without a moment's regret. I don't understand the skepticism for the new technology within these drives. I have corrected posters here reporting on "issues" with the 7200 drives who have never been even near one.

It's VERY much faster system overall, like adding 20-30% more RAM with both the 8MB cache running and rotational speed increase. And large file read/write/copying is simply amazing. Small file copying is so fast I first used to double check that it actually did.

There's NO comparison with one in an external drive to having the horsepower internal, where it belongs. OSX itself runs faster with one.

Its the quietest drive of at least a dozen other 2.5" drives owned including 5400's. It blew away the 48GB 5400 2MB Travelstar it replaced. It has Hitachi's latest head design, which is virtually silent seeking. I can't imagine not recommending one other than the AL takedown issue mentioned.

[amazing]

I finally found the test on barefeats.com where they tested the 7k60 in a Titanium and in fw400 and fw800 enclosures. The internal results in the Titanium were exactly the same as for the fw800 enclosure. Even the fw400 was no slouch.

http://www.barefeats.com/fire40.html

Given the risk of voiding the warranty in the AlPB (considering the questionable repair track record), I certainly would opt to carry around that little bit of extra weight--plus you'd be doubling your storage capacity.

Notice again that barefeats.com tested it inside a Titanium. Why-oh-why did Apple not think it would be desirable to allow user-installable HDs in the AlPB?

[thefunkymunky]

Originally posted by phantomac:
Anyone with a 12" PB ever swapped the internal drive by him/herself?

I have just upgraded my 12-incher to a TravelStar 60GB 7200RPM drive. Its a worthy upgrade, the system is more responsive and runs faster. The best bit though is that my Rev. A PB runs a lot cooler than before. The wrist pad hardly ever gets hot now. So I am well happy.

[meatyocre]

Curious too see what Hard Drives will be standard on the next PowerBook release. 5400 standard with 7200 BTO is my guess. Seems silly they would not utilize faster HD's in Rev B or C since the technology has been available for some time now. Probably cost cutting measure??

Its good to hear the rumors of excess heat & noise of 7200RPM Hitachi to be dismissed!