[UncleDannie]

I have an original MacBook 1.87Ghz with an 80 GB hard drive. I want to upgrade the drive to a 320 or 500, but am unsure of a 7200 RPM or 5400 RPM drive. I was told that the 7200 would run 'hotter'.
I can get a 320 GB 7200 for $88 or a 320 GB 5400 for $71 at OWC.
I can get the same brand drives as above from eBay for less than $60 for the 5400.

What are the upside and downside of a Hard Drive transplant?

[mduell]

The hotter myth is just that; the different in power consumption is so minuscule you won't notice it.

The upside is more space and better performance. The downside is the hole in your pocket.

OWC is a scam, tacking on 20+% markups without justification.
Newegg:
320GB 5400RPM Hitachi for $60
320GB 7200RPM Seagate for $70
500GB 5400RPM Hitachi for $80 (free shipping)
500GB 7200RPM Seagate for $110 (free shipping)

For 320GB I'd say go with the 7200 no question; for 500GB go with the 7200 unless you're broke.

[OreoCookie]

Capacity is more important than rpm: if you have around $80 to spend, get a 500 GB 5,400 rpm drive rather than a 320 GB 7,200 rpm drive. If you fill up both drives with 250~300 GB of data, the 500 GB drive will on average be faster.

[UncleDannie]

Thanks, Mates - appreciate the fast response. Looks like OWC lost out and Newegg is the new supplier. I'm near broke, so I'll have to wait until the first of October when my Social Security check comes in for the 500 GB 7200 RPM drive ( or until I can collect enough aluminum cans ).

[cgc]

Originally Posted by mduell 

OWC is a scam, tacking on 20+% markups without justification.

Do you feel the same way about Apple?

[mduell]

Originally Posted by cgc 

Do you feel the same way about Apple?

No, Apple sells a differentiated product. OWC and Newegg are selling the same part.

[cgc]

A quick price check on Apple's MacPro shows that adding a 640GB 7200 RPM hard drive will cost you $200. I can find a WD Caviar Blue 640GB 7200 RPM drive on Amazon.com for $80. Why is it when Apple chages 2.4x the cost of an OEM part it's ok but when OWC sells a hard drive for $97.99 and NewEgg has the same one for $94.99 it's OWC that's considered the scam? That OWC vs NewEgg price difference is reasonable but the Apple vs Amazon price difference is the scam.

BTW, I picked the 500GB 2.5" Hitachi Travelstar 5K500.B 5400RPM SATA Notebook Drive with 8MB Cache as my example since it was the first one I found on both sites.

[mduell]

Sorry, I misunderstood your question. Apple's hard drive/memory markups are huge scam.

[cgc]

Whew...for a second I thought I was missing something...

[UncleDannie]

Thanks for everyone's help. Last nite, I saw a sale for a 2.5 SATA 500GB Seagate drive at BestBuys for $109. It was the same price for a 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm, so I got the faster spinner. Installation was a snap, took the opportunity to upgrade my 1GB memory to 2GB. I reinstalled Snow Leopard and ilLife '09. I have the Combo drive, not the Superdrive, but installation is a little more tricky for that. If I come across a great buy on a Super drive, I may take the plunge, but in the meantime, I can use my Lightscribe DVD external burner for making DVD movies. All that is left is transferring all my data from my eMac to the new hard drive.

Again, thanks for the advice and encouragement, I really appreciated it.

[tooki]

FWIW, when I've bought upgrade parts, sometimes NewEgg was cheaper, sometimes OWC was. (And if I'm in a hurry, OWC is the lower-stress supplier, since they have superb people to ask if I need help finding the right part.) I buy from both without reservation.

[agentcircus]

I was going to get mine at New Egg too, but I found a place that preinstalls Snow Leopard and iLife 09 on all of their upgrade drives. IIRC, it's macbookupgrades.com

[shdwghst457]

i agree with tooki, i make around 4 OWC orders a week and their customer service is fantastic, but i still go to newegg for price checking or for something OWC might not carry. i like OWC's website redesign too, just wish their domain name had anything to do with what they call themselves (somehow Other World Computing = www.macsales.com)