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Morpheus · Sep 18, 2004, 02:51 PM

As the HD in my two year old 15" Ti (876 MHz) suddenly sounded like a chainsaw two days ago, I replaced it today with a Fujitsu 40 GB 5400rpm drive.

Duplicate the whole MS Office crap went from 1:30 to 0:50

searching whole HD for letters "ca" went from 0:28 to 0:06 (!!)

xBench drive test from 45 to 73 points

checking permissions from 6:04 to 2:43

I'm quite impressed.

(HD before was a 40 GB Toshiba)

wtmcgee · Sep 18, 2004, 05:08 PM

stuff like that makes my mind up so much easier when it comes to me buying my next powerbook, and the faster HD that you can get with it.

gametime10 · Sep 18, 2004, 10:02 PM

Is the 60GB hdd that came w/ my 1 Ghz TiBook a 4200 or 5400RPM HDD? It's a tempting upgrade...

Halfloaf · Sep 19, 2004, 10:57 AM

gamteime: it's most likely a 4200...I'm think instead of buying a new Mac, I'll get a new 5400rpm drive (16mb cache) and another 512mb ram...I think that will help a lot with general OS speedup and large photoshop and vectorworks files...As well as Sketchup!

I've noticed that I only have anout 140 mb of Free ram after boot-up...and that goes down rather quickly...

-HL

TerryJ · Sep 19, 2004, 11:47 AM

Hey Gametime,

I just swapped out the stock 60GB drive in my Ti 1GHz, which is a standard 4,200, with the Hitachi 7K60 Travelstar 60GB 7,200 and I can't believe the difference! Everything like boot time and app launching is lightning fast! It only took me about 15 minutes to change drives myself since it is so accessible in the Ti's. I shopped all over and found the best price here and with free 2-day shipping, I couldn't be happier with their service.

Zip Zoom Fly

kafoochy · Sep 19, 2004, 01:39 PM

Awesome guys! Thanks for the comments. I wish the 4200rpm drive in my 1.5Ghz 15" was faster and larger. I feel like it is the achilles heal of my PB. I have neither the money to upgrade now, and there also aren't any drives currently shipping that are enough of an upgrade for me. There are a couple of companies that have said that they are going to be releasing 100gb 7200rpm drives I think in 4th quarter of this year, and I'll wait until they have 120gb, and upgrade my RAM in the meantime. Thanks!

maxx9photo · Sep 19, 2004, 01:53 PM

How do I upgrade my HD? I currently have the PB 12" rev.b w/40gb, and that would be nice to have somethng bigger like 80gb.

Ike

kafoochy · Sep 19, 2004, 01:58 PM

Originally posted by maxx9photo:
How do I upgrade my HD? I currently have the PB 12" rev.b w/40gb, and that would be nice to have somethng bigger like 80gb.

Ike

It's not the easiest upgrade, but not hard if you've ever put a screw driver to a computer, or laptop in the past and don't rush through the upgrade. To see what the upgrade entails, check out this link:

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/p...HD_upgrade.htm

h00ligan · Sep 19, 2004, 02:31 PM

yah it's more time consuming and yo have to be careful.. don't pull anything hard and don't lose screws.

I can't imaging going back to a 4200rpm drive.. i've been using 7200 for the last 18 months in all my laptops.

cambro · Sep 19, 2004, 03:23 PM

Yup.

It's amazing how much of a bottleneck hard drives can be, particuarly on portables. I'm also surprised that Apple doesn't try to really make it's Pro portables shine by including faster drives. It would really impress the average user.

iBorg · Sep 19, 2004, 09:07 PM

Originally posted by gametime10:
Is the 60GB hdd that came w/ my 1 Ghz TiBook a 4200 or 5400RPM HDD? It's a tempting upgrade...

My 1GHz TiBook came with the stock 4200rpm Fujitsu 60GB harddrive, and seemed speedy enough. But I recently needed more drive space (too many GB's of iTunes and iPhotos!), so I upgraded to the 5400rpm Toshiba 80GB (which also has 16MB cache, which is double the "usual" 8MB, and gives extra speed in addition to the extra rpm rotational speed), and this thing flies now! If a 7200rpm 80GB model was available, I'd have paid the extra for that, but it won't be available until the end of the year.

Get the fastest drive, load it with ram and you'll never be sorry!

iBorg

real · Sep 20, 2004, 12:18 AM

What are those faster drives doing for your Battery time. Just wondering.

It worth the speed up if the it does shorten battery life.

Thanks
Contemplating getting faster bigger drive for my PB.

real

angelmb · Sep 20, 2004, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by cambro:
Yup.

It's amazing how much of a bottleneck hard drives can be, particuarly on portables. I'm also surprised that Apple doesn't try to really make it's Pro portables shine by including faster drives. It would really impress the average user.

I agree, my 17" pro portable deserves a faster hard drive from factory.

Morpheus · Sep 20, 2004, 06:35 AM

Originally posted by real:
What are those faster drives doing for your Battery time. Just wondering.
real

According to the specs of the Fujitsu HD, it takes some more power to spindle up and when beeing idle (= no writes/seek/read). Requirements for read/write/seek and standby mode are equal or even better than for the 4200rpm.

So far I haven't noticed any impact on battery life and as long as those apps keep flying when starting, I wouldn't mind trading in some minutes. Don't know the impact for 7200rpm drives.

In the 7200rpm case however, I guess heat may really be some problem:

Don't know about latest Al PowerBooks, but my Ti 866GHz can get very hot on the bottom (even with a 4200 drive) and I'm sure a 7200rpm drive generates a lot more heat than a 5400rpm.

Since HD's don't like heat, I guess a 7200rpm's lifetime may be somewhat reduced.

Considering the cost/speed/heat ration, for me the 5400rpm disk was the perfect solution.

Halfloaf · Sep 20, 2004, 06:56 AM

So what would folks suggest? A 5400rpm with 16mb cache....Or a 7200rpm with 8mb cache...?

If there is a slight diff. in price, I couldn't be bothered...

Even if the 7200 eats 10 mins from my overall 3 1/4 hours battery life on my 1Ghz, I'd rather go with it over a 5400 rpm. But 16mb cache is also VERY tempting...

Is there a Barefeats comparison or something that shows the diff.?

What about heat?

Thanks!

-HL

SEkker · Sep 20, 2004, 12:49 PM

I know the 7200 are by far the fastest available drives. If speed is the issue, go for that.

I am waiting for either an 80 GB 7200 or a 100 GB 5400 model to be available to upgrade my PB17 whose Applecare is still active [will do so with an Apple certified technician, however.]

real · Sep 21, 2004, 12:14 AM

Good news Finding a 5400rpm drive to buy.

TerryJ · Sep 21, 2004, 09:47 AM

I just replaced the stock drive in my TiBook 1GHz with the Hitachi Travelstar E7K60 60GB 7,200 rpm and even though this machine was fast before, it is a demon now. Launch time is greatly reduced and app launching is amazing for larger apps like PhotoShop, etc. I keep a few movies ripped on my drive and opening time is roughly half what it used to be (about 700 MB in size). I ran an X Bench before and after and all the drive test results were roughly double with the new drive over the stock unit. I haven't noticed and time loss on battery, but that can always vary a few minutes anyway depending on screen brightness, etc. Also, some might think this is bizarre, but my Ti actually runs cooler now with the new drive. Maybe it's better friction-reducing technology or something, but all I can say is my machine doesn't get quite as hot as before. Oh, and the sound....this thing is completely silent unless you really put your ear to the machine...none of the clickety-clack of the stock drive at all!

Hitachi Drive 7,200 60GB Travelstar

gametime10 · Sep 21, 2004, 09:50 AM

Great info...thanks guys.

Where can I find an Apple Certified technician (in Houston)? How much would a hard drive replacement cost and how long would it take?

Morpheus · Sep 21, 2004, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by TerryJ:
I just replaced the stock drive in my TiBook 1GHz with the Hitachi Travelstar E7K60 60GB 7,200 rpm

Hitachi Drive 7,200 60GB Travelstar

Since you posted the link to the specs of your drive I quickly compared it to my Fujitsu MHT2xxxAH 5400rpm drive:

Most noticeable difference in power consumption is

"idle" requirement: 2.0 W vs. 0.85 W on my drive.(was 0.7 W on the 4200rpm)
Given the peak requirement is about 5W, this is quite significant.

Oh, and I hope there's a typo in the "ambient operating temperature", which is denoted by only 5-40 deg. Celsius !!?? (5- 55 on the Fujitsu)

RonnieoftheRose · Sep 21, 2004, 05:18 PM

You're all tempting me to upgrade my HD. What would be faster, 7200 80GB or 5400 100GB? I'd expect the latter as the sectors are packed closer together.

mdc · Sep 21, 2004, 06:13 PM

is it possible to find out what hard drive one has in their powerbook? i bought this powerbook (15" 1.25ghz, 80gig, superdrive) as a refurbish, so i am not sure, not did i have an option to upgrade the hard drive.

can i find out what speed i have?

RonnieoftheRose · Sep 21, 2004, 06:24 PM

I've gone and done it. You lot just drove me crazy with your reports of how speedy your systems became. I ordered the Hitachi 60GB 7200 with next day shipping. So what tools do I need now? Could someone give me a link to a take apart guide?

THANKS!

arjay · Sep 21, 2004, 07:24 PM

See kafoochy's reply above. He provided a link that supplies all the detail needed for replacing HD on 12" PB.

arjay

RonnieoftheRose · Sep 21, 2004, 07:56 PM

Originally posted by arjay:
See kafoochy's reply above. He provided a link that supplies all the detail needed for replacing HD on 12" PB.

arjay

I have the 17". I found a Japanese site but Babblefish goes to sleep translating it.

Lancer409 · Sep 22, 2004, 06:10 AM

thanks, but i'm going to wait for more capacity and to see if the 7200's help

Saramin · Sep 23, 2004, 01:58 PM

I'm looking to replace the stock 60gig 4200 drive in my Rev C 12" PB with this model from Newegg. Although I've tinkered with numerous PC desktops over the years, I've never owned either a mac or a laptop before so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I found detailed instructions on how to replace the hard drive on the Apple website and it seems simple enough. Given a healthy degree of caution there's no reason I can't safely do it myself instead of outsourcing the work to someone else, right?

Also, some quick questions on the hard drive itself:

1) I know hard drive speed affects loading times, startup times, etc., but does it also affect performance in games?
2) The above model is compatible with my machine and a decent choice, right? I'm not very familiar with HDD brands.
3) Any problems with noise/heating I should know about?

Thanks guys.

I'll probably place my order tomorrow if all goes well.

amazing · Sep 23, 2004, 03:09 PM

Originally posted by Saramin:
I'm looking to replace the stock 60gig 4200 drive in my Rev C 12" PB....I found detailed instructions on how to replace the hard drive on the Apple website and it seems simple enough. Given a healthy degree of caution there's no reason I can't safely do it myself instead of outsourcing the work to someone else, right?

The hard drive in any of the new AlPB is NOT user serviceable. If you found directions on Apple's website, then those directions are undoubtedly for the Titanium PB, where the HD was user-serviceable and also in very easy.

Replacing the HD in an AlPB is neither easy nor risk-free. There's endless debate as to whether doing it yourself will void your warranty. The risk of voiding your warranty is why many people pay an ASP to install the HD. Before you attempt to install anything yourself, read up on the issue so you know what you're risking.

Personally, I'd get an external portable HD before I risked voiding AppleCare.

Saramin · 04:33 PM

Originally posted by amazing:
The hard drive in any of the new AlPB is NOT user serviceable. If you found directions on Apple's website, then those directions are undoubtedly for the Titanium PB, where the HD was user-serviceable and also in very easy.

Replacing the HD in an AlPB is neither easy nor risk-free. There's endless debate as to whether doing it yourself will void your warranty. The risk of voiding your warranty is why many people pay an ASP to install the HD. Before you attempt to install anything yourself, read up on the issue so you know what you're risking.

Personally, I'd get an external portable HD before I risked voiding AppleCare.

Yes, I realized shortly after my post that this was a fallacy. I followed the link earlier in this thread to the xlr8yourmac.com link and had a look at the detailed instructions. Well, it certainly looks to be more difficult, but all of the directions are fairly straightforward nonetheless.

I'll read up on the issue some more.

Edit: As to voiding the warranty, supposedly if you run into a problem you could simply remove the new HDD and put in the old 4200 one. I'm not really sure how Apple could tell the difference.