[graphics84]

Is the 7200 RPM 60 gig worth the upgrade?

Somebody over at Powerbook zone (web site) thinks so:

7200 RPM Travelstar Performance Report

A reader sent in this minireview of the new Hitachi Travelstar 7200 RPM drive that is now available:
If you want to share any feedback with your readers, here's what I've experienced with the drive so far. I ordered one the day I saw the plug on your site for Trans Intl and it arrived the next day. I put it into my PBG4 667 and so far it's been amazing. All programs seem to run much faster--especially those that access the hard disk frequently like Safari, Entourage, etc. I actually feel like I am using a desktop as simple things like window closing and directory listings are much snappier. I had previously upgraded the 4200RPM stock drive to a 5400RPM drive but this was a much better improvement. That's my 2 cents.

but how real is this?

I have a 1 gig Titanium... I think it shipped with a 4200RPM 60 gig. Will this drive really be faster and worth the $350?

I think right now I wait for the drive a lot... but I wonder about heat and battery life.

what do you guys think?

[___]

I was holding out for this 7200 drive but in the end couldn't wait any longer and got the Hitachi 5400.

I have since reverted back to the stock fujitsu as the Hitachi was too noisy. The parking of the RW heads sounded like a marble being dropped on my HD (happened randomly, regularly!). Sent it back and got another one which was exactly the same.

To stop the klunking I used a utility to disable the RW heads from parking, but that just meant the drive was running full whack all the time. halfing my battery life (fans kickin in too cuz' of the excess heat)... I also didn't notice that big of a performance gain over the stock drive.

Disregarding my experiences above I would still say no, unless its your sole machine and you do A/V stuff (& got $350USD to blow). Otherwise max out your ram as that works out cheaper, and in most cases will give you a far greater boost in performance.

[iWrite]

I would say do NOT upgrade. I keep saying to people: If you want a faster 7200rpm drive use the money you'd spend upgrading your internal hard drive (and invalidating your Apple Powerbook warranty, risking screwing the system up, and making the battery burn faster) by buying an external Firewire hard drive.

Seriously. I don't know why it's THAT important to go a millisecond faster.

[silverghost]

Originally posted by iWrite:
I would say do NOT upgrade. I keep saying to people: If you want a faster 7200rpm drive use the money you'd spend upgrading your internal hard drive (and invalidating your Apple Powerbook warranty, risking screwing the system up, and making the battery burn faster) by buying an external Firewire hard drive.

Seriously. I don't know why it's THAT important to go a millisecond faster.

just a quick question, how would changing your HD "invalidate" your warranty?

in my powerbook manual(TiSD) it shows you how to replace your HD, now if a person can read they'll be alright, not to mention transintl gives good instructions on the HD's they sell. the last time i spoke with applecare the person said it was fine to change out the memory and HD without voiding any warranty, as long as you dont mess anything up in the process.

as for the speed, a faster drive could help with say rendering(maya),and scratch disc(photoshop). thats just a few apps i use that would see an improvement from the added speed.

but i do agree an external firewire drive would be better.

for me ill wait till a 120gig or more internal comes out.


aloha

[Eug]

If you want speed for a scratch disk then get an external Firewire drive. 2 drives are better than one.

[iWrite]

It invalidates the warranty because Apple does not consider it a CIP or Customer Installable Part. Seriously -- call Apple and ask them. They consider any modification to the motherboard, including the hard drive, something that invalidates the warranty. Also, if something goes wrong with the motherboard Apple can say, "Well, you were working inside the system and made an unauthorized upgrade therefore the problem with your system is the result of faulty work." All hard drive upgrades are supposed to be done by an Apple authorized repair center -- and the system is noted by Apple as being upgraded.

Nevertheless, what I would say to do is to keep your old hard drive so that if something does go wrong you would swap the new drive out and replace it with the "old" or original drive.

I was also thinking that instead of getting a 7200rpm drive I'd rather have the new 80GB drive -- running at 4200rpm is fine. I'd rather have more space than a faster hard drive.

But, that's just me.

[blot]

Originally posted by graphics84:
Is the 7200 RPM 60 gig worth the upgrade?
......
I have a 1 gig Titanium... I think it shipped with a 4200RPM 60 gig. Will this drive really be faster and worth the $350?

I think right now I wait for the drive a lot... but I wonder about heat and battery life.

what do you guys think?

Upgrading the int HD of the Ti series will not void your warranty, (It is considered a CIP, at least from where I come from - Apple even provides instructions for it.), however for the Al series, you can do it at your own risk.

The drive is about 30%+ faster than the stock 4200rpm. (See this thread.) In terms of improvement to the system's overall speed, it really depends on what you do.

The drive is extremely silent and does not really consume more power than the stock drives. It also does not run any hotter.

It boils down to whether you think the upgrade is worth it or not for that extra performance.

Personally, I have no regrets upgrading my 17" Al to the 7200rpm drive.

Regards

[iWrite]

Show us where Apple authorizes the replacement of a hard drive please?

Thanks.

[Moose]

Originally posted by iWrite:
It invalidates the warranty because Apple does not consider it a CIP or Customer Installable Part. Seriously -- call Apple and ask them. They consider any modification to the motherboard, including the hard drive, something that invalidates the warranty. Also, if something goes wrong with the motherboard Apple can say, "Well, you were working inside the system and made an unauthorized upgrade therefore the problem with your system is the result of faulty work." All hard drive upgrades are supposed to be done by an Apple authorized repair center -- and the system is noted by Apple as being upgraded.

When I got my PBG4/400 in March of 2001, one of the first things I did was upgrade the RAM and hard drive. It's been sent to Apple four times since. My sister now owns it. They know it has a bigger hard drive and more RAM. They still repair it under AppleCare.

[graphics84]

Originally posted by iWrite:
Show us where Apple authorizes the replacement of a hard drive please?

Thanks.

I didn't look for it but from my own personal expierence is I think it's ok.

I replaced my 20 gig on my old Ti550 with the 5400 48gig and sent it back to apple for repair twice.

no problems

[iWrite]

Well, maybe it's okay and maybe it's not. My own experience is that it's NOT okay but then I buy extended AppleCare warranties for every Mac we've ever owned and I wouldn't want to jeopardize the warranty in any way.

[graphics84]

Originally posted by iWrite:
Well, maybe it's okay and maybe it's not. My own experience is that it's NOT okay but then I buy extended AppleCare warranties for every Mac we've ever owned and I wouldn't want to jeopardize the warranty in any way.

it's a good call... you will never have to worry about it.

I was when I sent it back the first time but never heard a word. I bet if I sent it back and I had messed something up during the install I would have though...

[iWrite]

With all of that said, I'd replace my hard drive without worrying about it. I'd just stick the old one back in if I sent it in.

[graphics84]

thanks for the laugh iWrite...

ok thanks guys... I'm not going to replace my drive.

I'm going to wait for a 80 gig version first.

thanks again

[mrmister]

The thread Blot linked to is not the 7200 rpm drive we were discussing--it is an 80 GB 4200 rpm drive that runs faster than the stock drive while using the same battery power.

[SEkker]

I recently upgraded my wife's 400 MHz G3 Pismo to OSX. As a part of this process, I replaced her hard drive with a 45 GB 5400 rpm IBM Travelstar (from an older, 30 GB 4200 rpm IBM Travelstar).

I have been using a 667 G4 TiPB or 1 GHz PB17 with stock high end Apple drives.

I kid you not -- I find the Pismo running OSX feels similar in speed now with the TiPB with its slower 4200 rpm drive. I was going to do a 900 MHz processor upgrade, but I think I'm going to wait.

I really think these slow stock HDs are really hurting the user experience with these laptops.

I am going to wait for an 80+GB drive to upgrade my PB17, but I will definitely do so.

If I needed more space, I suspect this HD
would represent one of the best upgrade values currently available.

[slow moe]

I'll upgrade to one of these new HD when Panther comes out, but not until then.

[Link]

Yeah it's worth the upgrade, something I would certaintly try.

Just remember apple's warranty isn't responsible for the drive itself, this is basically what they stipulate, so if you send it in for service and they find that your hard drive is dead, you're going to have to take care of that yourself.

[Karim]

Originally posted by iWrite:
Show us where Apple authorizes the replacement of a hard drive please?

Thanks.

For the record, every Apple Powerbook G4 Titanium has a HD that is a CIP. The 12" and 17" are NOT.

The procedure for installing a HD in the Tibook's is in the manual that shipped with the computer. It is considered a simple procedure just like adding ram. From personal experience the Tibooks are much easier to do a drive swap than the 17".

Here is a copy of the Apple users manual that ships witht the Tibooks:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=52263

[neutrino23]

The HD is the slowest storage device in your computer. Speeding it up will definitely speed up your overall experience.

Look on Bare Feats for some comparisons running different drives. Boot times, application launch times and such can be much improved.