[fluxam]

WD Scorpio 2.5-inch SATA Hard Drive
160 GB, 150 MB/s, 8 MB Cache, 5400 RPM
product page.
Will it work?
It can be got for $129.11 shipped, after rebates.
I had figured to put the existing 60 Gb drive in an external enclosure, preferably with both USB and Firewire connectivity. That's just for portable storage -- not to boot off. Does anybody have recommendations for that enclosure?

[Bolero421]

I have the 120gb model and it works perfectly fine, you shouldn't have any problems.

[jsnyder]

You might want to check this out:
http://forums.macnn.com/66/ibook-and...kernel-panics/

It works fine so long as you disable the motion sensor (at least for the 120). That said, even with motion sensor on the crashes are really infrequent, and aren't an indication of hardware failure. Western Digital's drives are ones I'd definitely trust for integrity over most others.

[Bolero421]

Aha, I had actually just been reading about the SMS - Scorpio conflicts. I have to say that while I have had 3 kernel panics as a result of this, none have occurred while I was actively using my laptop. In fact, I've just spent the better part of the last 10 minutes trying to force it to crash by shaking / tilting and generally abusing it (poor thing, I'm sorry ) to no effect. The only time I've gotten kernel panics resulting from the SMS / Scorpio problem is when I have shoved my laptop into my bag before it has fully gone to sleep after closing the lid.

I would still highly recommend the drive. I've used nothing but WDs for the past 6 years and have never had an issue with them. If its a problem, you can always just turn off SMS and let the hard drive do its own thing.

[jsnyder]

Just for reference, this is what OWC says, who I bought the drive from. According to them, their engineers, western digital and apple confirm that this resolves the problem:

120GB 2.5" Scorpio 5400RPM SATA Notebook D... (WD1200BEVS) at OWC

(yes, it's a product page, look for the red text)