[chasg]

Hi All,

I've got a dead drive in a MBP C2D and I don't have enough time to get it repaired under warranty (a job coming up). I'm going to swap in a new drive myself.

I bought it from the online Apple Store with a 160GB drive (as the best balance of storage and speed). I've been looking around online to see if there has been a leap forward in speed/size.

I found a press-release from Hitachi (I think) mentioning a 300GB laptop drive, but I've found no dealers offering these.

So, what is the state of the art in laptop drives these days? 200GB 4200rpm (as sold on as a BTO option at the Apple store?) 300GB 4200rpm? 3TB 100rpm? ;-)

I'm about to go trolling for drives on Tottenham Court Road which, as Londoners know, is the core electronics region. It'd be nice to be able to go down there with a specific goal in mind, can anyone help?

TIA,
Chas

[JonoMarshall]

Other threads seem to suggest:

Western Digital Scorpio 250GB SATA HD 5400RPM 8MB 2.5LP

The UK online price varies from £125 to £175 (Froogle UK), but on T. Court Road it'll probably be a bit more if they even have it?!

You could consider buying something smaller and cheaper as a temporary fix untill you can log the MB Pro in for a service? (Depends how steady your hand is and how good you are with a screwdriver!)

[chasg]

Hi again Jono, thanks for finding that for me (Froogle, didn't search there!)

I can't see myself getting one of those at TCtRd for such a low price (and yeah, if anyone even has it), but it's worth a look.

To be honest, if I'm going to swap out a drive, I'm going to leave the new one in unless I have another reason to bring the MBPro in for warranty (why risk tool marks with two disassemblies?). For that reason, I'd want the largest/fastest drive I can find.

My hand is pretty steady, but thanks for the reminder :-)

Cheers!

Chas

[JonoMarshall]

I thought that if the HD doesn't match up with your original warranty's spec and an authorised centre hasn't carried out the work then your warranty for the Hard Disk and any associated faults is void?

Obviously this might not come into play, but if you were ever going to put it in for a warranty repair in the future wouldn't it be a good idea to put the other HD back inside? (Although I guess there might be tamper-evident tape inside the MB Pro that would give it away anyway?)

If it was me I'd try to do the swap as gently as possible, then at a convienient time, put the other HD back in the machine and take it in for your free fix - otherwise you're covering the cost of the fix just because a service centre can't do the work within a quicker turn-around time?

In fact, considering the costs involved, maybe your best bet would be to work/boot from an external HD and go through a more "normal" procedure at a later date?

[headbirth]

the largest 7200rpm drive I've seen is available from OWC, but it's only 100GB.

[chasg]

Jono,

My local repair shop (the one you know so well) was willing to put in a 3rd party drive (like the 250GB) for me, and they said that it wouldn't invalidate the warranty (or that, if I did any servicing with them, that'd they'd honour the warranty). I'm guessing that this is because they are official, but also because they have integrity (they just won all of my future business, by the way).

I decided, in the interests of speed, that I'd just get them to order in and replace the existing drive. I'm glad, 'cause it looks like there are about 30 screws to remove in order to replace the drive (and I thought that the TiBooks were a pain!).

I don't think I've ever seen tamper-tape inside any of the powerbooks I've cracked in the past (but always a first time for everything...).

headbirth: a 100GB 7200rpm drive would be no slouch, thanks for the info.

Chas

[mduell]

120GB 7200 RPM (Seagate) or 250GB 5400RPM (WD)

Or 256GB SSD, but I'm not sure if that's actually on the market yet or just announced for later this year.

[chasg]

Cool, thanks for that info (wow, a decent-sized 7600rpm laptop drive! At last!).

Chas

[OreoCookie]

I'd rather go for size. I have a 7,200 rpm drive and it's not that much faster than my previous 5,400 rpm notebook drive.

[Aron Peterson]

Bear in mind everyone 320GB drives (2 x single 160GB platters) are coming out real soon.

[chipchen]

Well, if you're in London... the Regent st store might offer overnight repairs (like SoHo in New York). You should check with them.

[inkhead]

Hitachi currently makes the fastest laptop HDD across the board in all RPM groups. Second Best is Fujisitu. I'd recommend going with the fastest RPM speed you can.

[yoesh]

just picked up a 160 GB 7200.2 Momentus SATA Seagate from OWC (keep in mind, it's not 160 formatted).
Seems faster than the 80GB 5400 RPM that it replaced.

[chasg]

Hi All,

I've got the laptop in with a dealer who's rushing the repair (it might be back today!). The Regent St. store was totally booked (but thanks for the suggestion chipchen).

I've asked the tech to replace the drive with an identical one, and when the 320GB drives come out, I'll swap it out (the tech says they will do it and will maintain my warranty, the only "downside" of that is that any future work on the laptop will have to be done by them, which is zero problem! Great service :-)

[chipchen]

Hmm.. just a quick one...

Replacing the hard drive with a third party hard drive IS NOT a warranty violation. So long as it's done by a Apple Authorized Service Provider, you can put in a 3rd party hard drive upgrade, change the optical drive, things like that. And it doesn't void warranty.

I realize they're doing you a favor by rushing the job... but that's no reason to lie to you either by saying you HAVE TO do all service through them in the future.

If they're good enough, they should be able to earn your loyalty, not get it by deception.

[jlgrandam]

Where can I find info about this 320 GB laptop drive??