[angelmb]

…and why?. It is for a friend so I would like to give him some proper advice avoiding a vague one-liner. I guess he need not be much concerned about price but reliability and acoustics.

Search results for 2.5 Hard Drives at OWC (just as reference) shows one model, Western Digital Scorpio, they come in capacities ranging from 120 to 320 GB.
I would swear the Seagate Momentus was all the rage not too long ago, but it is SATA. Is there anything like the Seagate Momentus suitable for the iBook G4 Ultra ATA/100 interface?.

Thanks.

[tinkered]

The best 2.5" IDE drive I remember is a 5400 RPM 320MB drive. That said, I would suggest that you save your money and get a used Macbook. I have seen several on craigslist for $400 and less and the upgrade would be money well spent over a an upgrade to a G4 mac that struggles with youtube.

[hh.blitz]

Originally Posted by tinkered 

The best 2.5" IDE drive I remember is a 5400 RPM 320MB drive. That said, I would suggest that you save your money and get a used Macbook. I have seen several on craigslist for $400 and less and the upgrade would be money well spent over a an upgrade to a G4 mac that struggles with youtube.

Four hundred bucks for a 2.5" IDE 320GB? (I am assuming you meant GB and not MB). I am looking at an online store here in Sweden and I see a WD Scorpio with the same specs as yours for under $100. Am I missing something?

If I am missing something, and a new drive really is that expensive, then maybe it would be better worth his money to get a Macbook or MBP 13". (I admit i still see the latter as a unibdoy macbook )

[Eug]

Just get the cheapest decent-capacity 9 mm drive that will fit and is quiet. There's not much point in spending too much money on an iBook.

And I say this as someone who replaced a hard drive in an iBook.

[amazing]

Having put an HD in a 14" iBook a couple of times, it's mostly about love of tinkering and rising to the challenge of what other people tell you shouldn't be done.

WESTERN DIGITAL Scorpio Blue WD3200BEVE 320GB PATA/IDE 5400 RPM 8MB Buffer Mobile Hard Drive Bulk at ZipZoomfly

$85 after rebate, 320 GB, free freight.

Here's a tip: print out 2 copies of the instructions from ifixit.com and use one copy to tape the screws to in their exact location. Makes it a piece of cake.

[angelmb]

^^ It is $114 this side of the pond. Still, it passes muster; in my friend's humble opinion, a working iBook G4 is worth more than that.

@ amazing, he will undoubtedly follow your advice. Bookmarked.

Thank you all so much.

[amazing]

ah, the Pond! still, there's gotta be better prices, just need to know where to look...