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itistoday · Dec 15, 2006, 03:28 AM

I'd like to limit the scope of this poll to laptops bought within the past 5 years as hard drives have drastically changed since then.

Edit: Sorry, I can't update the poll, but if you select "No" could you please also post how long you've had your computer? (Obviously most don't die within the first couple of months) If you can, don't select that option if you haven't had your laptop for at least a year.

crazeazn · Dec 15, 2006, 03:41 AM

yes a little over a year after i bought my powerbook g4 1ghz, the drive started clicking then died.

legacyb4 · Dec 15, 2006, 03:42 AM

just past the extended warranty period. replaced the 40GB with an 80GB

solofx7 · Dec 15, 2006, 08:50 AM

powerbook g4 hard drive died after 4 months.
i went through quite a bit, but have ended up with a new MacBook Pro 17.
i bought the extended warranty and a good external backup drive...

macdevil · Dec 15, 2006, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by itistoday

Edit: Sorry, I can't update the poll, but if you select "No" could you please also post how long you've had your computer? (Obviously most don't die within the first couple of months) If you can, don't select that option if you haven't had your laptop for at least a year.

TiBoolk 800 HD is still running strong... it is small but I have externals to dump stuff off when it gets too full.

Crouching Donkey · Dec 15, 2006, 10:04 AM

I've had my G4 1.5Ghz 12" Powerbook for 14 months now. Although the hard drive never failed, I was quickly running out of space, and frequently had to save on an external HD.

Well, yesterday I replaced the HD with a new 160GB Samsung HD. The Samsung is almost silent when reading/writing (you have to put your ear right next to the track pad to hear it). Whereas the original HItachi HD was quite loud by comparison. I'm not sure if it originally clicked as loud when new, or if it has 'aged' and developed a louder click, but it had always been audible. Either way I'm very glad I replaced it, as it would have probably died any day soon!

Apart from the extra space I now have, I've found that the fan rarely has to spin full-speed, as it frequently did with the original HD.

I intend to keep my baby running for as long as it's viable to.

jmgriff · Dec 15, 2006, 10:08 AM

PB 12", the drive failed after around 18 months. Had it replaced with a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 which was much better (quieter, faster). I suggest something like SmartMonTools for monitoring drive health.

fisherKing · Dec 15, 2006, 12:06 PM

12" pb, revC.
drive failed just after the first year (yay! applecare).

spent an afternoon shaking the powerbook, turning it upside down, etc...
until the drive would spin up & i could backup data!

ghporter · 10:44 PM

I've had much better performance from laptop drives than from desktop drives.

Edit for the expanded "No" answer request: I have a laptop that's about 16 years old and both the original and the replacement drives are still just fine (though that's not terribly useful info-I haven't used it in years). I have a 7 year old laptop whose drive is just fine, a three year old one as well (both PC laptops).

KP* · Dec 15, 2006, 02:39 PM

Rev A Albook 15", running smoothly for over 3 years. It's something I'm constantly worried about, but overall aside from the design defects of the Rev. A, this machine has been rock-solid as long as I've had it, although it's slowed down a little.

wingdo · Dec 15, 2006, 03:01 PM

In answer to the age question ....
My MBP is brand spanking new
My PowerBook is about to turn 3.
I had a WallStreet 266 from the week they were released until earlier this year.

Never replaced a HD in any of them.

romeosc · Dec 15, 2006, 03:12 PM

Have owned over 15 PBs in that time period never a failure, I usually buy larger external firewire and swap with internals. The externals are then used as sneakernet and backup!

KP* · Dec 15, 2006, 03:29 PM

Originally Posted by romeosc

Have owned over 15 PBs in that time period never a failure, I usually buy larger external firewire and swap with internals. The externals are then used as sneakernet and backup!

That's what I was thinking of doing for my upcoming MBP, but I decided that was a bad idea given that I would be voiding the warranty right out of the box. Did you ever have problems with that? Could I put the original drive back without them knowing if I ever had to return it for repairs?

itistoday · Dec 15, 2006, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by Crouching Donkey

Well, yesterday I replaced the HD with a new 160GB Samsung HD. The Samsung is almost silent when reading/writing (you have to put your ear right next to the track pad to hear it). Whereas the original HItachi HD was quite loud by comparison. I'm not sure if it originally clicked as loud when new, or if it has 'aged' and developed a louder click, but it had always been audible. Either way I'm very glad I replaced it, as it would have probably died any day soon!

Yeah, I have a brand new MBP C2D with a Hitachi drive in it and the clicking is really annoying. I think that I will sometime also follow suit and replace the drive with a larger, quieter one, it's just a real pain to open these things up. However, I hope to come up with a bulletproof backup solution and run the drive into the ground first.

Crouching Donkey · Dec 17, 2006, 05:39 AM

Originally Posted by itistoday

Yeah, I have a brand new MBP C2D with a Hitachi drive in it and the clicking is really annoying. I think that I will sometime also follow suit and replace the drive with a larger, quieter one, it's just a real pain to open these things up. However, I hope to come up with a bulletproof backup solution and run the drive into the ground first.

Well, it sounds like Hitachi HDs click in general, even the latest ones. I thought that mine clicked, because it was an older HD, from a year ago. What with Apple's close attention to detail in it's design, low use of fan, etc etc, I would have thought they'd have chosen a quieter HD! It must be more of a financial decision to go with Hitachi than noise level. Such a shame.

rjt1000 · Dec 17, 2006, 11:16 AM

The OEM Toshiba MK6025GAS hard drive in my PB 12 1.33ghz died 1 year and 2 weeks after purchase. Fortunately the Apple store was willing to cover the repair even though I hadnt purchased Applecare. Unfortunately they insisted on replacing it with the very same model. But 1 1/2 years later, its still fine.

By comparison the IBM-DJSA-220 hard drive in my Pismo is entering its 7th year without a glitch.

shifuimam · Dec 17, 2006, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by Crouching Donkey

Well, it sounds like Hitachi HDs click in general, even the latest ones. I thought that mine clicked, because it was an older HD, from a year ago. What with Apple's close attention to detail in it's design, low use of fan, etc etc, I would have thought they'd have chosen a quieter HD! It must be more of a financial decision to go with Hitachi than noise level. Such a shame.

Hitachi (aka IBM) hard drives are notorious for being complete pieces of crap. My company just got off a three-year corporate lease with IBM, and many, many people had to have their hard drives replaced multiple times. I knew a few people who were on their third drive in less than two years. Hitachi drives, however, are cheaper than other brands, and most laptop manufacturers (including Apple) tend to use them to save money. I was actually surprised to see that someone had a Toshiba drive in their Apple laptop - Toshiba drives are generally more reliable than Hitachi.

Ever since I bought my first laptop, I have always upgraded the hard drive. You get the hard drive manufacturer's warranty and support going this route. Seagate is the absolute best option - all their drives have a five year warranty, which you simply cannot beat, and their drives are extremely reliable. Also, if a hard drive you purchased separately fails, you can advance RMA the replacement so you're not without your computer - or failing hard drive - in order to get the drive replaced.

Especially with the MacBooks and MacBook Pros being equipped with a user-replaceable hard drive now, there's no good reason to not upgrade yourself. Then you can sell the Hitachi drive on eBay and get some of your money back from the upgrade.

Danni · Dec 17, 2006, 12:27 PM

Actually, I should probably have voted for both within a year and after a year. My TiBook 667 had the original hd begin clicking after 3 months and Apple decided to replace it as it was at risk. Afer four years, the replaced hd did totally fail. Luckily for me, I have everything backed up to an external hd and was able to use that until I had the hd replaced by my local computer guy.

Danni

PS. Looking at the posts above, I seem to be the odd duck in terms of brands posted. I have a Fujitsu in my currant MBP.

MichiganRich · Dec 17, 2006, 12:41 PM

My 1st gen 17" PowerBook (built March '03) has been perfectly quiet and reliable. It's a 60 gig FUJITSU MHS2060AT from the system profiler. If I was looking to replace it or increase the size, I think I would definitely look into another Fujitsu drive. I've had tons of drives for dektops and externals, but this one has outlasted a number of them even with the near constant use and being moved around.

imitchellg5 · Dec 17, 2006, 01:11 PM

Went through two iBook G4 HDs once. Both were under warranty. I think Final Cut Pro killed them.

NewOldbie · Dec 18, 2006, 11:15 AM

I have noticed hard drives in general do not last as long, but maybe it has to do with us placing such demands on them now.

I have had 6 PBs directly under my use in the last five years, EVERY SINGLE ONE has had a drive failure anywhere from 1-2 years into it.

johnpop · Dec 18, 2006, 11:26 AM

My only hardrive failure has been on a 4-5 year old desktop with Hitachi HDD

Powerbook G4, 23 months old
Dell Latitude D510 - Replaced with 60gb 7200rpm drive, but original drive is in external and works well

wingdo · Mar 12, 2007, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by wingdo

In answer to the age question ....
My MBP is brand spanking new
My PowerBook is about to turn 3.
I had a WallStreet 266 from the week they were released until earlier this year.

Never replaced a HD in any of them.

This thread totally jinxed me. My PowerBook is at the Apple Store getting a new HD installed as it totally died on Saturday.

Sherman Homan · Mar 12, 2007, 07:17 PM

Horror stories with G3 12" iBooks.

voicebox · 08:50 PM

Originally Posted by itistoday

I'd like to limit the scope of this poll to laptops bought within the past 5 years as hard drives have drastically changed since then.

Edit: Sorry, I can't update the poll, but if you select "No" could you please also post how long you've had your computer? (Obviously most don't die within the first couple of months) If you can, don't select that option if you haven't had your laptop for at least a year.

Hi there,
I bought a then brand new 15" 1Ghz Al PowerBook with a 60Gb HD in November 2003.
During its three years four months of life it has had 2 new logic boards, 1 new CD/DVD drive, 1 new screen - the dreaded 'White Spot' disease - and 1 new left hand speaker assembly, all replaced under warranty. BUT the HD had been perfect!
That is until November 2006 when I replaced it with a 120Gb Seagate - because there was no more space left on it! So after cloning all the data across to the Seagate and after erasing and then reinstalling 10.4.8 on it, I now use it as a spare external drive - and it's still going strong!
So there you have it - a Hard Drive success story!

SierraDragon · Mar 13, 2007, 07:35 PM

IMO such polls are worse than meaningless because there is a totally unscientific implied failure rate. True failure rate could be much higher or lower; these data mean nothing.

FWIW I have had or managed ~6 Mac laptops in the past 5 years, ~ another 6 prior to that. No hard drive failures but one motherboard failed taking the hard drive with it.

-Allen Wicks

Simon · Mar 14, 2007, 04:35 AM

12" PB G4, 1.0GHz, rev B.

Stock 40GB HDD failed after exactly 11 months. Replaced it with a 5400 RPM disk. Has been working like a charm ever since.

sknapp351 · Mar 14, 2007, 06:43 AM

My PowerBook ( Alum ) was just over 3yrs old when I sold it, without HD failure. My MBP is now just over a year and the HD hasn't died even though I dropped the computer and dented it it up.
SAm

wingdo · Mar 14, 2007, 12:35 PM

I've got to give kudos to Apple. The P'Book was given to my wife when I bought my MBP. I had her bring it in to the Apple Store this weekend, since neither Disk Warrior nor TTP could resolve the problem and SMART reported the drive as failing. Apple called me last night, they replaced the drive and managed to save "most" of the data. I'm very impressed that they even bothered to attempt to salvage the data on the old drive. Apple Care for the win.

jtrwallace · Mar 16, 2007, 06:12 AM

ive had my powerbook 15" for 1.25 years and i've had no problems with the hard drive. i've also got myself prepared with carbon copy cloner on a firewire drive and then periodically i also copy that backup to a usb drive that i use less frequently. if my hard drive dies... i'm definitely not going down without a fight.

Maui19 · Mar 16, 2007, 09:41 AM

I've had the HD fail in both my Powerbooks. I used both of them a ton, and the HDs failed in the 2-3 year range. In my current PB G4, the HD was replaced under Applecare after 2 1/2 years. They just replaced the screen, too, so I'm good to go!

JKT · Mar 16, 2007, 11:13 AM

No failure - coming up to 3 years of age, next month... sniffle, they grow so fast:

Capacity: 74.53 GB
Model: TOSHIBA MK8026GAX
Revision: PA002B

Edit: Oh crap... I've just realised that my Applecare is about to expire. No doubt, it will be imminently followed by hardware failure of some description!

shabbasuraj · 02:17 PM

Replaced my 4200 40 gig, with a 5400 100 gig in my 12" PB 1.33 GHZ.

Swapped it out myself.

I see hard drives almost as a consumable item kinda like batteries.

Funny though, I have never had to replace my battery as it still has 4000+ mah after almost 3 years.

Moral of the story... data loss is a 'WHEN' and not an 'IF'.

Back up your data people!!!!

tinkered · Mar 16, 2007, 12:32 PM

I've never had a internal drive die on me in any of my apple laptops. Yet, my externals I use for back up have died a few times.

SierraDragon · Mar 16, 2007, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by shabbasuraj

I see hard drives almost as a consumable item kinda like batteries.

Moral of the story... data loss is a 'WHEN' and not an 'IF'.

Back up your data people!!!!

Exactly. Rule number 1 is "all hard drives fail."

-Allen Wicks

Northeastern292 · Mar 16, 2007, 10:07 PM

Would replacing my MacBook Pro's hard drive with a compatible Serial ATA drive void it's warranty, even if nothing is damaged?

I cannot even comfortably run Windows and OS X comfortably (because of my iTunes collection.)

Simon · Mar 17, 2007, 03:42 AM

AFAIK the MBP's HD is not considered a user-replaceable part by Apple.

mfbernstein · Mar 17, 2007, 12:12 PM

See this earlier thread on MBP hard drive replacement for some thoughts:

Alternatively, you might consider sticking your iTunes collection (or the less-used part of it) onto an external hard drive, or turning one of those G4s in your sig into a file/iTunes server.

TheBum · Mar 18, 2007, 05:52 PM

The hard drives in my 12" PowerBook G4 bought in February 2003 and my MacBook Pro bought in March 2006 are both running just fine.

As for replacing the hard drive voiding the warranty, there's a simple workaround: before sending the computer in for service, put the original hard drive back in. Of course, this assumes the original one still works.

pyn · Mar 20, 2007, 05:57 PM

PowerBook G4 Rev.B 12" died ~ 11 months (10 days before the end of my warranty; suspicious???)

needless to say i bought an applecare for it

romeosc · Mar 20, 2007, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by pyn

PowerBook G4 Rev.B 12" died ~ 11 months (10 days before the end of my warranty; suspicious???)

needless to say i bought an applecare for it

Why? AppleCare costs a lot more than a new hard drive, and Safeware insurance covers more than Applecare, since 90 % of the time they say YOU abused computer! They ususually pick it up and try to slide a piece of paper under a corner and say you lifted it by one hand! I have seen more than 3 Genuises use this logic!

SierraDragon · Mar 20, 2007, 09:50 PM

Originally Posted by romeosc

Why? AppleCare costs a lot more than a new hard drive, and Safeware insurance covers more than Applecare, since 90 % of the time they say YOU abused computer! They ususually pick it up and try to slide a piece of paper under a corner and say you lifted it by one hand! I have seen more than 3 Genuises use this logic!

Agreed. AppleCare is a very wasteful expenditure. E.g. not only is a ew hard drive much cheaper than AppleCare, a warranty drive is slower and much less capacity than what you would otherwise replace it with.

-Allen Wicks