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mattcass · Aug 14, 2007, 03:03 PM

Brands, speed, and battery life aside, I'm thinking about buying a larger, faster hard drive for my Powerbook. It's a nearly 4-year old Powerbook 1 GHz that has delivered trouble free use its entire life. The only issue ever was the spotted screen recall. Everything else has consistently worked perfectly.

The 60 GB I have isn't enough space for my ever growing library of photos and movies. I'm already using my 20 GB iPod entirely as extra storage. I was thinking of buying an external hard drive but the cost is the same or more than a new hard drive with no added benefits beyond extra capacity. But is it worth it to upgrade the hard drive?

I've had 4 years of worry-free computing. Are there risks with installing a new drive? Do you know of people that have had new hard drives installed, only to have constant issues afterwards? Is it smart to open up a 4 year old computer at the risk of damaging something? My AppleCare expired 10 months ago by the way. I would also have a shop do the install.

I'd really like extra storage and a speed boost on my computer. But if the risks outweigh the benefits, I'll settle on an external drive.

Thanks for any advice you can give.

Matt

peeb · Aug 14, 2007, 03:37 PM

I go back and forward on this myself. Frankly, if you are going to pay someone to install it, I don't think it's worth it. If you do it yourself and are fairly technically savvy, you should be fine and I think it's worth it.

SVass · Aug 14, 2007, 04:54 PM

Go for the external, bootable drive for two reasons. This gives you the opportunity to back up all of your important information including your operating system. Also, it means that if your computer or drive fail, the new drive will work with your next computer. sam

romeosc · Aug 14, 2007, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by SVass

Go for the external, bootable drive for two reasons. This gives you the opportunity to back up all of your important information including your operating system. Also, it means that if your computer or drive fail, the new drive will work with your next computer. sam

Make sure it is a firewire drive to make it bootable on a G4!

EndlessMac · Aug 15, 2007, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by romeosc

Make sure it is a firewire drive to make it bootable on a G4!

Definitely go with firewire if an external is what a person wants. Just from a few tests I've done myself, I have found that firewire is roughly twice as fast as USB 2.0.

tmpilling · Aug 15, 2007, 03:18 PM

I'm considering this at the moment as well, the UK has some very reasonable prices on 2.5" Hitachi drives as well as drive enclosures with FW connectivity.

Has anyone actually used the guide on ifixit.com for replacing the internal harddrive in a powerbook. ideally I would like to put a 160GB internally and put the 80Gb in a drive enclosure and use it as a scratch disk/backup drive.

mattcass>>
Can you let me know how you go with the external drive performance etc? Magic!

slpdLoad · Aug 15, 2007, 03:26 PM

Well, I have a PowerBook, have 3 external drives and have also swapped out the internal hard drive a couple times.

Unless you have a 12" PB (which I hear are a pain to work on because of the size), it's really not a big deal to take it apart and put your own in (I have a 15"). Just follow the guides on iFixit.com, and be careful, there's not too much to go wrong. You'll probably need the appropriate Torx screwdriver for a couple of the screws, which you can find at any hardware store.

If you're just looking for size, I think an external is a better option, simply because you just can't get a really huge internal 2.5" drive for a reasonable price. Get a Firewire external (FW 800 if you have it) and put all your media on there. Leave the internal drive mostly for apps.

I wouldn't have a shop do it, unless you're really paranoid. It's just not cost effective. If you find yourself getting stuck, and you don't want to proceed with the install, just stop and put the computer back together, no harm done.

I'd only really recommend upgrading the internal drive if you can find a replacement that runs at a higher RPM (heat could be a concern though). I think you'll notice quite a speed boost from a faster drive, particularly if your PB currently has a 4200rpm drive, which it probably does.

If you've got the money and time, upgrade to an internal 5400rpm, and get a couple external firewire drives. (I'd use 1 for backup).

mfbernstein · Aug 15, 2007, 05:21 PM

Having an external backup drive is a good idea in general.

However, it does sort of negate the utility of having a laptop if you have a significant amount of data that you need and use regularly on an external drive, but not on the internal drive.

Honestly, opening a PowerBook, isn't brain surgery. Exercise caution in keeping yourself grounded, don't force stuff and keep track of the screws, and you'll be fine. 160GB 2.5" drives are about as cheap as they're ever going to be, so if you expect to keep the PowerBook much longer you might as well get one (also, it's increasingly unlikely that larger drives for the PowerBook will ever be released, so no use in waiting on that account).

romeosc · Aug 15, 2007, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by mfbernstein

Having an external backup drive is a good idea in general.

However, it does sort of negate the utility of having a laptop if you have a significant amount of data that you need and use regularly on an external drive, but not on the internal drive.

Honestly, opening a PowerBook, isn't brain surgery. Exercise caution in keeping yourself grounded, don't force stuff and keep track of the screws, and you'll be fine. 160GB 2.5" drives are about as cheap as they're ever going to be, so if you expect to keep the PowerBook much longer you might as well get one (also, it's increasingly unlikely that larger drives for the PowerBook will ever be released, so no use in waiting on that account).

Buy an external 160GB firewire drive, clone the original and swap the drives to give you the larger drive in PB!

osiris24x · Aug 16, 2007, 02:22 AM

I pondered the same thing and eventually decided on a replacement internal drive. I'm tired of not being able to have my MP3 collection with me, and Windows uses up a lot of space (dual booting my MBP).

There are advantages and disadvantages to doing both, but honestly, installing a hard drive into a Powerbook is absurdly easy.

mattcass · Aug 16, 2007, 10:46 AM

Looking at the installation instructions on ifixit.com, I'm kinda on the fence. I've always had a knack for taking apart stuff and fixing it but my computer is rather valuable to me. However installation would be $100-$150, so I would probably do it myself.

slpdLoad, you mentioned a 5400 rpm HD. Is there any reason I should not upgrade to a 7200 rpm HD? I have a 4200 rpm HD now and my battery life is already as low as it's going to be, meaning my computer is plugged in most of the time.

What I am thinking now is a new internal (installed by me), buying a 2.5" external firewire enclosure (I have USB 1.1 so USB isn't even an option!) and putting my old internal hard drive in the enclosure. Of course I have no idea how to clone a hard drive or make the external bootable, but we'll cross that bridge when I actually get the new HD.

I'm looking forward to a reasonable speed increase with all this. I just bought enough RAM to max out my Powerbook and with a new HD this computer should have wings.

Who needs Intel Macs anyway?

Thanks everyone.

romeosc · Aug 16, 2007, 11:26 AM

Sam's Club - US Modular Dragon Hard Drive - 120GB

Sam's club and Costco have 120GB Firewire & USB drives for less than a buck a GB.

Use Superduper (free or paid version) to clone your PB

Swap drives and you have an internal 120GB and an external backup with your original drive!

mfbernstein · Aug 16, 2007, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by mattcass

slpdLoad, you mentioned a 5400 rpm HD. Is there any reason I should not upgrade to a 7200 rpm HD? I have a 4200 rpm HD now and my battery life is already as low as it's going to be, meaning my computer is plugged in most of the time.

Capacity and heat. Extra heat may slightly shorten the lifetime of the drive. More significantly, the 7200RPM drives are limited to 100GB.

Originally Posted by mattcass

What I am thinking now is a new internal (installed by me), buying a 2.5" external firewire enclosure (I have USB 1.1 so USB isn't even an option!) and putting my old internal hard drive in the enclosure. Of course I have no idea how to clone a hard drive or make the external bootable, but we'll cross that bridge when I actually get the new HD.

Cloning is the easy part: SuperDuper! It's really as easy as the screenshots show. 160GB drive + FW/USB 2.5" enclosure from NewEgg are less than $130, so no particular reason to get an external drive, and hope that the enclosure can be easily opened and closed to swap drives as someone recommended earlier.

peeb · Dec 18, 2007, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by osiris24x

There are advantages and disadvantages to doing both, but honestly, installing a hard drive into a Powerbook is absurdly easy.

I would not say it is 'absurdly easy', but it was not as hard as I thought it might be.

zaghahzag · Dec 20, 2007, 03:06 PM

Upgrading the HD will put some life into an older g4 in terms of performance. Get the biggest one you can afford. They have 200, 250 and 320 notebook drives now.

If you can afford it, i'd do both. Get a big external and replace the internal drive. Keep in mind as well, that HDs eventually die. 4 years on a laptop drive and you're getting to where you should be ready for the drive to die on you at any moment. Replace it before it dies and you'll save yourself a lot of problems.

mattcass · Jan 12, 2008, 04:21 AM

So my hard drive upgrades are complete. Thanks for everyone's advice!

What I decided to do first was buy an external drive. I bought an overly-expensive 120 GB G-Tech drive that I'm now sort of regretting. Not because the enclosure isn't amazing (the design is superb), but I should have just bought an external enclosure and an HD to save some money.

That's what I ended up doing for my new internal drive. I picked up a 100 GB Seagate 7200 rpm drive. I installed it myself. The whole installation process was very easy, only took an hour, and there were no complications at all. Don't pay anyone to do it for you in your G4 Powerbook!

My old internal drive now sits in a Macally firewire enclosure with two firewire ports so I can daisy-chain my two drives together and I still don't need an A/C adapter! The Macally enclosure is why I regret the G-Tech purchase. It's just too cool daisy-chaining everything together, even my iSight!

If I did it all over again I would still buy the 100 GB 7200 rpm drive, but purchase two Macally cases and install my old HD and a new external (likely a 160 GB 5400). I know I can get much higher capacities with larger hard drives, but I love not needing an AC adapter.

bighead · Jan 15, 2008, 01:01 PM

The MacAlly 2.5" enclosure (the one that's $35 from NewEgg) is THE BEST DEAL in 2.5" FW400 enclosures, hands down. There is not an equivalent in terms of 2.5" FW800 enclosures, which is a shame.

NewEgg has Western Digital 160s for $90 and 250s for $145, which are great deals. For my troubleshooting and other random uses, I have 4 or 5 of the 160s in the MacAlly enclosures, and they are fantastic. Cheap, reliable, and durable. Can't ask for anything more.