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Upgrading MacBook hard drive

Discussion in 'Technology' started by Andy348, Jan 1, 2010.

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  1. Andy348

    Andy348 Formula 3

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    #1 Andy348, Jan 1, 2010
    The 120GB HD on my white MacBook doesn't quite cut it. I pulled the trigger on a 320GB 7200RPM Blue Scorpio WD drive last week, installed it and it was wayyyy too loud. Sounded like the fans were constantly on at 70%. Not only did that annoy me, but these drives have a history of using an amazing amount of cycles and die quite quickly. So I returned that drive and now I'm looking for either another 7200RPM drive (320GB) or a 5400rpm drive (500GB). Does anyone have any suggestions?

    Thanks
     
  2. ferraridude615

    ferraridude615 F1 Veteran

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    #2 ferraridude615, Jan 1, 2010
    You could get an external hard drive.
     
  3. Etcetera

    Etcetera Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 Etcetera, Jan 1, 2010
    Samsung makes a decently quiet drive.
     
  4. Andy348

    Andy348 Formula 3

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    #4 Andy348, Jan 2, 2010
    I was thinking about it but I rather just have an internal. I'm going to be bringing my laptop to school in the coming year and having to switch files from external to internal would get old quick.

    I'll check out the Samsungs, thanks.
     
  5. sf_hombre

    sf_hombre Formula 3
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    #5 sf_hombre, Jan 2, 2010
    Last September I bought the

    Western Digital Scorpio Blue WD5000BEVT 500GB 5400 RPM 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive Item #: N82E16822136314

    frrom Newegg.com for about $90. I'ts now about $65.

    Very quiet, excellent speed in spite of the 5400 RPM.

    Newegg is terrific to deal with.
     
  6. Andy348

    Andy348 Formula 3

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    #6 Andy348, Jan 2, 2010
    I ordered the first drive from Newegg and returned it no questions asked, they're great.

    My first drive was a Scorpio Blue and I think the reason it sounded so loud was because it spun up too often. It was incompatible with the OS X battery saving feature or something like that.

    Are you running yours on a Mac?
     
  7. Etcetera

    Etcetera Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #7 Etcetera, Jan 2, 2010
    You might also give an SSD a whirl...it'll really wake up the performance of your PC if you get one with fast reads and writes.

    This won't work now since you've returned the drive, but Google Acoustic Management for Mac. It's a program that allows you to reduce the seek time of the device for lower sound (and performance). Not all drives support this feature, but most Western Digitals and I think some Samsungs do support it.
     
  8. sf_hombre

    sf_hombre Formula 3
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    #8 sf_hombre, Jan 2, 2010
    Andy

    Sony Vaio
     
  9. Andy348

    Andy348 Formula 3

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    #9 Andy348, Jan 3, 2010
    I'd like an SSD but I'd be lucky to find a 30GB one in my price range, and then I'd definitely need a 320GB+ external drive.


    Thanks.

    I think I'll go with a Seagate Momentus 5400 500GB drive.

    695MB left on this 120GB! Hopefully that'll be enough to download the new episode of Top Gear :p
     
  10. tritone

    tritone F1 Veteran
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    #10 tritone, Jan 3, 2010
    after you do it, please let us know how you rate this.....access times and noise....about ready to do the same - but nice to have someone else farther out on the edge ;-)

    Tritone
     
  11. Andy348

    Andy348 Formula 3

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    #11 Andy348, Jan 3, 2010
    I'll be glad to, but it could be awhile. I assume approx. 2 days for the drive to get there and for NewEgg to process my refund, then ordering and shipping... I should have it by next Monday.
     

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