laptop hard drive - any recommendations?

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chuckerchucker
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Hi,



now that my iBook's hard drive is pretty much definitely dead, I'm looking for a good replacement. It should be 60 Gigs and 5400 RPM (and obviously 2.5" IDE). Apparently, the big three manufacturers in this field are Toshiba, Hitachi/IBM and Fujitsu. I'm looking for advice on which brand of laptop hard drives has been proven to be the most reliable / coolest (as in temperature :P ) / high performanced. I don't want my laptop to become a mobile tank replacement for invading South Africa, but something faster and maybe a little less noisy than the previous hard drive (Toshiba MK2018GAS) would be very nice. (And of course, so would be a lifespan above 20 months).



Thanks in advance,

your local army officer

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Wow...don't even attempt the iBook HD replacement..wicked scary stuff. You're looking at upwords of 2 hours of your time and removing somewhere in the area of 75 screws. If you really want to try to pull it off yourself, I'll try to help you find a HD, but if your smart you'll turn back now.
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  • Reply 2 of 6
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    It's probably very difficult and scary, but... if your iBook is both out of warranty AND has a dead hard drive, then you should definitely consider the procedure.



    Hitachi makes the best laptop drives right now. They use fluid bearings so they are very quiet, and they are the only company to offer a 7200 RPM 60 GB drive and a 5400 RPM 80 GB drive. Of course, you can always pick up the 5400 RPM 60 GB drive as it is quite a bit less expensive than the 7200 RPM. As a supplier, I'd personally recommend NewEgg, as they have great service, good prices, and very fast shipping. Unfortunately, they usually don't have all of the Hitachi drives in stock, but I think they do have the 60 GB 5400 RPM one in right now. It's about $160.
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  • Reply 3 of 6
    kingofsomewherehotkingofsomewherehot Posts: 4,185member
    Go Ahead ... if you're willing to take your time and carefully keep track of where the parts came from (so you can replace them) It's time consuming, but not difficult.



    Keep in mind ... the faster the RPM of the drive, the shorter your battery will last (not a problem if you usually have it plugged in).



    As for which brand ... I couldn't help you there.
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  • Reply 4 of 6
    k squaredk squared Posts: 608member
    I've been using a 40 GB 5400 rpm Toshiba HD for about six months now and so far so good. Far faster and quieter than the stock drives used in the first generation Titaniums. I haven't noticed that much of a battery hit, nothing that the extra speed surely makes up for.



    Barefeats.com usually has laptop drive comparisons between 4200/5400/7200 models.
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  • Reply 5 of 6
    chuckerchucker Posts: 5,089member
    Thanks a lot for your help I think I'm going the Hitachi way.



    DMBand: time is not an issue, and I'll have my father's help who's rather experienced in this sort of stuff. He's also looked at the link I sent him ( http://www.webwitch.de/iBook/ since he prefers German; I realize there's a ton of other guides) and thinks it's not as difficult as it looks.
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  • Reply 6 of 6
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Chucker

    Thanks a lot for your help I think I'm going the Hitachi way.



    DMBand: time is not an issue, and I'll have my father's help who's rather experienced in this sort of stuff. He's also looked at the link I sent him ( http://www.webwitch.de/iBook/ since he prefers German; I realize there's a ton of other guides) and thinks it's not as difficult as it looks.



    Good luck! You'll need it, it is as difficult as it looks. And that's coming from someone who has done it before. I clocked in at just under 2 and a half hours of work. It's a tough deal, but I have faith in you

    Again, good luck!
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