So my Powerbook's hard drive died. What now?

cosmonutcosmonut
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
My 1.25Ghz G4 Powerbook's hard drive had been failing (recognized by nasty sounds) for a few weeks and it finally kicked the bucket today.



I'm thinking I want to replace the internal drive in it, because I like the computer and would like to keep it portable (i.e. not tied to running the system on an external drive). I also would rather spend a few hundred on a new hard drive and installation than a whole new laptop.



Anybody have a recommendation on what kind of drive I should buy and who I should have install it for me? The drive I had was 80GB and it was topping out near the end. I'd like to go larger next time if at all possible.



Whatever advice or suggestions you have would be helpful. Thanks!



Oh, by the way, I DID back up all my data so I'm not concerned about recovering anything from the previous drive.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Anyone?
  • Reply 2 of 10
    boukmanboukman Posts: 93member
    If I were you, I would go for a 7200 rpm drive (avoir 4200 rpm drives at all cost). It would probably give your good old powerbook a small speedup. As far as capacity is concerned, I think the 7200 rpm drives max out at 160 GB right now. It all depends on your budget and your needs, obviously. Any technician that's ever touched a powerbook should be able to do that for you, as it's not that hard. I have done it myself in the past, so I guess you could also do it yourself if you feel like it. There are detailed manuals, with pictures, on how to do that on the net.
  • Reply 3 of 10
    pt123pt123 Posts: 696member
    Try macsales.com, click on hard drives, 2.5" laptop/notebook HD's and click on 2.5" ATA/IDE Laptop drives. Try ifixit.com for step by step instructions if needed.
  • Reply 4 of 10
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Okay. The spec for the Powerbook says it uses an Ultra ATA drive. I've looked at a number of drives today, and all I've found is ATA, SATA, and a few other flavors...but no "Ultra" ATA. How does this work?
  • Reply 5 of 10
    oldcodger73oldcodger73 Posts: 707member
    Cosmo, try ZipZoomFly.com or NewEgg.com for a replacement hard drive. The hard drive is user replaceable, I'm pretty sure there's instructions on how to do it in the Powerbook manual, plus Google the web and you'll find instructions that include step-by-step pictures. Your biggest problem might be finding the correct type of screwdriver you'll need, try Home Depot or something similar.



    I think ATA and Ultra ATA are the same but aren't sure.
  • Reply 6 of 10
    splinemodelsplinemodel Posts: 7,311member
    Ultra ATA is a faster version of ATA, sometimes now referred to as "parallel ATA" or "PATA."



    You'll want a 2.5" drive. I'd recommend getting a 5400rpm model with a large disk size and as big a cache as you can afford. A 5400rpm drive with a big cache will perform just as well as a 7200rpm drive as long as the disk size is 1.33 times larger. For example, a 60GB 7200rpm drive is about as fast as an 80GB 5400rpm drive, except that these usually cost the same. As a bonus, you get more disk space, less noise, greater reliability, and lower power draw from the 5400rpm model.
  • Reply 7 of 10
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    Thanks for the help everyone! Right now I'm looking at a 120GB 5400rpm with 8MB cache for about $120 with the necessary installation toolkit included.



    Should I look at a smaller capacity with 5400rpm?
  • Reply 8 of 10
    danmacmandanmacman Posts: 773member
    My PB G4 12 incher's 40 GB OEM hard disk recently started to die. Very loud noises, clicking, etc. I backed up everything to my iPod and used MacResQ's overnight service to replace the disk with a new one. They also copied everything over to the new drive and shipped back my original in the box. I recommend them.
  • Reply 9 of 10
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Ultra ATA / "Parallel ATA" / ATA drives for notebooks, you should get a 7200rpm one with 8mb cache and about 100gb or more. If you can afford it, skip past 5400rpm drives. You also may want to consider getting two, each a Seagate, as that comes with 5 year warranty (it should). One 7200rpm for your laptop, then another 7200rpm for your external backup FW400 enclosure.
  • Reply 10 of 10
    sunilramansunilraman Posts: 8,133member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Splinemodel View Post


    Ultra ATA is a faster version of ATA, sometimes now referred to as "parallel ATA" or "PATA."



    You'll want a 2.5" drive. I'd recommend getting a 5400rpm model with a large disk size and as big a cache as you can afford. A 5400rpm drive with a big cache will perform just as well as a 7200rpm drive as long as the disk size is 1.33 times larger. For example, a 60GB 7200rpm drive is about as fast as an 80GB 5400rpm drive, except that these usually cost the same. As a bonus, you get more disk space, less noise, greater reliability, and lower power draw from the 5400rpm model.



    You probably have some good points there, I'm coming from the specwhore perspective of things.



    Seagate though, I'd still highly recommend. Hitachi, stay away from it...!
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