# What Hard drive are people getting for their macbook pros?



## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

Whats the hot new drive out there now?

I need more storage!


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## Brianl (Apr 6, 2008)

This is what I got
WD6400BEVT-80A0RT0 (640 GB WD Scorpio Blue SATA Mobile Hard Drive)


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

Using a Seagate Momentous Hybrid Drive 500 gigs, 7,200 rpm. Great upgrade and the speed its amazing. Hybrid is the way to go in my opinion. Cheaper then SSD, but a decent speed improvement or regular hard drives.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

Are all the Seagate Mommentus drives Hybrids?


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

thegoat54 said:


> Are all the Seagate Mommentus drives Hybrids?


No, not all are hybrid. It will say hybrid in the name. This is the model I have:
Seagate Momentus XT (ST95005620AS) 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" Solid State Hybrid Drive | Canada Computers


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

awesome. Thanks for the info.

To bad the biggest they have is 500GB. I'm rocking a 320 GB now and its usually full. I was hoping for at least 640GB. Maybe i'll just stick it out a while longer.


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## Brianl (Apr 6, 2008)

Thats why I got the one I did. Space is more valuable than a speed increase.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

*for you*


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## Brianl (Apr 6, 2008)

yep, you're right...for me.:clap:


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## Digikid (Jun 22, 2010)

If you want to get the most reliable drives Western Digital is the top choice.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

This is what I put in mine: Newegg.ca - SAMSUNG Spinpoint MP4 HM640JJ 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Now, I'd probably get this: Newegg.ca - Western Digital Scorpio Black WD7500BPKT 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive - it wasn't available yet when I was looking for a larger capacity drive (and Canada Computers still don't have them...) They seem to be out of stock at pretty much every Canadian online dealer that I checked.


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## An Old Soul (Apr 24, 2006)

Got a 500 hybrid, too. Love it. And for the price you can't beat it.


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## steviewhy (Oct 21, 2010)

sudo rm -rf /


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Another to consider, 9 mm and in stock too

Seagate Momentus 750 GB 7200RPM ST9750420AS

ST9750420AS Momentus 3Gb/s 750-GB Hard Drive | Seagate


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## hdh607 (Sep 8, 2008)

wonderings said:


> No, not all are hybrid. It will say hybrid in the name. This is the model I have:
> Seagate Momentus XT (ST95005620AS) 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" Solid State Hybrid Drive | Canada Computers


I just put one of these in my MBP and I notice a difference. worth the extra cash if you ask me. got it on sale at Canada computers a week or two back.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

hdh607 said:


> I just put one of these in my MBP and I notice a difference. worth the extra cash if you ask me. got it on sale at Canada computers a week or two back.


What was the sale price if you dont mind me asking?


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## hdh607 (Sep 8, 2008)

thegoat54 said:


> What was the sale price if you dont mind me asking?


$109. only $10 off, but better than nothing.


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## yeeeha (Feb 16, 2007)

What is the temperature difference running a 5400rpm vs. a 7200rpm drive?


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

We installed the Seagate Momentus XT 500 GB 7200 hybrid into my sons 1 1/2 year old MBP and he wasn't overly impressed with any great speed improvement (but maybe because he's basically a programmer).

The WD Scorpio Black 7200 (enterprise drive and 5 year warranty) have proven very successful in the MBPs that I have installed in various MBPs and run cool and quiet, actually cooler than the 5400s that they replaced.

I now see mention of the WD 1 TB recently released drives that will fit in many MB and MBPs that I would certainly consider - if they will fit your particular MBP, which some sites say they will.


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## csonni (Feb 8, 2001)

What's the chance that the next MBP will not have a user replaceable hard drive?


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## freeboater (Jul 11, 2008)

csonni said:


> What's the chance that the next MBP will not have a user replaceable hard drive?


With the fact that they are gong to torx and other odd screw shapes, not very likely. They're making it more difficult to work on your own apple product, not less.

Watched a tutorial on switching out the HDD on a new mac mini yesterday, what a pain!

Anyone else notice that once they started doing apple updates on the Seagate Hybrids, that restarting after the update the MBP makes a beeping noise with a white screen before starting? Not the normal sound, more like the old motherboard beeps.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

They just went to user replaceable drives in the "Pro" line. I replaced the HD in my Pre-Unibody 15" MBP a couple years ago and its a way harder job than the new MBPs.

I can't see them going back to that already. I think there is a lot of people who buy a Mac and upgrade the Hard Drive right away because the stock size is so pitiful. If they make it harder to do again I think less people will consider buying. I know I would


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

csonni said:


> What's the chance that the next MBP will not have a user replaceable hard drive?


Decent, especially because the latest iteration has made it somewhat harder, with 10 external screws vs the access flap on the first unibodies.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

thegoat54 said:


> I can't see them going back to that already. I think there is a lot of people who buy a Mac and upgrade the Hard Drive right away because the stock size is so pitiful. If they make it harder to do again I think less people will consider buying. I know I would


Apple would much rather you bought your upgraded hard drive from them (at the time of purchase of the MBP) and then bought a new machine when the internal drive wasn't large enough... I'm just saying.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

the only machines that have the screws designed to lock out you are machines that have no user-upgradeable parts ie macbook air, iphone 4. 

anything else that is designed to be user upgradeable is incredibly easy to get at...ram on an imac, ram and hdd on macbooks and pros etc..


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

broad said:


> the only machines that have the screws designed to lock out you are machines that have no user-upgradeable parts ie macbook air, iphone 4.
> 
> anything else that is designed to be user upgradeable is incredibly easy to get at...ram on an imac, ram and hdd on macbooks and pros etc..


agreed. these guys are worried about nothing.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

mikef said:


> Apple would much rather you bought your upgraded hard drive from them (at the time of purchase of the MBP) and then bought a new machine when the internal drive wasn't large enough... I'm just saying.


Agreed. But don't forget that they're realistic too. They don't want to start a fight with every customer that voided their warranty because they upgraded the RAM or HD. 

Everyone's argument on this topic is that there are more screws to take out than before. Well yes thats true but don't forget that the older Macbooks also had a removable battery in the way of the harddrive access door offering protection.

Old setup = removing battery and some screws.
new setup = More screws to remove the bottom and you're in.

Same difference if you ask me.


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## csonni (Feb 8, 2001)

I don't mind a few more screws for removal, but I do mind if you have to start removing the innards to get to the HD.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Yup, it was no fun upgrading the hard drive in my late 2006 MBP


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

I'd say the best bang for the buck if you really want Storage and speed, is the dump the optical drive and put a 1TB 5400RPM drive in there as you storage/media drive, and then a 64gb+ SSD (depending on your budget) as your main/boot drive.

You get the best of both worlds!


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

Carbon Computing in Kitchener was nice enough to swap drives for me, I didn't even buy the hard drive from them. He did it in front of me and it took literally 5 mins. to do the entire swap. With the right screw drivers the change is a snap and I would have done it myself had I known. The computer in question is a current gen i5 MacBook Pro.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> I'd say the best bang for the buck if you really want Storage and speed, is the dump the optical drive and put a 1TB 5400RPM drive in there as you storage/media drive, and then a 64gb+ SSD (depending on your budget) as your main/boot drive.


thats assuming that you have a unibody macbook or pro and the ODD is SATA


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

broad said:


> thats assuming that you have a unibody macbook or pro and the ODD is SATA


Maybe just add an adapter - IF it will fit, or find one that will.

SATA Hard Drive Adapter from CoolDrives.com


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

This look like it should fit and work:

2.5" SATA Hard Drive to IDE 44 Pin Adapter For Laptop Drives


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

yeeeha said:


> What is the temperature difference running a 5400rpm vs. a 7200rpm drive?


Negligible and nothing to be concerned about.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Digikid said:


> If you want to get the most reliable drives Western Digital is the top choice.


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## Digikid (Jun 22, 2010)

screature said:


>


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## thefragger (Feb 6, 2011)

I've been reading on the Seagate forums about these Hybrid drives failing after a month or two of use in a Macbook--does anyone have any experience on here about that?




Digikid said:


> screature said:
> 
> 
> > Digikid said:
> ...


Can I play too?!

   

I've got WD drives in my desktop PC--love 'em for the price point--I used to be 100% Seagate, but switched while there was a window when Seagate dropped their warranty from 5 years to 3 years and when the WD drives can with 5 years. Tore out my 500Gb drives and replaced them with 1Tb drives :heybaby:


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Digikid said:


> If you want to get the most reliable drives Western Digital is the top choice.


+1



screature said:


>


+2

I couldn't agree more, even if the Apple branded WD 500 GB blue drive in my 24" Intel iMac did die a few weeks ago.

And all the WD SATA black 7200 RPM drives I have installed for myself and clients, both 2.5" and 3.5" as replacements, have run as cool or usually cooler and quieter than the 5400 drives they replaced. And fast!!!


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

John Clay said:


> Decent, especially because the latest iteration has made it somewhat harder, with 10 external screws vs the access flap on the first unibodies.


Changing hard drive in MBP's has gotten easier with time, not more difficult. (Non-unibody versus unibody.) Chances are the next generation MBP won't have notable increases in difficulty in accessing the hard drive. The number of screws, even if increased, doesn't necessarily make it more difficult but rather just makes the task take more time to complete.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> Maybe just add an adapter - IF it will fit, or find one that will.


the links you posted..one of them says outright it wont fit in most laptops, the other one appears to be for 3.5" drives


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> I've been reading on the Seagate forums about these Hybrid drives failing after a month or two of use in a Macbook--does anyone have any experience on here about that?


mine has been ok. no issues, but certainly not the life changing experience those who have them "in stock" would have you believe.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Digikid said:


>


Sigh... Some people just don't get it, maybe because they haven't lived long enough.

It isn't about the brand it is about the model of hard drive, look at the reviews and reliability reports of the model you are looking to buy *regardless* of brand. *All *manufactures make dud models from time to time...

serverfault:

What brand(s) of hard disk has the lowest failure rates?



> The issue with this question is that there are good drive models for a manufacturer and bad drive models.
> 
> For example, there seems to be a high failure rate for the Seagate 1tb & 1.5tb drives, but their 250gb & 320gb drives are solid*. Yet the Western Digital 1tb, 1.5tb, & 2tb drives seem more stable, but there have been issues with their 500gb drives*.
> 
> The answers to this question should address more of the good drive models, not the actual manufacturers themselves.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

screature said:


> Sigh... Some people just don't get it, maybe because they haven't lived long enough.


This.


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## WestWeb (Jul 11, 2009)

I was looking at getting a hard drive for my 13" MBP, and I am totally torn between getting a WD scorpio black 500GB or a Seagate momentus 500GB.

I'm leaning towards the Seagate because I keep reading about the WD's having issues with hard drive parking and freezing up under heavy load.

WD owners, would you care to share your experiences?


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Seriously, you're way overthinking this. Buy a drive, install it, and be happy!


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## thefragger (Feb 6, 2011)

mikef said:


> Seriously, you're way overthinking this. Buy a drive, install it, and be happy!


I know at least in my case, as a student, that I'll research a product for months before I lay out a portion of what few dollars I have!

I'd rather research for months and buy a product that will last years, as opposed to buying X crap product every six months.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

WD scorpio black 500GB without question as I've posted previously.

Have a read at Performance Quick-Take With WD's 7200 RPM Scorpio Black 500GB Notebook Hard Drive - The Diversion - HotHardware Forums etc.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

thefragger said:


> I know at least in my case, as a student, that I'll research a product for months before I lay out a portion of what few dollars I have!
> 
> I'd rather research for months and buy a product that will last years, as opposed to buying X crap product every six months.


Nice thought, but it's a hard drive. It could last 10 years or 10 minutes, regardless of the manufacturer. You are seriously overthinking this.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

thefragger said:


> I know at least in my case, as a student, that I'll research a product for months before I lay out a portion of what few dollars I have!
> 
> I'd rather research for months and buy a product that will last years, as opposed to buying X crap product every six months.


Then let me add some other info as to why I suggested the WD Scorpio Black drive:

- cool and fast running and low power consumption - hence cool!!

- 5 year warranty vs 3 year for the Seagate.

- A local PC repair shop tech will no longer order or install any Seagate drive unless the customer signs a release and that they will be responsible for any warranty coverage. He was just having too many failures, and besides the WD and others brands were often cheaper for the same specs.

I gather that you've read the reviews, some of which say almost the same thing to reinforce his point.


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## Digikid (Jun 22, 2010)

screature said:


> Sigh... Some people just don't get it, maybe because they haven't lived long enough.
> 
> It isn't about the brand it is about the model of hard drive, look at the reviews and reliability reports of the model you are looking to buy *regardless* of brand. *All *manufactures make dud models from time to time...
> 
> ...


LOL!!! In my 40's bud. Don't let the webname fool you. Had it since the 80's.

Back on topic though......the reason why I ALWAYS recommend the Western Digitals is because quite simply they are the best kind. Never a single failure......which is FAR from I can say from Seagate and other brands.

I am only trying to point the OP is the direction that he asked. Take it or leave it please.


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## thefragger (Feb 6, 2011)

I'm running W/D (greens, local shoppe had a sale on) all over the place over here  When Seagate cut their warranty down from five years to three, I made the switch.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

I'd rather get the WD because of the extra warranty. I would also like to have the momentus XT for the speed bump also. I'm torn!


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

Digikid said:


> LOL!!! In my 40's bud. Don't let the webname fool you. Had it since the 80's.
> 
> Back on topic though......the reason why I ALWAYS recommend the Western Digitals is because quite simply they are the best kind. Never a single failure......which is FAR from I can say from Seagate and other brands.
> 
> I am only trying to point the OP is the direction that he asked. Take it or leave it please.


So you say... I doubt it, because your one dimensional posts indicate otherwise... models matter more than brand... if you can't see that you are just a "fanboy" IMO and have nothing substantial to offer. I choose to leave it and I am free to say so newbee. 

You refuse to acknowledge the posts of others and just go on your "fanboy" way... don't expect me not to point it out, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.

The reason why I doubt your "supposed" experience is because your posts don't reflect it. Anyone with true experience knows that ALL hard drive manufacturers have their dud models and would acknowledge that fact... WD has had their duds as well, you are clearly biased. 

I have said that I have owned (do own) WDs, Seagates, Maxtors and Hitachi HDs (and even Quantum drives which were de rigueur back in the day before they were bought out by Maxtor) and it all depends on the model. You offer nothing more than "buy WD because they are the best!" Not much credibility there.

But go on your merry "fanboy" way....

Oh and BTW if we are only going on anecdotal information I have never had a Seagate failure which is more than I can say for WD drives... but when it comes to mass produced products YMWV.... a concept that seems foreign to you. I guess your experience is all that matters. 

To the OP, I highly recommend looking at the reviews of the models that you are interested in regardless of manufacturer and go from there. Good luck.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

thegoat54 said:


> I'd rather get the WD because of the extra warranty. I would also like to have the momentus XT for the speed bump also. I'm torn!


It all depends on the WD drive as to whether you get a 3 or 5 year warranty... check it out.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

thegoat54 said:


> I'd rather get the WD because of the extra warranty. I would also like to have the momentus XT for the speed bump also. I'm torn!


See my pervious post #19 re the momentus XT.

Bottom line - it wasn't worth it.

He's also just got a new MBP and has installed the WD Scorpio Black drive in it.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

To thegoat54.... WD makes some really great drives and some not so great drives depending on your needs... WD Green drives are fine for backup, terrible as boot drives. If you are looking for a drive to be a boot drive and also as storage... which I don't recommend as the twains very rarely meet, your choices are more limited.

I personally would get the fastest boot drive you can afford and then go Firewire 4/800/USB2 for backup/storage and get the best of both worlds. You are going to be hard pressed to find an "all in one" HD best solution. Especially in a 2.5" form factor.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

+1

You beat me with your post and I was just about to post the same thing about the WD Green drives - good for their intended use and energy/heat savings use - but NOT as a main boot drive, unless one wants to wait and let the platters spin up to proper speed for decent read/write access.

Their performance will also vary depending on what Mac model is being used.

As for energy saving and for a backup drive, OK, but I often just unmount and turn Off my external backup drives for a real power saving method - zero watts consumed and very cool.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

mikef said:


> Seriously, you're way overthinking this. Buy a drive, install it, and be happy!


+1000.


/end thread.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

I would suggest that such a blatant agreement opinion does offer any constructive advice on a Mac help type list site when a user is considering what drive to use as a possible replacement and not all drives will even work in all Macs without some possible modification - hence the need to do some research and checking, and ask for advice as the OP did!!!


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

pm-r said:


> I would suggest that such a blatant agreement opinion does offer any constructive advice on a Mac help type list site when a user is considering what drive to use as a possible replacement and not all drives will even work in all Macs without some possible modification - hence the need to do some research and checking, and ask for advice as the OP did!!!


Tell me which drives that physically fit that do not work. Which ones that require "possible modification"? These two statements alone show that you do not have the experience that you claim to have to make judgement calls as to brand quality and reliability.

I've installed literally hundreds, if not in the low thousands, of hard drives into PCs over the past 25 years. Not one brand has been decidedly worse than the rest. That includes Seagate, Hitachi, Samsung, IBM, Miniscribe, JTS, Quantum, Maxtor, WDC, Fujitsu, etc. etc. etc. I'm not going to lie, some _models_ have been just been bad (ie. Seagate 1TB drives, Samsungs from way back)

Been there, done that... anybody who claims they're an expert and has experience with a 1 or 2 or 3 of their own drives isn't an expert. I've got 10 Seagate drives in use at home right now- 4 500GB drives, 2 320GB drives, 3 1 TB drives, and a 250GB drive, all of varying ages, all used regularly. No problems whatsoever. I've also got a RAID 5 (5 drives) array in my home server built from Maxtor 160GB drives that, in a 5 drive array, have all been replaced at least once, most twice.

I buy now based on warranty and price, not necessarily in that order.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

screature said:


> To thegoat54.... WD makes some really great drives and some not so great drives depending on your needs... WD Green drives are fine for backup, terrible as boot drives. If you are looking for a drive to be a boot drive and also as storage... which I don't recommend as the twains very rarely meet, your choices are more limited.
> 
> I personally would get the fastest boot drive you can afford and then go Firewire 4/800/USB2 for backup/storage and get the best of both worlds. You are going to be hard pressed to find an "all in one" HD best solution. Especially in a 2.5" form factor.


Thanks for the advice everyone. I didn't mean to start a fight. lol.

I am looking for an All in one solution. To bad its not that easy. I was hoping that the momentus XT would be in a bigger size by now but its not. and according to pm-r it didn't really make a big enough difference to justify the cost. 

I'm now looking at the 750 scorpio black. But still on the fence with the 500GB momentus XT for the same price. I'm not in dire need of a HD tomorrow so I have a bit of time to mull it over.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

First off, my previous post was regarding the reinforcement of your earlier post:



Lars said:


> +1000.
> 
> 
> /end thread.


which was in reference to your post:



mikef said:


> Seriously, you're way overthinking this. Buy a drive, install it, and be happy!


But in all due respect and to help the OP and others considering any HD replacement, and to just suggest "just buying any drive and install it" can have some serious consequences for some users without them understanding or doing some research and checking for what drives will work. That last part IS important!!!

Just a few recent things come to mind, and this is relating to 2.5" Mac portable drives specifically:

- they buy the biggest, fastest drive and then discover it's a 12 or 12.5 mm height drive that won't fit in their portable Mac.

- they buy the biggest, fastest drive and discover that it's speed needs to be set lower using a jumper etc. that normally isn't even included with such drives.

Just these two comments alone show that I DO have experience with such situations and have experienced and some of the problems that the potential portable Mac HD up-grader should be aware of. But maybe you haven't.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

BTW I'm using a 13" MBP if anyone cares.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Well if it's a 'Unibody' Model, then the newly released 1.0TB WD Scorpio Blue 5200RPM SATA *12.5mm* HD would also fit and work.

I don't believe it comes as a WD Black model if that's a concern - at least not yet. ;-)

ie: 1.0TB WD Scorpio Blue 5200RPM Serial ATA **12... (WD10TPVT) at OWC


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

pm-r said:


> - they buy the biggest, fastest drive and discover that it's speed needs to be set lower using a jumper etc. that normally isn't even included with such drives.


I've never changed a jumper on a 2.5" HDD in my life. And I change hard drives for a living. What kind of drives are you installing? I view your 'expertise' with great skepticism.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Lars said:


> I've never changed a jumper on a 2.5" HDD in my life. And I change hard drives for a living. What kind of drives are you installing? I view your 'expertise' with great skepticism.


Exactly my point...


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> BTW I'm using a 13" MBP if anyone cares.


no one does anymore. its a full on pissing contest now hahaha


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Lars said:


> I've never changed a jumper on a 2.5" HDD in my life. And I change hard drives for a living. What kind of drives are you installing? I view your 'expertise' with great skepticism.


Hmmm... not even a jumper for master/slave/cable select??? Wow.

Or maybe setting the jumper on a new 6Gb/s Hard Drive to control it's speed to those Macs with only a Serial ATA (1.5 Gb/s) bus? But that's not even an option on most 2.5" SATA drives and it wasn't until the Unibody MB and MBPs that had the Serial ATA (3 Gb/s) bus that are somewhat more compatible.

Then there are the new Macs that are using the brand specific proprietary cable connection for the HD internal temperature sensor that I forgot to mention.

All I'm saying is that just "any" drive may not work in a specific Mac model and the person needs to be aware of the differences and for compatibility.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

broad said:


> no one does anymore. its a full on pissing contest now hahaha


lol. I know. Funny stuff.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

thegoat54 said:


> BTW I'm using a 13" MBP if anyone cares.





broad said:


> no one does anymore. its a full on pissing contest now hahaha


I sent you a reply for the 1 TB drive as an option if you wanted to - but ONLY IF your MBP is a 'Unibody' model as it's a 12.4 mm height drive which will fit.

And yes we do care. Even if it is some 70+ messages later. ;-)


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

> I sent you a reply for the 1 TB drive as an option if you wanted to - but ONLY IF your MBP is a 'Unibody' model as it's a 12.4 mm height drive which will fit.


see this is exactly the kind of thing they are on your a$$ about...if you can find me a 13" *non unibody* macbook pro i will eat my shoe at the corner of yonge and king at 8pm tonight


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

broad said:


> see this is exactly the kind of thing they are on your a$$ about...if you can find me a 13" *non unibody* macbook pro i will eat my shoe at the corner of yonge and king at 8pm tonight


Well maybe it depends on whose terminology one is using and I tend to go with everymac's description:

"With the "Unibody" MacBook Pro Q&A you can get answers to all of your questions about the MacBook Pro models that are milled from a single piece of aluminum (those released starting October 14, 2008)."

Unibody MacBook Pro Q&A (MacBook Pro FAQ, Unibody MacBook Pro FAQ) @ EveryMac.com

But I did goof up and forgot that the first 13" only came aboard as a 'unibody' model June 8, 2009. Sorry about that.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

i dont understand the relevance of your link. the guy said he had a 13" macbook pro. whether its unibody or not is completely irrelevant, as there has never *been* a non-unibody 13" macbook pro. as far as terminology, a)i would use apple's terminology before i used a 3rd party website and b)again its irrelevant because no such thing ever existed

if you have seen a 13" non unibody macbook pro than you need to lay off the peyote


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

I apologized for my goof up regarding the 13" Unibody, but my original post regarding the 1 TB WD drive as a suggestion and the Unibody model requirement was an alert other MB or MBP readers who might think it would work in all models:

"12.5mm SATA Notebook HD with 8MB Cache - Fits all Apple MacBook & MacBook Pro 'Unibody' Models (13/15/17"), MacBook Pro 'pre-unibody' 17" models, and PC Laptops which support 12.5mm SATA Drives"

So that's about 11-11 pre-Unibody MBPs models alone that could not accommodate that drive.

Just a heads up that I mentioned it.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

wow 1TB 2.5" drive in my "unibody" 13" MBP.

What a world we live in.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Yup, and now it's your choice I guess and now almost 80 posts later. 

Post #1


thegoat54 said:


> Whats the hot new drive out there now?
> 
> I need more storage!


I guess you finally got your answer!!! And can we now call this thread done??? I don't think you'll find any larger capacity internal drive that will work for your Unibody MBP, at least not this week. ;-)

Enjoy!!!


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

I kinda liked the pissing match though. Can we continue?

I'm pretty sure this 13" MBP isn't a unibody model. . . . It just says MacBook pro on the screen. doesn't say unibody


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Hey be quick 'goat', and read the post from 'Today, 10:19 AM #72 broad' before you get your butt kicked as well, otherwise it may become another 'pissing match' for who reads what or translates it as.... Oh, Never mind.

And thanks, it's been an interesting thread.

For more info on your MBP model, have a look at:
Apple MacBook Pro Specs (All MacBook Pro Technical Specs) @ EveryMac.com


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

boutcher said:


> Thanks for the sharing.
> repair print head


And your post was in reference to????

Or was it just miss posted to the wrong topic thread???

Or is this just another troll??

"boutcher
repair print head

Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 1"

But not to worry, as it's late here and I'm just going to go off to have a good night's sleep.


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## monokitty (Jan 26, 2002)

pm-r said:


> Hmmm... not even a jumper for master/slave/cable select??? Wow.
> 
> Or maybe setting the jumper on a new 6Gb/s Hard Drive to control it's speed to those Macs with only a Serial ATA (1.5 Gb/s) bus? But that's not even an option on most 2.5" SATA drives and it wasn't until the Unibody MB and MBPs that had the Serial ATA (3 Gb/s) bus that are somewhat more compatible.
> 
> ...


I can't even begin to describe how misinformed and confused you are. But hey, it's been fun.


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## Darien Red Sox (Oct 24, 2006)

I have used WD drives on all of the new drives I have installed, I have a 1GB Caviar Black in a OWC enclosure that I use for backup, a 320 Scorpio Black in my rescue/utility/software drive, and a 500GB Scorpio Blue in my sisters Mac Book Pro. At work I have installed 70-100 160GB WD Scorpio Blacks, only 3 were DOA and non of the others have yet had issues (about 6 months). Whale recycling old computers and putting them through my university's wipe policy I have also noticed that WD drives are less likely to pick up errors with about 5%, Seagate with about 25%, and Maxtor about 30%. In terms of fallers in use I can say that they are rare across the board and have seen 1 Seagate with power issues at work and a Fujitsu that had read write issues in my sisters MacBook Pro where the important files were recoverable. 

As for those of you saying that Apple makes the drives to change in there laptops you should take a look at several of the dell desktops where getting you fingers to the clips that hold the drive in place involves squeezing them around sharp metal, on top of this the clips are prone to breaking after a few uses.


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## Jason H (Feb 1, 2004)

Brianl said:


> This is what I got
> WD6400BEVT-80A0RT0 (640 GB WD Scorpio Blue SATA Mobile Hard Drive)


I've had lots of trouble with that drive. Its motion sensor is fighting my MBP's SMS. It works but will not play video reliably and locks up randomly (when the motion sensors get spooked, which is quite often). I had to buy a seagate drive without a shock sensor to fix the problem.



wonderings said:


> Carbon Computing in Kitchener was nice enough to swap drives for me, I didn't even buy the hard drive from them. He did it in front of me and it took literally 5 mins. to do the entire swap. With the right screw drivers the change is a snap and I would have done it myself had I known. The computer in question is a current gen i5 MacBook Pro.


Carbon in Ottawa quoted me $90 to swap drives. An hour labour for a 5 minute job! Completely ridiculous considering it takes me 8 minutes to do it and I don't tear apart macs and put them together 40 hours a week like they do.


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## John Clay (Jun 25, 2006)

lars said:


> i can't even begin to describe how misinformed and confused you are. But hey, it's been fun.


+1


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## thefragger (Feb 6, 2011)

I just put a 500GB W/D Scorpio Black in my Mid-2009 13" MBP--love it!


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

John Clay said:


> +1


In all due respects John Clay and Lars and in my defence to your posts, I and another local very Mac savy guru have come across this SATA "jumper problem" with some older Macs that maybe you haven't and any updated info you have would be apprecited.

I installed a replacement WD Black 500 GB 7200 3.5" into an older iMac and a similar 2.5" into a MacBook some monts ago and neither would work properly.

Checking the WD site, their support pages suggested changing the jumper settings which they also said did not apply to the 2.5" drives (ie: no jumpers exist on those drives they said - which was not true!!) and only implied the problem was with Windows machines.

I added the appropriate jumpers per the WD directions and both drives are now still working very well in those older Macs and MacBooks, just as it did for the local Mac savy guru and his install on the Mac he was working on.

A recent original Apple WD HD replacement install with the "older" 3GB/s WD Black 500 GB 7200 model in a recent MBP went very well and nothing to configure, and nice, cool and fast.

But I have also read that some are having troubles with the later 6GB/s drives in some Macs but no real solutions were provided except for a few that suggested checking the drive jumper settings.

As I said, it has happened and any updated info you have would be appreciated. But the problem only seems to be with some older Macs and maybe their 1.5 bus SATA limit. Just a guess here...


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## Darien Red Sox (Oct 24, 2006)

Jason H said:


> I've had lots of trouble with that drive. Its motion sensor is fighting my MBP's SMS. It works but will not play video reliably and locks up randomly (when the motion sensors get spooked, which is quite often). I had to buy a seagate drive without a shock sensor to fix the problem.
> 
> 
> 
> Carbon in Ottawa quoted me $90 to swap drives. An hour labour for a 5 minute job! Completely ridiculous considering it takes me 8 minutes to do it and I don't tear apart macs and put them together 40 hours a week like they do.


If you disable the SMS using terminal this should solve the problem.


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## Jason H (Feb 1, 2004)

Darien Red Sox said:


> If you disable the SMS using terminal this should solve the problem.


I did, and it didnt.

I thought it was a faulty drive at first and had the drive replaced by WD. Problem was still there. OEM drive worked fine, new non shock sensor drive worked fine, wd would not work... but only after the logic board was replaced.

I found a pile of similar experiences on the apple forums.


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## Big Ragu (Jan 26, 2011)

I don't think I could have said it any better you hit that Nail right square on the head!!!!!


screature said:


> So you say... I doubt it, because your one dimensional posts indicate otherwise... models matter more than brand... if you can't see that you are just a "fanboy" IMO and have nothing substantial to offer. I choose to leave it and I am free to say so newbee.
> 
> You refuse to acknowledge the posts of others and just go on your "fanboy" way... don't expect me not to point it out, 'cause it ain't gonna happen.
> 
> ...


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

Well after all this time I just bit the bullet and ordered my hard drive.

Newegg.ca - Seagate Momentus ST9750420AS 750GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Notebook Hard Drive -Bare Drive

750GB Seagate Momentus - 7200RPM - 16MB CACHE - On sale right now for $79.99.

Couple it with one of these $6 external enclosures for my old drive and I'm good to go!

$5.50 - 2.5" SATA USB 2.0 HDD Enclosure with Leather Pouch - Black - HDD & Enclosures


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Hmmmm... over 4 1/2 months now and I'm surprised that you didn't go for a 1 TB as some suggested, and even more such 1 TB drive models have become available in just the last few months, and considering that HD storage space seems to have been your main concern.

But that's sure a good price on the enclosure, but don't expect a delivery from your dealextreme order for a least another few weeks or so.


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## thegoat54 (Nov 20, 2007)

Well looking at Newegg. 

The 1TB WB Scorpio blue is $30 more, which isn't that bad BUT its only 5400 RPM vs 7200. AND its only 8MB Cache instead of 16MB. They both have 3 year warranty.

So I went for the Seagate.

And yes, I don't expect my deal extreme order right away. I order from deal extreme all the time and things usually take about a month when there ISNT a lockout. haha!

I can wait. No biggie. Can't beat the price. I'm sure that build quality isn't great but I'm not throwing it around. It will probably sit on the shelf most of the time. Good enough for what I need!


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## ssent1 (Sep 3, 2005)

My production hard disks and primary backups are Samsung 320GB Spinpoint M Series. I use Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB hard disks as well. They've had solid performance. I had Seagates, two of them failed (I won't buy them again because their return and cross-shipping policies are lousy for Canadians). Hard disks fail, so customer service and a good backup strategy are important.


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## Newf709 (Feb 4, 2008)

I went to OWC and got the "Data Doubler". Removed my optical disc drive and installed a Seagate Momentus 750GB 7200RPM where the optical disc drive use to be. Then I used the 120GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro Solid State Drive as my primary boot drive. I then got an enclosure for my optical disc drive to use it as an external. Works great and very fast!!!!!!!
Performance Upgrades; FireWire USB SATA Storage; Memory, more at OWC


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

*BEKT 500 vs BPKT 500*

i am looking for a new drive for a friend's macbook pro. the 500 GB wd scorpio black seems good, but i see there are two models, the BEKT and the BPKT, with a small price difference. the WD site doesn't seem to explain anything, and my friend google is unable to come up with any results. 
i am thinking perhaps one of them has a motion sensor? i see from the above posts that a motion sensor would be a problem, so i would prefer to avoid it...


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

*notebook drive comparison*

good comparison test here:
Three 7200 RPM Notebook Hard Drives For 2011 : More Capacity, More Speed


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

3 seconds on google turned up this



> For those who may not have realized this, this BPKT revision of the drive is advanced format (4k sectors) so you need to make sure you have modern imaging software that will align the partitions if you are imaging PC's to these drives for upgrades. The BEKT model (still available) is the 512 byte sector version that doesn't care about partition alignment. This is the little brother of the new 750GB model, vs the flagship of the older BEKT drive version.


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

the BJKT models had the motion sensor iirc


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

ah. found it. BPKT is advanced format drive!


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)




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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

it's just that google likes you better than me... sigh.


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

thegoat54 said:


> Whats the hot new drive out there now?
> 
> I need more storage!


I went with the OWC 3/Gbs 480 GB SSD with the data doubler ( removed my super drive put the 750 GB in place - then also purchased the USB CD case they offer for the super drive )

love it - wicked fast!

for the wife's laptop did the same but did a 240 GB SSD - left the Super drive in place..
Since we are using SSDs the battery lasts longer as well.


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## JayEyes (Nov 15, 2007)

*Scorpio Black*

Just had a 750 GB WD Scorpio Black installed. Probably dreaming but it seems a titch quicker. Anyway, well reviewed drive.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

JayEyes said:


> Just had a 750 GB WD Scorpio Black installed. Probably dreaming but it seems a titch quicker. Anyway, well reviewed drive.


I have installed a number of the WD Scorpio Black 7200 drives "that will fit" into various MB and MBPs, and all users have been very pleased with their performance and their 5 yr warranty.

Just be sure you register and check that you've got the correct 5 yr warranty period from your purchase date slip at the WD site. Their warranty is based on the serial number manufactured date rather than the purchase date and if not corrected it may involve sending in a copy of the sales slip etc. to get your proper warranty.

And then check back at their site and check that the registered warranty has been updated properly if needed in a few weeks. You may end up getting an additional 2 yr extension!!! Been there - done that numerous times now.


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## Big Ragu (Jan 26, 2011)

I have the WD Scorpio Blue (WD10JPVT) 1TB (1000GB) SATA 5400 RPM 8MB Cache in my MBP works fine, was a snug fit but working good now for 6 months... Thinking on giving up Space for speed though maybe a SSD OCZ (VTX3-25SAT3-480G) Vertex 3 2.5" 480GB SATA3 6GB/s Solid State Drive, Read: 550MB/s, Write: 525MB/s almost as 1/3 price of my MBP but the speed will be AWESOME !!!!


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Better to put the 1 TB in the optical bay and snag a 240 6g - less money.
More space same speed for most operations.


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

thegoat54 said:


> Whats the hot new drive out there now?
> 
> I need more storage!


seagate has a 750 GB 
i have had very good luck with Seagates.


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## kloan (Feb 22, 2002)

I'm looking for an SSD upgrade for my 2011 MBP. Apps and start ups are too slow... I miss the quickness of the SSD in my MBA.


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## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

MacDoc said:


> Better to put the 1 TB in the optical bay and snag a 240 6g - less money.
> More space same speed for most operations.


I think this may be my move. Though my MBP doesn't seem to support the 6g speed.

perhaps this one Canada Computers | Hard Drives | OCZ (OCZSSD2-2VTXE240G) Vertex 2 SATA II 2.5" 240GB Solid State Drive, Read: 285MB/s, Write: 275MB/s


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