# Best macbook replacement hard drive (price+performance) on the market right now?



## Sybersport (Jun 7, 2005)

I don't want to buy one only to find out that I could have gotten a better quality, lower price somewhere else...

So where is the best 320GB+, 2.5", 9.5mm drive out there right now for the blackbook?

Thanks


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## devo811 (Oct 27, 2007)

*western digital 500gb*

I recently read that western has a 500gb laptop drive thru Bestbuy. I have yet to see it in the wild, but that is the one I will be looking at. Good luck.
Devo


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

Sybersport said:


> I don't want to buy one only to find out that I could have gotten a better quality, lower price somewhere else...
> 
> So where is the best 320GB+, 2.5", 9.5mm drive out there right now for the blackbook?
> 
> Thanks


Seagate 7200.3 is a pretty good bet. They have been selling for under $100. lately. 

Charts, benchmarks 2.5" Hard Drive Charts, Maximum Write Transfer Performance

This is where I got mine ...

Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 2.5IN SATA 7200RPM 16MB Notebook Hard Drive OEM 5YR MFR Warranty


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> Seagate 7200.3 is a pretty good bet. They have been selling for under $100. lately.
> 
> Charts, benchmarks 2.5" Hard Drive Charts, Maximum Write Transfer Performance


I second the Seagate drive, I have one myself and you can definitely tell a difference in speed.


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## Jimbo Slice (Jul 14, 2008)

If you're in the GTA check out filtech on Spadina

Welcome to Filtech Computer: Your Best Computer Bargain in Toronto.)

I get all my components from them, great people with good customer service


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## Toca Loca Nation (Jun 22, 2004)

just put in a seagate momentus. it is pretty sweet.


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## cdncableguy (Nov 4, 2007)

I just installed a Seagate Momentus in my macbook
Seagate 320GB 7200/16MB 2.5" Mobile Hard Drive - - 7200RPM, 16MB, SATA-300, OEM
It has been great.


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## Jimbo Slice (Jul 14, 2008)

Hey do you guys with the 7200 RPM upgrade notice any decrease in battery life?


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Jimbo Slice said:


> Hey do you guys with the 7200 RPM upgrade notice any decrease in battery life?


I didn't notice much of a difference in battery life, but the seagate 7200.3 are the best in terms of speed and in terms of power consumption from what i have read. Unfortunately for me although I noticed speed gains and didnt notice much more battery drain than before, my drive did cause some rather noticable vibration throughout the entire MacBook so it looks like I'll be having to have it replaced for a new one. Been having bad luck with technology over the past few weeks. XX)


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## Jimbo Slice (Jul 14, 2008)

Yikes, think its just a faulty hard drive then and not a consequence of the increase in RPM?


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

Jimbo Slice said:


> Hey do you guys with the 7200 RPM upgrade notice any decrease in battery life?


Not really, it is about the same as the Hitachi 5400rpm hard drive I replaced. If you have an older drive in your MacBook now, the 7200rpm Seagate may actually use less power.

FWIW, mine has no noticeable vibration.

excerpt from review...

_"Seagate claims best-in-class efficiency, and the firm is right about that. The measured 0.95 W idle power is the lowest hard drive idle power we measured for all 7,200 RPM drives. As a matter of fact, only a few 5,400 RPM drives show better results."_

Seagate Momentus 7200.3 ST9320421AS - Tom's Hardware : Next-Gen 7,200 RPM Notebook Hard Drives


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Jimbo Slice said:


> Yikes, think its just a faulty hard drive then and not a consequence of the increase in RPM?


yea, just a faulty drive as others say they feel no vibrations and I emailed CanadaRAM about it and they are working on getting an RMA number from their supplier for it as they are who I bought the drive from.


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

What do you guys think of this?

The Momentus 7200.1
Seagate Technology - Momentus 7200.1 SATA 1.5Gb/s 100-GB Hard Drive


Its cheap and its bigger than the 60GB that's in my 1st gen MB right now. By going to 7200 I shouldn't notice any problems, right? I don't care about battery life or noise, just heat (or any other problem I can't think of). I know there's a lot of FUD surrounding going to 7200 so I'm pretty sure I'm worrying about nothing, but I want to be sure


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

crazy said:


> What do you guys think of this?
> 
> The Momentus 7200.1
> Seagate Technology - Momentus 7200.1 SATA 1.5Gb/s 100-GB Hard Drive
> ...


No, you shouldnt notice any problems. A 7200 RPM drive may get a little bit warmer but not so much that it will cause problems or that you would feel the heat coming through your laptop.


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## zlinger (Aug 28, 2007)

SSD drive for sure, magnetic drives are so old school.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

zlinger said:


> SSD drive for sure, magnetic drives are so old school.


Nice joke! :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

greensuperman32 said:


> No, you shouldnt notice any problems. A 7200 RPM drive may get a little bit warmer but not so much that it will cause problems or that you would feel the heat coming through your laptop.


Thanks.

Although with my Macbook already being hot as is, I'm worried about additional heat causing damage/premature wear and tear. Supposedly the momentus is a cooler drive than the 5400RPM 60GB in my Macbook (from what I've read elsewhere) but I have no idea how to verify that...


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## cdncableguy (Nov 4, 2007)

Go for it. I did and I'm loving it.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

crazy said:


> What do you guys think of this?
> 
> The Momentus 7200.1
> Seagate Technology - Momentus 7200.1 SATA 1.5Gb/s 100-GB Hard Drive
> ...


The 7200.1 is an old model that has poorer specs and *uses more power (which means more heat)*. You'd be better off with a 7200.3 (or wait for the upcoming 7200.4)


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

Z06jerry said:


> The 7200.1 is an old model that has poorer specs and *uses more power (which means more heat)*. You'd be better off with a 7200.3 (or wait for the upcoming 7200.4)


Great, thanks for the heads up.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

crazy said:


> Great, thanks for the heads up.


The 7200.1 only has a 1.5 Gb/s interface and 8mb cache vs the 7200.3 with 3.0 Gb/s interface and 16mb cache.


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

I understand the cache part, but am I right in thinking that the Macbooks (or at least the 1st generation ones like I have) can only recognize 1.5G/Bs and that anything higher would be basically throttled down to 1.5?


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

crazy said:


> I understand the cache part, but am I right in thinking that the Macbooks (or at least the 1st generation ones like I have) can only recognize 1.5G/Bs and that anything higher would be basically throttled down to 1.5?


I think thats right, they drop back when the faster controller isn't available.


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

Thanks again for all of the help.
One final question, other than TechTool, is there anyway I can run any diagnostics to see if my HD is failing?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Drive Genius.

TechTool is dangerous junk


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

Sybersport said:


> I don't want to buy one only to find out that I could have gotten a better quality, lower price somewhere else...
> 
> So where is the best 320GB+, 2.5", 9.5mm drive out there right now for the blackbook?
> 
> Thanks


$98.99 with .99 shipping for the Seagate 7200.3 320GB is a decent price ...

Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 2.5IN Sata 7200RPM 16MB Notebook Hard Drive Oem 5YR Mfr Warranty - DirectCanada


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

That is a decent price- and no PST for those outside BC.


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## Sybersport (Jun 7, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> $98.99 with .99 shipping for the Seagate 7200.3 320GB is a decent price ...
> 
> Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 2.5IN Sata 7200RPM 16MB Notebook Hard Drive Oem 5YR Mfr Warranty - DirectCanada


Thanks - just placed my order. You saved me $30 over what I was going to pay locally


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> $98.99 with .99 shipping for the Seagate 7200.3 320GB is a decent price ...
> 
> Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 2.5IN Sata 7200RPM 16MB Notebook Hard Drive Oem 5YR Mfr Warranty - DirectCanada


I love direct canada's prices and i love the $9.99 air shipping on many of their products. I've ordered stuff from them many time and gotten them the very next day. Thats crazy fast considering they are out of BC and I live in Ontario.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> The 7200.1 only has a 1.5 Gb/s interface and 8mb cache vs the 7200.3 with 3.0 Gb/s interface and 16mb cache.


.... teh 1.5 Gb/s (150 MB/s) vs 3.0 Gb/s (300 MB/s) SATA interface makes absolutely no difference in the performance, as the drive mechanism itself can't do more than 0.7 Gbs (70 MB/s)


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## Sybersport (Jun 7, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> $98.99 with .99 shipping for the Seagate 7200.3 320GB is a decent price ...
> 
> Seagate Momentus 7200.3 320GB 2.5IN Sata 7200RPM 16MB Notebook Hard Drive Oem 5YR Mfr Warranty - DirectCanada


Got my drive today - took 5 work days to arrive with the $0.99 shipping promotion. 

Drive is working great - so I'm a happy camper


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

Just bought the 2.5" 500GB 5400RPM Western Digital SATA drive for $136+$0.99 shipping from DirectCanada for my Mini. Lots of storage for your laptop too. 

500GB CAVIAR 2.5 SATA II BLACK - DirectCanada


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## derrickv (Nov 30, 2005)

What is the difference (besides $10) of the 

G-Force : DirectCanada site
- and -
7200.3 : DirectCanada site

 

They seem like the exact same thing... both say that the G-Force protection is available (I'm guessing this is an on-board accellerometer?) and both model numbers (ST9320421AS and ST9320421ASG) seem to have the same specs on the Seagate Spec Sheet.

What am I missing out on if I just go for the 7200.3?


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

*seagate 7200.3 DOa*

After looking through the various threads about replacement hard drives for a macbook, i ordered a seagate 7200.3 momentus. It went into the computer without any problem. I then used the install system disc to boot the computer with the idea of restoring from my time machine backup. Unfortunately, the computer isn't finding the new drive. I opened it up and tried reseating it, but still nada. i have now replaced the original drive which is behaving properly.
Does anyone have any idea of why this might be? is the drive defective, or am i making some basic mistake?


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

Z06jerry said:


> Seagate 7200.3 is a pretty good bet. They have been selling for under $100. lately.
> 
> Charts, benchmarks 2.5" Hard Drive Charts, Maximum Write Transfer Performance
> 
> ...


I'm very happy with my 7200.3 

Cost me around ~100 after taxes.


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## crazy (Feb 27, 2008)

boukman2 said:


> After looking through the various threads about replacement hard drives for a macbook, i ordered a seagate 7200.3 momentus. It went into the computer without any problem. I then used the install system disc to boot the computer with the idea of restoring from my time machine backup. Unfortunately, the computer isn't finding the new drive. I opened it up and tried reseating it, but still nada. i have now replaced the original drive which is behaving properly.
> Does anyone have any idea of why this might be? is the drive defective, or am i making some basic mistake?


You'll probably want to put in the Leopard install CD, restart, go to Utilities - Disk Utility, select the HD icon, and then I think you go to Erase and format it as HFS Journaled, then you should be able to quit Disk Utility when it is done and then go to Utilities - Time Machine.


Hopefully I didn't miss anything


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

silly me. first time doing the time machine restore! all is going well (on the computer in question). busily restoring. i had put other hard drives in, but always used the installation discs to put a brand new system on
many thanks


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## Jimbo Slice (Jul 14, 2008)

Ok so I'm about to pull the trigger on a 500 GB HDD for my unibody MacBook to upgrade from 160GB which is already full (lots of photos). I figured I'd come back to this thread to see what you guys think: -

Seagate ST9500325AS (Promotional Cash Price) Momentus 500GB 5400.6 SATA 5400RPM 8MB Cache 2.5" Laptop HDD (OEM) - $128.99	

Seagate ST9500420AS (Promotional Cash Price !!! ) Momentus 500GB 7200.4 SATA 7200RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" Laptop HDD (OEM) - $159.99

Which one would you choose and why?

I see lots of people here are going with Seagate drives, any particular reason for this? Why Seagate over WD or Hitachi for example? Any and all help offered is much appreciated, thanks in advance.


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## boukman2 (Apr 6, 2009)

my seagate 320 seems to be fine now. funny thing, my mail archive didn't load with the restore. thanks to the search here i found a link to fix that (enter time machine with mail open, go back to the last date, restore inbox, then do it again with sent). seems to be a regular problem. perhaps the idea is to leave it in time machine, rather than cluttering up your nice new hard drive? odd.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

Jimbo Slice said:


> I see lots of people here are going with Seagate drives, any particular reason for this? Why Seagate over WD or Hitachi for example? Any and all help offered is much appreciated, thanks in advance.


Everyone's mileage varies, but for me, I've not had good experiences with WD. Every dead drive I've ever had was a WD, and every drive I've had that lasted almost indefinitely was a Hitachi or Seagate. I've had WD drives die within weeks of the warranty expiring.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

> Seagate ST9500420AS (Promotional Cash Price !!! ) Momentus 500GB 7200.4 SATA 7200RPM 16MB Cache 2.5" Laptop HDD (OEM) - $159.99


where damn things are vapourware.


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