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    13" MBP Harddrive Upgrade

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by jamesmington, Jul 2, 2009.

  1. jamesmington

    jamesmington Notebook Enthusiast

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    I JUST got a new 13" mbp :D , but I need to upgrade the harddrive to maybe 320 or 500gb...I'm not too sure which specs to look for, and have noticed the opposing viewpoints for 5400 and 7200 rpms. I'm not a huge fan of a lot of laptop heat, but a faster harddrive would be beneficial for me, as I'll be DJing with serato.

    Do you guys have any suggestions or harddrives that you'd recommend?

    I also plan on upgrading to SSD when prices drop a good deal sometime down the road.

    Thanks!
     
    jamesmington, Jul 2, 2009
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  2. HLdan

    HLdan Notebook Virtuoso

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    The biggest caveat of using the 7200 drive is the battery loss. You won't get nearly as much battery life out of the 13" as you would with the 5400 or SSD, this is why Apple doesn't offer the 7200 as a CTO option for the 13.
     
    HLdan, Jul 2, 2009
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  3. Xirurg

    Xirurg ORLY???

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    wait a week-intel is rumored to bring fast,cheap SSDs
     
    Xirurg, Jul 2, 2009
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  4. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Phil, Jul 2, 2009
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  5. talin

    talin Notebook Prophet

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    [​IMG]

    Do you have any more information?
     
    talin, Jul 2, 2009
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  6. jamesmington

    jamesmington Notebook Enthusiast

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    you've got my attention. but even with cheaper ssds, i can only assume their performance and reliability

    phil - that's the EXACT one i was looking at, and seems to be the go to harddrive on this forum
     
    jamesmington, Jul 2, 2009
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  7. Xirurg

    Xirurg ORLY???

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    Xirurg, Jul 2, 2009
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  8. talin

    talin Notebook Prophet

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    talin, Jul 2, 2009
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  9. jamesmington

    jamesmington Notebook Enthusiast

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    NICE!

    this comment caught my attention though
     
    jamesmington, Jul 2, 2009
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  10. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

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    That has not been my experience and I've been using 7200RPM notebook drives since the 7k40 in m T41. I don't know, maybe the MBs are different.

    Good to hear about the cheap SSDs, but I sadly can't use them because of the choked controller on my R60.
     
    ZaZ, Jul 2, 2009
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  11. Montanabay

    Montanabay Notebook Enthusiast

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    what kind of performance (boot time, image processing, CAD renders, etc) increase would one see between a 5400, 7200, and a low end SSD?
     
    Montanabay, Jul 2, 2009
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  12. J8II

    J8II Notebook Enthusiast

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    I tried the 7200 rpm Seagate HD on my new MBP 13" and I didn't like it. I noticed an increase in heat and some noise. The noise wasn't bad at all really, but overall I liked the fact that the 5400 drive that came with the MBP was so quiet and I couldn't hear a thing from it. I already shipped back the Seagate 7200.4. Im just gonna stick with the stock 160GB 5400. Maybe I will upgrade someday but for now that's good enough with the WD 500GB external HD that I already had from before.

    As for the speed difference I really didn't notice it but that might be because of the fact that I don't really do anything complicated. You might notice it when you DJ.
     
    J8II, Jul 2, 2009
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  13. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    It might also be because the Seagate 7200.4 isn't that fast.
     
    Phil, Jul 3, 2009
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  14. Pazbien

    Pazbien Notebook Guru

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    Im deciding between these two. Can anyone confirm the 5400 Western is faster than the 7200 Seagate? I find it hard to believe.
     
    Pazbien, Jul 4, 2009
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  15. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    It won't be faster in all situations but in many it is. The review (14 pages) is quite clear about it http://techreport.com/articles.x/17010.

    A fast 7200rpm drive still has benefits in most multi tasking situations though. If you really want 7200rpm I'd recommend WD3200BEKT.
     
    Phil, Jul 4, 2009
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  16. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    personally, i would stick with the WD5000BEVT becaue it's cooler and we all know macs heat up quickly because of it's metallic enclosure. if i were rich enough to afford one, i would go for it.
     
    Luke1708, Jul 4, 2009
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  17. iMac_Sniper

    iMac_Sniper Notebook Enthusiast

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    I bought a WD 320GB Scorpio for my MBP that I will be getting in a few weeks. Is the battery lose that significant?
     
    iMac_Sniper, Jul 4, 2009
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  18. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Not really. I hardly noticed it when I installed Scorpio Black in my netbook.

    Power measurements: http://techreport.com/articles.x/15079/14.

    The notebook will also become faster, so it works out even.
     
    Phil, Jul 4, 2009
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  19. chris0247

    chris0247 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I would also recommend the WD5000BEVT. I just installed one in my new 13" MBP and its great. I was hesitant going down to 5400rpm (coming from a 7200rpm drive in my old Fujitsu notebook) but this thing is fast. I was torn between this model, the WD 320 Black, and the Seagate 7200.4, but after reading the reviews on NewEgg about those drives causing excess vibration and heat, I'm glad I went with the WD 500 Blue. It's as quiet as the stock drive from Apple, doesn't vibrate, and doesn't get hot. And the extra space is nice too :)
     
    chris0247, Jul 4, 2009
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  20. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    i hear that the higher density of the platters in the WD5000BEVT compensate for the speed against the 320gb7200rpm
     
    Luke1708, Jul 4, 2009
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  21. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    While that is somewhat true, the 7200 rpm is still a little faster with booting and application launching. During heavy multi tasking the 7200rpm will show a larger difference. During normal use it will be very hard to notice any difference.

    In my uMB I could already feel a 320GB/5400rpm Fujitsu vibrate. It's not the kind of laptop I would fit a 7200rpm in.
     
    Phil, Jul 4, 2009
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  22. Luke1708

    Luke1708 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    Yes, the metallic structure allows the vibration to propagate.
     
    Luke1708, Jul 4, 2009
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