Fast, large HD for macbook? <90.00 USD

I know it is a 2.5" SATA drive.

Can I use 1.5 and 3.0 speeds? If so I'm assuming the 3.0 is faster obviously so I'll get those.

I think it can use the 7200 RPM drives as well? If I went with one would I have any heat issues? I know it might be a little louder.


This 60GB is just to small.

 

You can use pretty much any SATA drive you desire as far as I know. I definately wouldn't recommend anything below 5400rpm though.

 

I'm not noticing much if any speed increase from the 3.0 bus over the 1.5.

How much better is the 3.0? Would I even notice it much? I torture my poor HDD with torrents, rared files, videos, and video editing.

 

To the average person, I don't thing the speed difference is too noticeable. However, if you want to sit there and time how long it takes for a large file to load, then I guess it would be noticeable.

 

I'm pretty sure that the southbridge that Intel currently uses in their mobile chipset only supports SATA I. But, SATA II is fully backwards compatible with SATA I so it shouldn't really matter what HDD you choose. And of course 5400rpm and 7200rpm HDDs are both usable.

 

The mobile version of the ICH7 doesn't support SATA2, only SATA1. (But a SATA2 drive will work; as SATA1)

 

So a drive like this. Will I see close to these speeds? it is SATA 1.5. They make a 320GB drive I may be interested in as well.

Model
Brand Western Digital
Series Scorpio
Model WD2500BEVS
Performance
Interface SATA 1.5Gb/s
Capacity 250GB
Cache 8MB
Average Seek Time 12ms
Average Latency 4.2ms
RPM 5400 RPM
Physical Spec
Form Factor 2.5"

 

That is a useless drive.
Go for the 250GB/320GB Hitachi 5K320, or the WD3200BEVT.

 

Can you please explain why that one would be better in my macbook? I'm not seeing a difference in specs between the black and blue from the website.

I found the 320GB version for 89 dollars so it's the same price as the black model for the most part.

The scorpio blacks are more expensive then the blue versions.

Also can my macbook take advantage of the 7200 RPM drives?

 

Please recommend others. I will not spend anything over $89.00. I'm not sure which ones are the quickest. I can only do SATA 1.5 and get no advantage of 3.0.

I found this one for 89 dollars shipped. My budget is <90 dollars.

Brand Western Digital
Series Scorpio
Model WD3200BEVT
Performance
Interface SATA 3.0Gb/s
Capacity 320GB
Cache 8MB
Average Seek Time 12ms
Average Latency 4.2ms
RPM 5400 RPM
Physical Spec
Form Factor 2.5"

 

Checkout the Hitachi 5K320.
There have been few instances of vibrations, and clicking (can be fixed) in the WD3200BEVT.

Or, you could checkout the Seagate 250GB 7200.3.

http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=8673031
http://www.pcuniverse.com/Seagate-M...20-GB-internal-2.5-SA/ST9320421AS/pd/p4593525 (320GB)

 

Yeah the Seagate 250GB 7200.3 is the fastest.

 

I can't get any benefits from SATA 3.0, but I can use it.

 

Is the Seagate 250GB drive the same speed as the 320GB? The 320GB is out of stock, but they do have the 250GB in stock.

 

Get it....Its a good drive. And don't worry about the SATA1 & SATA2 thing.

 

yeh... in one of the other threads hdtune actually shows that the 250gb model is slightly faster

 

I think 250GB would be enough for me. Right now I only have an 80GB drive.

 

The 250GB is still in stock. It also has G-Force protection. Amazing deal at $87.