Happy 24th Birthday Mac!

wbarnhill said:
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/01/dayintech_0124

I'll be celebrating by ordering a new larger hard drive for my Macbook Pro :D
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Good for you, but save yer money and don't order your hard drive from Apple.

I'm always out of space on my "120GB" 7200 RPM drive, but until they make a fast, reliable and truly large (300GB!) replacement, I'll wait and deal with it using external drives.

What kind of hard drive do they have in the Macbook Air anyway? They found a mechanical drive that's an 1/8" thick? YeahIknow they also offer an optional flash drive.
 
rpadula said:
Good luck getting that sucker apart. Even more luck putting it back together!

-Rich
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It not so hard to get to the RAM or hard drive. You just gotta remember to put the little pull tab on the new hard drive or it'll be a permanent install.
 
mikea said:
I'm always out of space on my "120GB" 7200 RPM drive, but until they make a fast, reliable and truly large (300GB!) replacement, I'll wait and deal with it using external drives.
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Hitachi is supposed to be shipping a 500GB 2.5" drive in February. I'll be ordering one.

What kind of hard drive do they have in the Macbook Air anyway? They found a mechanical drive that's an 1/8" thick? YeahIknow they also offer an optional flash drive.
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1.8", just like the ones in the iPods (not including the flash-based Nano, Shuffle, or Touch models). What baffles me is why you can get a 160GB iPod Classic, but the MacBook Air only offers 80GB. :dunno:
 
KennyFlys said:
If only they had perfected Lisa! :)
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:rofl:

Lisa: The only computer that was a worse value than the Mac IIfx!


IIfx = "Two" F-ing eXpensive!!! $10,000 for the CPU and a mouse. Video Card, Monitor, and Keyboard Not Included! :eek: It was a very advanced machine back in 1989 though.
 
rpadula said:
Good luck getting that sucker apart. Even more luck putting it back together!

-Rich
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rpadula said:
True on the Macbook; I did that myself. But you might want to take a look at this for the MBP.

-Rich
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mikea said:
Wow! I had no idea. That's not an upgrade I'd be looking forward to doing then. I'm way too ham fisted.
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Thanks, Rich!

I looked again because I'm very tempted to get a bigger hard drive. I have a 7200RPM 100 GB Seagate and they just started shipping a 200GB. I'm contantly fighting for hard disk space. I have 30GB in podcasts.

I guess I can handle that install if I meditate a bit first to be sure I don't force anything. What scared be was "carefully release the adhesive holding the IR and LED..." then I saw that it was the connectors, not the actaul LEDS with accompanying alignment issues. I can hack it. I just need to clear an actual flat surface, keep a bowl nearby to hold the screws and have my magnifying lamp handy. So sad getting old. In my youth I could have built the thing.

Now I need to find out if I add 2 x 2GB DIMMs that only gets me 3GB of RAM. One review I read says that true on older Macbook Pros. *sigh*
 
mikea said:
Thanks, Rich!

I looked again because I'm very tempted to get a bigger hard drive. I have a 7200RPM 100 GB Seagate and they just started shipping a 200GB. I'm contantly fighting for hard disk space. I have 30GB in podcasts.
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Doh! I just saw your post. I just received a 250GB Hitachi Travelstar for my Macbook from OWC. $90 after a $30 rebate, which unfortunately ends today. Maybe if you see this in time you can still get in. I couldn't pass it up (although I'm currently at 107GB of the 160GB Travelstar I put in a year ago!).

mikea said:
I guess I can handle that install if I meditate a bit first to be sure I don't force anything. What scared be was "carefully release the adhesive holding the IR and LED..." then I saw that it was the connectors, not the actaul LEDS with accompanying alignment issues. I can hack it. I just need to clear an actual flat surface, keep a bowl nearby to hold the screws and have my magnifying lamp handy. So sad getting old. In my youth I could have built the thing.
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Yeah, I'm noticing I can't quite read the numbers on these tiny surface mount components. Tough for an electrical engineer.

mikea said:
Now I need to find out if I add 2 x 2GB DIMMs that only gets me 3GB of RAM. One review I read says that true on older Macbook Pros. *sigh*
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I heard that too, but I think it had to be a Core 2 Duo machine, not the original CD, although I could be wrong. Wouldn't you need just one 2GB stick and one 1GB in that case? 1GB's are dirt cheap at about $25 now!

-Rich
 
rpadula said:
Good luck getting that sucker apart. Even more luck putting it back together!

-Rich
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rpadula said:
Doh! I just saw your post. I just received a 250GB Hitachi Travelstar for my Macbook from OWC. $90 after a $30 rebate, which unfortunately ends today. Maybe if you see this in time you can still get in. I couldn't pass it up (although I'm currently at 107GB of the 160GB Travelstar I put in a year ago!).


Yeah, I'm noticing I can't quite read the numbers on these tiny surface mount components. Tough for an electrical engineer.


I heard that too, but I think it had to be a Core 2 Duo machine, not the original CD, although I could be wrong. Wouldn't you need just one 2GB stick and one 1GB in that case? 1GB's are dirt cheap at about $25 now!

-Rich
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Mine is a 2GHz Core Duo. 2GB tops. *sigh*

I just noticed that Seagate has a 200GB with shock protection for $20 more.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9200420ASG/

My 1TB Time Capsule is ordered. Woot!
 
mikea said:
I just need to clear an actual flat surface, keep a bowl nearby to hold the screws and have my magnifying lamp handy. So sad getting old. In my youth I could have built the thing.
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I've ripped apart a ton of laptops and I rarely ever have instructions on how to do it. I'm *not a fan* of using a bowl to hold the screws. The problem is a lot of the screws are different lengths and reassembly is tough.

My preferred method is to have a flat spot the size of the laptop for the screws. Each time you take the screw out, stick it to a piece of tape, and stick that screw onto the table pretending that the table is the laptop. So you put the screws in the position that it would go on the laptop. In the end you end up with a bunch of screws taped to a table that are taped in the same relative position that all the screw holes are. So when you reassemble you have an idea which screw goes to which hole.

The other *really good idea* is to take pictures with a digital camera as you take it apart. This is just as useful in motorcycle or automotive wrenching.
 
jesse said:
I've ripped apart a ton of laptops and I rarely ever have instructions on how to do it. I'm *not a fan* of using a bowl to hold the screws. The problem is a lot of the screws are different lengths and reassembly is tough.

My preferred method is to have a flat spot the size of the laptop for the screws. Each time you take the screw out, stick it to a piece of tape, and stick that screw onto the table pretending that the table is the laptop. So you put the screws in the position that it would go on the laptop. In the end you end up with a bunch of screws taped to a table that are taped in the same relative position that all the screw holes are. So when you reassemble you have an idea which screw goes to which hole.

The other *really good idea* is to take pictures with a digital camera as you take it apart. This is just as useful in motorcycle or automotive wrenching.
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Good idea. Thanks, Jesse. I'd also use an old pill bottle but you do need to keep track of what was where.

I'm the guy who removed too many screws taking the brand new air conditioner out of the window, put some back in, and after hearing a hissing sound, which went on for a long time, noticed that some screws were shorter than others. :mad: After never finding the round tuit to have the evaporator replaced for like $200, I finally threw that air conditioner out when I moved.
 
mikea said:
Mine is a 2GHz Core Duo. 2GB tops. *sigh*

I just noticed that Seagate has a 200GB with shock protection for $20 more.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/ST9200420ASG/
...
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Hey, Rich. OWC just lowed the price on the Seagates by $10 and added a version of that 200GB G-shock drive for $40 less!
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Seagate/OWC/ST9200420ASG/
It's $149.99 vs. $189.99

The difference is that one has a one year OWC warranty for $150 vs. the 5 year Seagate warranty for $190.

I'm tempted to go with that one, as long as it's not an open box or refurb.

Two reasons: 1) if the drive is gonna be bad, it'll be DOA or it will fail within a few weeks. Afterwards it's prolly good for 5-10 years, 2 ) I look as the $40 difference in cost as an extended service plan for 26% of the price. Not worth it. I'd be better off being "self insured."

What d'ya think?
 
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mikea said:
What d'ya think?
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Personally, I'm a value investor, so I prefer to get more storage per least $. :)

I've not had any problems with the 160GB Travelstar I have now. I notice you've been looking at the 7200 rpm jobs. Really need that speed?

Dealmac shows TigerDirect has the 250GB Hitachi for slightly less than the OWC deal i got.


-Rich
 
rpadula said:
Personally, I'm a value investor, so I prefer to get more storage per least $. :)

I've not had any problems with the 160GB Travelstar I have now. I notice you've been looking at the 7200 rpm jobs. Really need that speed?

Dealmac shows TigerDirect has the 250GB Hitachi for slightly less than the OWC deal i got.


-Rich
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Yeah. I haven't ever had a Seagate go bad on me, and I specially ordered my MacBook Pro with the 7200RPM 100GB drive vs. a 5400RPM 160GB to get a faster drive. I crossed my fingers that it would be a Seagate and it was. Of course some benchmarks show some 5400RPM drives are as fast. The new one has 32GB cache so it should be even faster.

It scares me that Seagate is making drives in China and slapping the same Seagate label and model numbers on Maxtor drives. If you read the reviews you'll see that some models plain never work.

I know the Hitachis are also OK. Take a look at the pricing. OWC lowered prices on those, too.

I would never buy from TigerDirect.

I just got another "Your disk is full" warning. I can fix for now that by putting some podcasts on my TiVo.
 
Taking apart the MBPs isn't so bad with the ifixit guides.

I put a 320GB WD scorpio in my girlfriend's MBP a couple months ago and she has already almost filled it all the way!

On the other hand, I'm typing this on a Macbook Air that has 43GB free space (not bad for an 80GB drive that formats to 74GB). And I do have office, Lightroom, CS3, all my music, a dozen movies, etc....

Then again, I have more than a TB of stuff on the desktop so I shouldn't brag too much about being lean and light on the MBA.
 
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