MacBook - What's the Best, Reliable Hard Drive for a Macbook

mini066 · mini066 #1 (**permalink**)

07-05-2008, 11:52 PM

Hello,

Recently, my Macbook's internal hard drive suddenly gave out. According to the Apple Genius, there was no user-error, the HD just...failed. He offered to replace the hard drive for free, but I'd have to give my existing one to Apple for recycling. There was a lot of data on there I wanted to keep, so I declined, and decided to try and have the data recovered.

But now, I need a new HD. What's the best, reliable, high quality brand to buy? Something that has a great record for making top-of-the-notch HDs that rarely ever fails...for no reason? I'm not really concerned with the amount of hard drive space, just....quality. I just don't trust the Apple HD anymore. I'm still numb in shock that, despite all my care, despite the Macbook looking nearly brand new a year later, the Macbook just...went out.

Thanks

mrplow · mrplow #2 (**permalink**)

07-06-2008, 06:34 AM

There are no absolutes when it comes to mechanical reliability. Obviously some are better than others but even the best mechanical manufacturers see failures in their products.

In the case of HDD all you can do is make an informed choice and keep some redundancy in the form of a data backup. That way failure becomes an inconvenience not a disaster of lost data.

For my money the most reliable 2.5" sata HDDs are made by Western Digital. It's the brand I've used for several laptop and my macbook upgrade. Never had a single problem.

However, you'll no doubt get differing opinions from mine that'll be no better or worse. But it's WD for me.

I have had issues with Samsung and IBM Hitachi drives in the past but no current knowledge of their 2.5" range.

Hopefully you'll get a few more posts to give you a balanced view.

mrplow

wytwolf · wytwolf #3 (**permalink**)

07-06-2008, 08:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrplow

There are no absolutes when it comes to mechanical reliability. Obviously some are better than others but even the best mechanical manufacturers see failures in their products.

In the case of HDD all you can do is make an informed choice and keep some redundancy in the form of a data backup. That way failure becomes an inconvenience not a disaster of lost data.

For my money the most reliable 2.5" sata HDDs are made by Western Digital. It's the brand I've used for several laptop and my macbook upgrade. Never had a single problem.

However, you'll no doubt get differing opinions from mine that'll be no better or worse. But it's WD for me.

I have had issues with Samsung and IBM Hitachi drives in the past but no current knowledge of their 2.5" range.

Hopefully you'll get a few more posts to give you a balanced view.

mrplow

Same here. I've never had a WD drive fall on me. I've had one maxtor die, but that was it. Right now I have a Western Digital 320GB passport drive in my macbook. It was the same price as a 250 internal laptop drive, so i bought the 320 took it out of the enclosure. Then it's just a simple swap.

mini066 · mini066 #4 (**permalink**)

07-09-2008, 09:01 PM

Thanks for the input, Western Digital seems to be known for its quality. I'm probably going to pick up this one from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136278

7200 RPM should increase the processing speed a bit. What do you think?

Dysfunction · Dysfunction #5 (**permalink**)

07-09-2008, 09:39 PM

I believe that you'll find MTBF rates of consumer drives to be similar. Basically, once you're into a reputable manufacturer (Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital, etc) they have about the same probability of failure.

Anecdotaly I can state that I've seen drives from every manufacturer fail.

bryphotoguy · bryphotoguy #6 (**permalink**)

07-09-2008, 09:42 PM

Apple doesn't make HD's btw. The HD was made by any one of the big companies. I like Western Digital because I've never had a problem but Seagate makes faster drives so I might switch to them. No one manufacturer makes more reliable drives than another.

INTELligent · INTELligent #7 (**permalink**)

07-09-2008, 09:46 PM

I've used Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor... Maxtor being by far the worst... I've had three fail :rolleyes:

WD seems to be louder than a Seagate drive... Since you're going for a notebook drive, I would suggest a Seagate.

djmuggs · djmuggs #8 (**permalink**)

07-11-2008, 08:09 PM

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Weste...al/WD1600BEVS/

goood site to buy from

cwa107 · cwa107 #9 (**permalink**)

07-11-2008, 08:18 PM

The way I see it, most hard drives these days are very similar in terms of performance. A notebook is a harsh environment for a hard drive, so you may as well go with the one with the longest warranty. That's why I'm hooked on Seagate drives - they have the longest warranty at 5 years. Chances are you'll be done with your computer before the warranty is out.

macwannabe · macwannabe #10 (**permalink**)

07-11-2008, 08:53 PM

everyone has there own opinions

Dysfunction #5 (permalink)
Member Since: Mar 17, 2008 Location: Tucson, AZ Posts: 6,511 Mac Specs: 2008 and 2011 15" mbps, late 11 iMac, iPhone 4s, and too many ipods and other stuff	07-09-2008, 09:39 PM I believe that you'll find MTBF rates of consumer drives to be similar. Basically, once you're into a reputable manufacturer (Hitachi, Seagate, Western Digital, etc) they have about the same probability of failure. Anecdotaly I can state that I've seen drives from every manufacturer fail. mike This machine kills fascists Got # ? phear the command line!
	QUOTE Thanks

bryphotoguy #6 (permalink)
Member Since: Feb 02, 2007 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,978 Mac Specs: Quad 2.8GHz Mac Pro, Edge iPhone	07-09-2008, 09:42 PM Apple doesn't make HD's btw. The HD was made by any one of the big companies. I like Western Digital because I've never had a problem but Seagate makes faster drives so I might switch to them. No one manufacturer makes more reliable drives than another. January 2008 Member of the Month
	QUOTE Thanks

cwa107 #9 (permalink)
Member Since: Dec 20, 2006 Location: Middletown, Pennsylvania Posts: 25,916 Mac Specs: 15" MBP, Core i7/2GHz, 8GB RAM, 256GB Crucial M4 SSD	07-11-2008, 08:18 PM The way I see it, most hard drives these days are very similar in terms of performance. A notebook is a harsh environment for a hard drive, so you may as well go with the one with the longest warranty. That's why I'm hooked on Seagate drives - they have the longest warranty at 5 years. Chances are you'll be done with your computer before the warranty is out. Liquid and computers don't mix. It might seem simple, but we see an incredible amount of people post here about spills. Keep drinks and other liquids away from your expensive electronics!
	QUOTE Thanks

macwannabe #10 (permalink)
Member Since: May 19, 2008 Location: Florida Posts: 909 Mac Specs: 27" i7 iMac 2.8 Ghz, 1TB, 8GB RAM \| 13" MBP 2.53Ghz 320GB HD, 4G RAM \| iPad 2 64GB+3G WHITE	07-11-2008, 08:53 PM everyone has there own opinions Click the logo to check out my site... "learn the basics, learn the rules, and then learn how to break them creatively.." - *Phototini* Last edited by macwannabe; 07-11-2008 at 11:15 PM.
	QUOTE Thanks

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mini066 #1 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 11, 2007 Posts: 18 Mac Specs: MacBook 2.16/2.5GB, in a coma	07-05-2008, 11:52 PM Hello, Recently, my Macbook's internal hard drive suddenly gave out. According to the Apple Genius, there was no user-error, the HD just...failed. He offered to replace the hard drive for free, but I'd have to give my existing one to Apple for recycling. There was a lot of data on there I wanted to keep, so I declined, and decided to try and have the data recovered. But now, I need a new HD. What's the best, reliable, high quality brand to buy? Something that has a great record for making top-of-the-notch HDs that rarely ever fails...for no reason? I'm not really concerned with the amount of hard drive space, just....quality. I just don't trust the Apple HD anymore. I'm still numb in shock that, despite all my care, despite the Macbook looking nearly brand new a year later, the Macbook just...went out. Thanks
	QUOTE Thanks

mrplow #2 (permalink)
Member Since: Oct 01, 2007 Location: UK Posts: 5,343 Mac Specs: 27" iMac i7 (2011), iPhone5, iPad3, AppleTV2	07-06-2008, 06:34 AM There are no absolutes when it comes to mechanical reliability. Obviously some are better than others but even the best mechanical manufacturers see failures in their products. In the case of HDD all you can do is make an informed choice and keep some redundancy in the form of a data backup. That way failure becomes an inconvenience not a disaster of lost data. For my money the most reliable 2.5" sata HDDs are made by Western Digital. It's the brand I've used for several laptop and my macbook upgrade. Never had a single problem. However, you'll no doubt get differing opinions from mine that'll be no better or worse. But it's WD for me. I have had issues with Samsung and IBM Hitachi drives in the past but no current knowledge of their 2.5" range. Hopefully you'll get a few more posts to give you a balanced view. mrplow
	QUOTE Thanks

mini066 #4 (permalink)
Member Since: Sep 11, 2007 Posts: 18 Mac Specs: MacBook 2.16/2.5GB, in a coma	07-09-2008, 09:01 PM Thanks for the input, Western Digital seems to be known for its quality. I'm probably going to pick up this one from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136278 7200 RPM should increase the processing speed a bit. What do you think?
	QUOTE Thanks

INTELligent #7 (permalink)
Member Since: Jan 30, 2008 Location: Close to nowhere, far from anywhere Posts: 104 Mac Specs: Mac Mini	07-09-2008, 09:46 PM I've used Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor... Maxtor being by far the worst... I've had three fail :rolleyes: WD seems to be louder than a Seagate drive... Since you're going for a notebook drive, I would suggest a Seagate.
	QUOTE Thanks

djmuggs #8 (permalink)
Member Since: Jul 11, 2008 Posts: 4	07-11-2008, 08:09 PM http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Weste...al/WD1600BEVS/ goood site to buy from
	QUOTE Thanks

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