Newbie looking for a new internal HD for my MBP. Which one?

HI there! I'm rather new to the Apple world so here I am asking newbie questions.

I have a 2009 MBP and according to the apple store, the HD is bad and needs to be replaced. I'm confident that I can replace it on my own but I don't have the slightest clue on which one to get. I looked on Other World Computing's website and they offerr WD, Hitachi, seagate, and toshiba. I current havea 500gig so I either want a 500 or 750 to replace it. I also want the 7200 RPM one. So what that said. Which brand do you guys recommend. I'm aafraid that the 7200RPM ones might be too loud. Will it decrease battery life? Thanks!

7200 RPM will probably decrease the battery life by ~15 minutes.

I am using a 500GB Seagate Momentus in mine and it is not loud at all.
Brand isn't a huge deal when purchasing hard drives, and they should all come with 5 year warranties. Most people would probably recommend WD first then Segate then probably Toshiba.

The Seagate Momentus has a 750GB version in the 9.5mm height, not sure about WD, and I know Samsung has the Spinpoint in 640GB version.

And you can check the guide in my sig on how to replace the hard drive (just skip to the bottom section).

are those new hybrid drives worth it yet?

whitehorse84 said:

are those new hybrid drives worth it yet?

Click to expand...

From a person who has owned one, there as close to SSD performance that you can get without actually getting a SSD. I still prefer the real deal over the Hybrid drive, but for its price, performance, size, it's well worth it.

thanks sour apple. Is this one a good way to go?

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

whitehorse84 said:

thanks sour apple. Is this one a good way to go?

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

Click to expand...

Seems pretty legit. I don't have any experience with these new hybrid drives and how they would function on a Mac.

Make sure that it's 9.5mm in height though as 11mm would be a tight fit and you might end up getting excessive heat from the HDD.

whitehorse84 said:

thanks sour apple. Is this one a good way to go?

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

Click to expand...

Yes, that is the exact one I use.

CrimsonRequiem said:

Seems pretty legit. I don't have any experience with these new hybrid drives and how they would function on a Mac.

Make sure that it's 9.5mm in height though as 11mm would be a tight fit and you might end up getting excessive heat from the HDD.

Click to expand...

Momentus XT | 7200 RPM | Seagate

Listed as 9.5mm on the Seagate website, so you should be fine.

I would go with a 7200 HDD.

Something like this.

alexsd123 said:

I would go with a 7200 HDD.

Something like this.

Click to expand...

What does that offer, that the Momentus XT doesn't?

The Momentus XT is where its at. Super fast, not to loud. All around a great HD.

I'm' really tempted to pick up this hybrid drive. REALLLLLY tempted.

whitehorse84 said:

I'm' really tempted to pick up this hybrid drive. REALLLLLY tempted.

Click to expand...

Do it. You'd be hard searched to find a bad review of the Momentus XT. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

If you have the means to pick up the Momentus XT, do it. I have one in my MBP, and one that I use in an external enclures. After a while of it getting used to the apps you open frequently, you will notice how fast it opens things up(easiest way is by the number of times it bounces an icon before opening the program. Though, mine is only limited to simple files, since I'm running an SSD and the XT at once. I've run benchmarks on it to compare it to my other drives. It's fast, without any doubt, but some people seem to think it's the best thing since sliced bread. It's better than anything out there besides 15000 rpm drives and SSD's. With that said, if my next hard drive isn't an SSD one, it's going to be the XT.

As for the amount of energy it uses up compared to the regular 5400rpm drives, I am going to go against what s2odin said because I actually got more life out of it. While it is normal for a 7200rpm drive to use the battery up faster than a 5400 rpm, this drive has it's own power management chip, which actually lets it sleep a lot more than a regular drive. Combine that with its 4gb's worth of flash, and its easy to see how this can save power...which is what I noticed with mine.

Sour Apple said:

Do it. You'd be hard searched to find a bad review of the Momentus XT. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

Click to expand...

This comment is somewhat misleading! While reviews might say good things, there have been a LOT of problems that have popped up with some users with their XT's. One of those problems dealt with the drive's onboard power management putting the drive to sleep when a user was using the drive, which caused the programs to "freeze".
As with any hard drive though, you will get some with problems. I've got 2 of them, and both have been perfect. Knock on wood

Get the XT!!

Thanks for the input!

is it as easy as just swapping out my drives, re installing the OS and then restoring from time machine? and that's it?

I read somewhere about problems with the XT and OS X? or maybe I was reading something that was incorrect?

whitehorse84 said:

Thanks for the input!

is it as easy as just swapping out my drives, re installing the OS and then restoring from time machine? and that's it?

I read somewhere about problems with the XT and OS X? or maybe I was reading something that was incorrect?

Click to expand...

I'm sure every harddrive made has had at least 1 problem with every system...lol. I'm sure there is a problem that might arise.
Here are 2 good threads on Seagate's own forum:
1. If you have problems with Momentus XT, please come... - Seagate Community Forums
2. Firmware update - Momentus XT - Seagate Community Forums

Between those two threads, you will hear of all the problems

idrinorbarsaku said:

This comment is somewhat misleading! While reviews might say good things, there have been a LOT of problems that have popped up with some users with their XT's. One of those problems dealt with the drive's onboard power management putting the drive to sleep when a user was using the drive, which caused the programs to "freeze".
As with any hard drive though, you will get some with problems. I've got 2 of them, and both have been perfect. Knock on wood

Get the XT!!

Click to expand...

I didn't say it didn't have problems, I just said it's a highly recommended hard drive. Obviously, and piece of computer hardware is bound to have SOME issue.

I just order the seagate 500g 7200 (not the xt). I'm going to cancel my order with OWC and order the XT from Newegg. I didn't order the XT because post #2 said that he heard problems about it.

Thanks for all the info.

FYI - I need a new HD because my GF slammed my MBP on the table and it dented the back. =( Brought it to the Apple store and they wanted $250 to replace it. PASS! Well I really just needed to know what was wrong with it. If it was something with the logic board then I would have left it at Apple. I'm all about DIY! =)

Thanks guys!

Sour Apple said:

I didn't say it didn't have problems, I just said it's a highly recommended hard drive. Obviously, and piece of computer hardware is bound to have SOME issue.

Click to expand...

Which is why I said it's somewhat misleading. Reviews don't usually pick up on a real problem. The end user usually picks up on those. There are problems, but that goes for everything else too.

Can anyone tell me if that momentus XT drive would work with my late 2006 MBP? I have been wanting to upgrade my very sad 120GB HDD, but also wanted to increase is performance through an SSD. This seems like a less expensive decent comprimise to get some of both worlds.

So the XT arrived. I installed it. insert he Mac OS X disc. I'm up to the part where it ask me to select the disk where I want to install Mac os X. BUT there is nothing in the selection box. It's blank.

FYI - I got a new HD because the Genius Bar said that mine was busted.