Need advice - Upgrading my MacBook Pro Hard Drive

Hey guys, looking for some advice. I'm a noob so bare with me. I have a 13" Mid-2009 MBP, and quickly running out of space on my hard drive. I'm looking for at least a 500 GB. I want a good quality one, and your opinion on the difference between 5400 and 7200 rpm. Also, I was looking to see how I would go about transferring my data to the new hard drive. Thanks in advance for your input.

I also have a Time Machine, which I use to update weekly. Would I be able to install the new drive then use the Time Machine to install everything? Or does it not work that way?

Try online retailers like NewEgg for your new HDD. I would suggest the 7200RPM just because it's not that much more expensive and although you may or may not notice the difference, it's still worth it. I swear it has improved my start up speeds and tasks just seem snappier. I personally have a Hitachi 500GB 7200RPM drive that I got from NewEgg and love it. It's currently unavailable on their site but I'm sure you can find something comparable for around $100 USD.

You certainly can use your Time Machine backup to reinstall everything onto your new drive. After replacing the drive, start up, insert your Mac OSX DVD and start your MBP. Go through the install process and when you get to the end, it will ask you if you want to use a Time Machine backup. Be sure your external drive is plugged in and follow the instructions on the screen.

Thanks a lot. Great post. Would you reccomend a specific drive?

I think you should try out Seagate Momentus XT 500 gb. I am using it at the moment on my new MBP 15", it run very nice, fast and quite. And the price is very acceptable.

Seagate, Hitachi, Western Digital. Whichever.
Your best bet is to find it on a site you might purchase from and read the reviews about that product. Then decide based on that.

I just upgraded the HD in my 2006 MBP to a 640 GB/7200 RPM Samsung Spinpoint. The first new drive kept giving me errors, so I called Samsung and they swapped it out for free (except for what I paid in shipping to return the old unit). The new one is running like a champ.

After further research, however, I think I may have transferred some sort of problem from my old HD to the first Samsung HD. I ran some diagnosis tools on my factory HD and found the same errors that were popping up on the Samsung. When I got the replacement HD instead of copying everything from the old HD onto the new one, I just did a complete installation of OSX and all software.

I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make a copy of my original HD in the first case. It was a pretty easy program to use...there are several videos on YouTube showing you how to use it.

Thanks all. I got the Seagate Momentus XT after doing some research. My uncle was actually the Senior Vice President of Seagate, just retired though.