Macbook Pro hard drive upgrade

I've got a 2010 Macbook Pro and have managed to run out of space on the hard drive. I would like to replace it with a bigger one, currently 250gb but was thinking of getting a 640gb as replacement. Also thinking of getting a 7200rpm drive this time.

So my questions are:
Is there a disadvantage to having a big hard drive?

Will the 7200rpm create any problems, should I just stick with 5400?

What's the best place to get a hard drive from?

What is the best way to make the swap, to take everything from this hard drive and put it onto the new one. Not sure if I will have to make many changes or if I can duplicate the current one and just end up with more space. I do have time machine backups but don't think that's enough to set up a new, blank hard drive.

Thanks,
Tbone

No disadvantage whatsoever by installing a large fast hard drive. (7200 RPM) The largest hard drive you can currently install that will fit properly is a 750 GB model from Western Digital.

As for a good place to purchase the drive, try Other World Computing.

Thanks. I was actually looking at the OWC website and found they have these kits:
Search Results for DIY Express at MacSales.com

Just not sure which one to choose, don't want to end up with one that doesn't fit. It seems like with the enclosure they include you could set it up with the new drive, copy the original drive to the new one and then swap it into the MBP. Not sure of the copying process but am I correct?

Thanks

Did some more looking and am thinking about this kit:
Western Digital OWCYWD7500BPKT DIY KIT: 750GB... in stock at OWC

Would like to know what people think of it and if anyone has used it.

Tbone

I installed a Seagate momentus 7200RPM 750gb drive I got for sale from Fry's for only $69.00!.. maybe you can find the same deal locally.

I do notice that it is a bit "louder" then my older 5400rpm drive, but I don't even notice it..

I have noticed the Seagate drives are a bit cheaper but have been Western Digital is a better choice. I know the drive can be found by itself for cheaper, I may price out the drive enclosure and tools separately to see if the kit is actually a deal.

Theoretically a hard drive with a higher RPM would drain the battery a little faster, but when I upgraded from a 120/5400 to a 640/7200 I didn't notice a difference. Other than that the only disadvantage is that opening your computer and tinkering around with its guts opens the door to possible problems. If you can do a clean install then I can't think of any disadvantages.

I got my HD from Newegg and bought an external enclosure off amazon for $5. It's not exactly the best quality enclosure, but it works just fine, and now my old drive is serving as an external, bootable hard drive.

I used Carbon Copy Cloner to make an exact copy of my original hard drive...pretty easy program to use. There's another option called something like Super Duper (I may be wrong with the name).

Plenty of youtube videos showing you how to do all this.

Haven't done the upgrade yet but watched a youtube video on it and it looks pretty simple. Just didn't see how to transfer all my data from the old drive to the new one.

If I buy an enclosure for the new drive can I set it up externally before installing it into the computer? I think I can figure it out but don't want to disable my computer to do it.

Just didn't see how to transfer all my data from the old drive to the new one.

Click to expand...

Use Carbon Copy Cloner. Buy an external SATA carrier to place the new drive in or use an adapter.

Alternately, you can use Time Machine instead. However, the new drive will have to be prepared first as TM does not create a bootable backup whereas CCC does.

Alternative to buying a powered enclosure; Nexstar Universal Storage Adapter- $25 @ Fry's. Connects via USB and will allow you to drag and drop files and use the orig hd as an external storage.

I'd like to have an external enclosure for the original drive, might as well make it useful once it's out.

Is Carbon Copy Cloner free? I'll give it a shot if it is. So I'd basically clone the internal drive to the external and then swap them? Will it format the new drive or should I format it first? Hopefully it will come with good instructions.

I see people say the 'spudger' is required but not sure what it's for, in the youtube video I watched he only used a phillips screwdriver and T6 torx.

Just did the upgrade to 750GB and it was a piece of cake.
Going to run the new drive for a month before erasing the original to be sure everything is ok.

Tbone