Will this HD work with my Early 2008 MacBook Pro

http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-Momentus-7200RPM-Internal-ST9500420AS-Bare/dp/B001R4BBLU/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1322380793&sr=8-6

I have an early 2008 MacBook Pro. Currently I'm doing a lot more than it can really handle. (i.e. AutoCad, Other AutoDesk Products, Photoshop CS5, etc) and I'm often times using all these at once. As you guys probably know, the early 2008 MBPro is the 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, with 2GB ram and 200 GB hd. I aim currently "getting through" with this, but next year when I'm in college studying product design I'm going to need more.

This being said, for Christmas, I have 1K from my family to either put towards a new MBPro or use at my digression towards my current computer.

If I upgrade this one, I would get, new HD, new ram, new battery, and possibly a new graphics card (if possible).

I ask, do you think it's worth it?

and if it is,

I need to start building my parts list, will the HD linked above work for me. It seems to be a good deal.


If I were to go with a new MacBook Pro, it would be: 15 in (Hi Res Glossy) display, 2.4 Ghz i7 4 core processor, 8 gig ram, 750gb 7500rpm hd. Should total out at about 2500 dollars.

note: I have a 30 inch plasma that I use as a 2nd display, should I upgrade my graphics card for CAD / Graphics work on it? It seems to work pretty well right now graphics wise, but probably because it's eating into my RAM.

Thanks,

Jack Koby
(sorry if this is in the wrong place, or too long a question (I'm used to my automotive forums where it is very relaxed on the rules))

That HD should work just fine. Good drive.

How much RAM does your 2007 MBP have? On the 2007 you might be limited to 4GB. Will check and get back to you.

You can not upgrade the graphics on an MBP.

how would you recommend transferring my existing data from my current hd to a new hd

and how hard is the install

Just checked, if you get the RAM from OWC (Other World Computing) you can expand to 6GB on that Santa Rosa chipset in the 2007 MBP.

Best way to transfer the data is a External USB hard drive case. Put the new drive in the MBP, install the OS and update. Then use Migration assistant to migrate the data over from the old hard drive in the external case.

If don't have an external case, you can also use Time Machine to make the transfer.

Backup via Time Machine.
Shut down and swap the drives.
Boot from your OS X DVD. (USB drive if you're using Lion--or burn a Lion DVD).
Select 'Restore from Time Machine Backup'.

If something goes wrong (which it shouldn't), just shut down and reinstall the original HD.

If the OP has no external drive, how is going to run Time Machine?

I have an external HD already that I could use.

If I'm on Lion, is it easy to put the OS onto a USB drive to reboot with?

My other question, how hard is it to swap the HD inside my macbook pro. Any instructions you could link me to?

Note: I've seen my computer referred to a couple times above as a 2007 macbook pro. I would like to clarify that it is an early 2008 model. (This may be the same as the 2007, but I'm not sure). I know they changed the model in late 2008, but mine is an early 2008 and says so in the "about my mac" window.


Thank you very much.

Any other recommendations on HD's or is the one I linked in the OP one of the better ones.


Also, Will I see a difference going from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm? I use lots of RAW picture files, some video, and lots of cad files. I hope that the extra spin speed will be beneficial to what I do.

That really does not change anything important. Same 6GB Ram Limit. All MBP's use a 2.5" SATA drive so that will not affect you either.

15" MacBook Pro (Penryn)

There are tutorials on the web for making a bootable 8GB OSX Lion Flash drive.

There are videos and tutorials on taking apart the MBP also. Will find both and post them for you.

A 7200 RPM Drive will be faster and for some of the filetypes you mentioned, a 7200 would be a bit faster.


Bootable OSX Flash Drive. You need an 8GB Flash drive.

http://osxdaily.com/2011/07/08/make-a-bootable-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-installer-from-a-usb-flash-drive/

Hard Drive replacement. I hope this is your MBP. Should be from the Specs you gave.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook...-A1226-and-A1260-Hard-Drive-Replacement/670/1

Thank you so much, this has been a huge help!

Now to start ordering parts!

Anything other than ram, battery, hd that I can/should upgrade on my computer?


one other question. Is RAM sold from apple.com better than ram sold in other places? Apple.com seems to be very expensive.

I also see that RAM should be matched in each slot. Why is it okay that OWC ram can be 4GB and 2GB? It seems like this isn't recommended.

Apple's RAM is just from whatever vendor will meet their specs at the time they buy it. I've seen Samsung and Nanya installed that I can recall. Crucial is my general choice, but OWC's a fine supplier as well

So is all RAM created equal or No?

also, any comment on the fact of putting 4gb in one slot and 2gb in the other slot?

I would not say all RAM is equal, but if you get good ram like Crucial or any RAM from OWC, you will be fine. Do NOT get Apple RAM. WAY too expensive and no better than the other good RAM.

With OWC you get RAM that is guaranteed to work in your model Mac and if there are issues, they WILL make it right.

does it make sense to get the 6gb (4gb + 2GB) ram pack from OWC?
I could use the extra ram, I just want to know if it will utilize the full 6gb?

sounds like OWC will be a good company to work with.

Yes, it will utilize all 6GB!! The only reason I have not done it is 4 has been working fine on my iMac with Lion overall and I prefer Matched Pairs of RAM in Dual Channel. Sometimes it can be faster with some uses.

what would be a use when matched ram would be faster than unmatched?

I do lots of CAD / Photoshop. Which will be beneficial for me?