Macbook Pro Hard Drive.

iPolly · Aug 21, 2006

I am looking to upgrade my MBP's 80gb HD. Is it recomended to get an internal or external hard drive?

Is there a limit (external) to the size the computer is capable of running?

psycht · Aug 21, 2006

the easy out would be to get an external (firewaire or usb2.0). Upgrading to a larger internal might be cheaper, but time = money and more time spent used with upgrading & reinstalling your OS & apps.

iPolly · Aug 21, 2006

Is there any speed difference between internal and external, especially through USB?

sixslinger · Aug 21, 2006

yes...you will lose speed with a usb 2.0 external hard drive, vs. internal. I have an external drive for my MBP, and I have found it very inconvenient for me personally. I will probably swap out the internal at some point.......i do not recommend an external hard drive with a laptop, but that's just me.

mynameis · Aug 21, 2006

sixslinger said:
you will lose speed with a usb 2.0 external hard drive, vs. internal.

How do you figure?

surfwax95 · Aug 21, 2006

MBPs use SATA internal drives. SATA is much, much faster than USB 2.0.

SATA = 1.5Gb/second

USB 2.0 = 480Mb/second maximum

mynameis · Aug 21, 2006

surfwax95 said:
MBPs use SATA internal drives. SATA is much, much faster than USB 2.0.

SATA = 1.5Gb/second

USB 2.0 = 480Mb/second maximum

That is true, but are you sure that is the bottleneck?

iPolly · Aug 21, 2006

Is there any way to swap the internal had drive wthout voiding your warranty or applecare?

ShillAT · Aug 22, 2006

no, i don't think so. Plus installing a new HD is supposed to be kinda a pain in the neck.

sixslinger · Aug 22, 2006

It does void the warranty, but the actual installation isnt too bad of a job, if youve ever taken apart an apple portable. What's frustrating for me is getting by computer back the way I want it after the drive switch!!

iPolly · Aug 22, 2006

What's frustrating for me is getting by computer back the way I want it after the drive switch!!

Do you mean files and such or the fittings of the case?

sixslinger · Aug 22, 2006

I meant files.....I have ripped apart an ibook and a couple of powerbooks, and they always go back together just perfectly, so no qualms there

avcabob · Aug 22, 2006

I upgraded the internal drive in my old powerbook and instead of reinstalling OS X and copying everything back over, I put the old drive in an external enclosure, booted off the setup disk, went to disk utility, restore tab. I selected the new drive as the destination drive, and the old one as the source. It took a little while to copy everything over, but once it was done, I rebooted and it started up as if i hadn't done anything at all. Only difference was 40 more gig's of free space. disk utility didn't even care that the 2 drives were different sizes.

iPolly · Aug 23, 2006

So I guess the question is; Is it worth upgrading the hard drive if it means voiding the warrenty?

sixslinger · Aug 23, 2006

it's all a matter of preference, but in my opinion...NO. I love my MBP to death, and have had no problems whatsoever, but they just havent been out long enough to see if any long-term problems might arise.....always nice to know that Apple will fix it if it breaks...

deus_ex_machina · Aug 23, 2006

surfwax95 said:
MBPs use SATA internal drives. SATA is much, much faster than USB 2.0.

SATA = 1.5Gb/second

USB 2.0 = 480Mb/second maximum

I'd prefer a FW400 over USB 2.0 anyday - the 480MB/s is rarely achieved and the FW has much more consistent I/O IMHO. Although SATA of course beats it hands down