Which internal hard drive should I get from this list?

[shambock]

Hey everyone,

After recent problems with my iMac hard drive, i've decided to just have the hard drive replaced rather than taking it to a genius bar to do it and charging me excess amounts of cash.

I just need a bit of advice about which hard drive to get. I found a company here in the UK, macupgrades.co.uk, that can install a new drive for me and these are the options I have on the drive:

Money is kinda tight at the moment, so if either Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 750GB 3.5in SATA II 32MB (£62.14) or IBM (Hitachi) Deskstar 7K1000.C SATAII 1TB (1000GB) 16MB (£66.92) is a decent one to get then that would be great. If not, let me know and I'll see if I can stretch to one of the more pricey ones.

thanks a lot

 

[njharrison1979]

Anymore info on your machine?

I've been having probs with my HD so would be interesteing to see how old your machine is.

 

[shambock]

Hey, it's a 24" iMac which I got 2 years ago.

I actually phoned apple support earlier this afternoon and talked them through my problems. They said that even though the warranty is up, if it's a hardware problem then it will be fixed for free. So I'm going to put on hold installing a new hard drive until after I've had a "Mac Genius" check it out.

It's not easy lugging a 24-incher around the London, so it's going to be quite an ordeal taking this thing to the nearest Apple store, but I hope it's going to be worth it and that they can fix it for free.

 

[cwa107]

Are you sure that's a 27" iMac you have? AFAIK, the 27" just came out about 6-8 months ago.

You need not purchase a Mac-specific hard drive as they use standard drives. Any SATA2 7200RPM drive should do just fine. I would personally recommend any drive made by Seagate, Western Digital or Hitachi. Avoid Samsung, Fujitsu and Toshiba.

Be aware that the installation process is not for the timid. It requires pulling the glass using heavy duty suction cups in a dust-free environment (it's easy for dust to collect between the display and the glass during removal).

 

[shambock]

Ohhh, sorry I should have said 24".

I think if I go ahead and get a drive i'll go for a Seagate one. I've had external seagate drives and they've always been excellent.

I don't think i'd attempt an installation myself. The website I mentioned above has an installation service. It's not cheap though! But better to be safe than sorry...

 

[cwa107]

Ohhh, sorry I should have said 24".

I think if I go ahead and get a drive i'll go for a Seagate one. I've had external seagate drives and they've always been excellent.

I don't think i'd attempt an installation myself. The website I mentioned above has an installation service. It's not cheap though! But better to be safe than sorry...

Seagates are typically pretty solid. They had a bad run with the 7200.11 series, but it seems like they've rebounded in recent months.

Just make sure that the service provider is Apple-authorized to maintain your warranty (if you still have one).

 

[njharrison1979]

Hey, it's a 24" iMac which I got 2 years ago.

I actually phoned apple support earlier this afternoon and talked them through my problems. They said that even though the warranty is up, if it's a hardware problem then it will be fixed for free. So I'm going to put on hold installing a new hard drive until after I've had a "Mac Genius" check it out.

It's not easy lugging a 24-incher around the London, so it's going to be quite an ordeal taking this thing to the nearest Apple store, but I hope it's going to be worth it and that they can fix it for free.

We have a 24 incher to and have been told the hard drive needs renewing this has happened just after a 1yr 2 months old. Just out of sodding warranty. Someone has told me on here that I should be able to get a replacement from the hard drive providers. What were the tail tail signs of your drive going?

Do you know how much it will cost to take it to a mac shop to get it checked out?

 

[cwa107]

Someone has told me on here that I should be able to get a replacement from the hard drive providers. W

This is untrue. Despite the fact that the drive is made by a third party, when Apple sells it bundled in with a product, Apple assumes liability for it. So even if the identical drive model normally sells with a 5 year warranty, when it's sold by a vendor like Apple bundled in, the warranty is the same as the machine itself.

 

[robbym]

Drive recommendations

Are you sure that's a 27" iMac you have? AFAIK, the 27" just came out about 6-8 months ago.

You need not purchase a Mac-specific hard drive as they use standard drives. Any SATA2 7200RPM drive should do just fine. I would personally recommend any drive made by Seagate, Western Digital or Hitachi. Avoid Samsung, Fujitsu and Toshiba.

Be aware that the installation process is not for the timid. It requires pulling the glass using heavy duty suction cups in a dust-free environment (it's easy for dust to collect between the display and the glass during removal).

Why avoid Samsung? Their Spinpoint F1 and F3 drives perform like no other and are quite reliable. Though I do agree Fujitsu and Toshiba are a given for an educated blacklist.

 

[njharrison1979]

This is untrue. Despite the fact that the drive is made by a third party, when Apple sells it bundled in with a product, Apple assumes liability for it. So even if the identical drive model normally sells with a 5 year warranty, when it's sold by a vendor like Apple bundled in, the warranty is the same as the machine itself.

I have been told by a person who has done this, going back to the manufacturer and asking for a replacement after just over a year doesnt seem out of the question to me.

After all the manufacturer doesnt really want to get a bad reputation for having its drives not being stable and failing in just a short space of time.

For ex if I was to supply bad materials to a customer they wouldn't come back to me and would probably tell friends and family not to go near me.

 

[cwa107]

I have been told by a person who has done this, going back to the manufacturer and asking for a replacement after just over a year doesnt seem out of the question to me.

After all the manufacturer doesnt really want to get a bad reputation for having its drives not being stable and failing in just a short space of time.

For ex if I was to supply bad materials to a customer they wouldn't come back to me and would probably tell friends and family not to go near me.

It doesn't hurt to ask, but there's a reason there's an Apple logo stamped on the drive label, even though it's also branded with the manufacturer's name. I've been through this with Dell and Acer - as soon as they get the serial number, they'll tell you its not their drive.

 

[cwa107]

Why avoid Samsung? Their Spinpoint F1 and F3 drives perform like no other and are quite reliable. Though I do agree Fujitsu and Toshiba are a given for an educated blacklist.

Samsung's drives almost never score above the bottom of the barrel in the reviews I've read. I've also never seen a working Samsung drive that was more than 18 months old.

 

[njharrison1979]

reset the macs pram today as it wasnt finding the start up disc and it worked, thought id try and do a time machine backup but the computer froze and I had to reset it and now have the annoying question mark folder again, maybe it is just the HD on its way out grrrr

There was light at the end of the tunnel but now it has gone hmmm

 

[TechieJustin]

HOLY CRAP!
17 or 18% VAT?
No wonder there was a revolution. If you buy a drive from somebody here and when we sent it, marked it as a gift, dos it still get that recrapulous tax?

 

[shambock]

Hey all,

Went to the genius bar today. Gave my iMac in and they replaced the hard drive for free, no questions asked. iMac was 14 months out of warranty but this didn't seem to matter. Going back to collect it this evening. SAME DAY SERVICE. WOW!

I always loved Apple, but now I love them more than ever!

 

[shambock]

HOLY CRAP!
17 or 18% VAT?
No wonder there was a revolution. If you buy a drive from somebody here and when we sent it, marked it as a gift, dos it still get that recrapulous tax?

Unfortunately yes. But if it's marked as "gift" and the value is under £18 then there's nothing to pay.

Thing is though, I once ordered $80 worth of clothing from the US and asked the seller to put a low value on the customs form. Didn't work because the postal service here had opened the package, scoured through everything and found an invoice with the $80 total on it and hit me with an import tax bill!

So now I ask the senders not to include a paper invoice/receipt. ;D

 

[njharrison1979]

Unfortunately yes. But if it's marked as "gift" and the value is under £18 then there's nothing to pay.

Thing is though, I once ordered $80 worth of clothing from the US and asked the seller to put a low value on the customs form. Didn't work because the postal service here had opened the package, scoured through everything and found an invoice with the $80 total on it and hit me with an import tax bill!

So now I ask the senders not to include a paper invoice/receipt. ;D

Royal Mail scum - I work for the company but still think it.

 

[massiveoni]

i have a white 20" imac and i have a hitachi 2tb 7200rpm for AU$224, and that runs sweet