upgrading macbook hd - suitable drive

thund3rbird_

hi,

i'm thinking of upgrading the HD on a Macbook (13" 2.4GHz white mid-2008 osx 10.5.x version)

the how-to-replace procedure is simple enough.

my Q is regarding suitable drives. I know the macbook is limited to a 9.5 mm height

saw this one on dabs
would this be suitable?

physically I think it's ok
it's sata-300 as opposed to the 150 that's already in the macbook
afaik that's just a difference in data transfer rates

can anyone offer any other suggestions?

thanx in advance

jmck87

As far as I know once its 2.5 inch then it will do the job (the one on dabs.ie is)

But Im no expert.....I bought a WD 2.5 inch (160GB) a year ago and it worked...not sure about the exact details of it

Simon201

Posted here a few weeks back that I'd bought this drive

http://www.samsung.com/global/busine...373&ppmi=1159#

for my Macbook, in Peats, Blanch - €79

leeroybrown

You need to be a little more careful than that. The anti-shock system in some hard drives conflicts with the accelerometer based anti-shock system that the MacBook has built in. If I remember correctly some Western Digital drives were known to conflict and cause regular kernel panics. Disabling the MacBook's built in system should avoid the panics but you're better off buying a drive with no known incompatibilities.

J-blk

leeroybrown wrote: »

If I remember correctly some Western Digital drives were known to conflict and cause regular kernel panics.

That's correct - for example, this drive:

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=57X3&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=scorpio+black&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

has built-in antishock protection which messes with the Mac's own antishock systems and causes kernel panics. But this one:

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=56MX&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=scorpio+black&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0


will work. So the WD3200BJKT is not suitable, but the WD3200BEKT is - I just installed one in my unibody MacBook and it works just fine...

gokgok

J-blk wrote: »

That's correct - for example, this drive:

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=57X3&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=scorpio+black&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0

has built-in antishock protection which messes with the Mac's own antishock systems and causes kernel panics. But this one:

http://www.dabs.ie/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=56MX&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=scorpio+black&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0


will work. So the WD3200BJKT is not suitable, but the WD3200BEKT is - I just installed one in my unibody MacBook and it works just fine...

thanks for the advice. i've just ordered one of the 320gb WD drives from overclockers and a HD enclosure so i can use the 100gb HD that's in my MBP as a portable drive.

AlanD

Hi,

some good info here, but I'm still not entirely sure what I should be buying.

Will any of these options work with my Macbook?

I'm looking to upgrade to 500 GB.

http://www.pixmania.ie/ie/uk/1443933/art/samsung/spinpoint-hm500li-m6-2-5.html

or

http://elara.ie/products/detailsfullat.asp?productcode=MME1410809#spec

or

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=378960&view=detailed#ProductTabs

Talisman

I've had a Samsung HM500LI drive in my Mac for over six months now without any problems.