I am quickly running out of HD space with my 120 G. I am beginning to research the different companies Seagate, Hitachi etc. I am thinking of a 200-300 G drive. speed is not extremely important to me. Should also bump my Ram? i have 1G presently.

What kind of machine? Laptop? Desktop?

I'm always struggling for more HD space - especially on laptops. I've been opting for external HDs, rather than upgrading the laptop. Usually less expensive, plus portable from one machine to another. Awhile ago, I bought a 500GB LaCie External. I use 400 GB for Time Machine, and the rest for whatever. Obviously, much depends on your current setup and what you want to achieve. I'd suggest supplying more info, and I'm sure you'll get some other recommendations.

More RAM is always a good thing.

MacBook Pro 120 G HD 2.16 GHZ Intel Core Duo
1 G ram
I have an external back up drive but i typically don't use it for day to day room to room stuff

I would suggest a 320 gig HD from a name brand manufacturer (check Amazon or Newegg for reviews) and bump the RAM to 2 gigs. Macsales.com have the best warranty/prices going.

janp,

My MacBook Pro (MacBookPro2,2) got a speed bump from upgrading to a Seagate ST9320421ASG, 320GB 7200RPM. I have worked it hard daily since November 2008.

Dave,

Will janp's machine support more than 2GB? I get fewer out-of-memory crashes since I graded my MBP to 3GB.

Depending on which model of the 2.16 he has, it may support up to 3 gigs. The early model will only do up to 2 gigs. Most folks think the bump is hardly noticeable.

If he isn't in a hurry... 500 gig 2.5" HD's are out there and the prices are starting to drop. I believe they are only 5400 RPM models currently.

500 G ! here are the specs from my Mcbook
MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857D:

Model: MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857D
Revision: KCVB
Serial Number:
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal
Low Power Polling: Yes
Power Off: Yes

That MATSHITADVD-R UJ-857D is a DVD drive, not a hard drive.

I strongly recommend NOT buying a Western Digital drive. Try purchasing a Hitachi drive.

pray tell Chuck why?

Western Digitals have been problem prone lately. I had one fail last year after 6 months. It was replaced under warranty, but I lost part of my iTunes library because of it.

Western Digital hard drives have some setup problems with Macs. If you're willing to risk everything on your hard drive to save a few bucks, go with the WD hard drives. It's not a question of if WD goes ka-boom, but when. Apple never uses them to the best of my knowledge as OEM hardware.



While all hard drive manufacturers have their problems from time-to-time, some have more problems than others. Western Digital, in my limited experience, is one of them.

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies bought IBM's hard drive business about 6 years ago. IBM made good hard drives, and better computer manufacturers tried to use HGST drives before the latest economic downturn hit the computer industry last year.

While HGST has never had the sexiest specs, they're good hard drives.

Unless, of course, you bought a "DeathStar" (DeskStar) drive - a line that had a very high failure rate (and thus the unflattering nickname). Hitachi has made clunkers just like every manufacturer. Seagate has had some bad firmware out as of late (and has shipped replacement drives with the same bad firmware!). Seems like quality control has been sacrificed to get the cheapest product out the door.

Apple has used WD drives in the past (I have several WD drives with Apple logos on them pulled from older systems) but I don't recall seeing any in systems lately.

While Chuck M got burned by a Western Digital HD, they all aren't bad. I know many people who still swear by WD drives as some of the best drives available. Apple uses Hard Drives by many Manufacturers: Toshiba, Hitachi, Seagate, Maxtor and WD. Every HD out there will fail... just a fact of life. When is the million dollar question.

Do your research... weigh the reviews with a grain of salt... you shouldn't judge an entire brand by one model that has problems.

Geez this is tougher than buying a car!

Who'd you say was going to install your new hard drive? Are you buying a SATA or a PATA?

There's a little bit more information available on cars, actually. Too bad the DMV's don't allow the public access to their registrations year-by-year. That would tell the real story. You can't even begin to that information on hard drives.

People that build hard drive peripherals know the good brands, and they will answer your question if you ask them correctly.

Holy Cow.

Pump the Brakes JanP.

Before you decided you needed a larger hard drive, you bought your computer and did not give a second thought as to who made the hard drive when you purchased it. You trusted Apple and went about your merry way computing.


So, why now are you worrying about that issue. Let me offer these tips as my guide.

1) Buy the same brand as the one in the computer now. If it was good enough for the computer it should be still good enough.

2) Stick with name brands - Seagate, WD, Deskstar, Hitachi ....

3) Backup your hard drive. Let me internet shout. BACKUP YOUR HARD DRIVE!!!!!. No matter what anyone says is the best hard drive, like any mechanical device, it can fail. Even a Rolls Royce can break down on the road. If you have a backup, you can restore and continue.

This is just my 2 cent insight. You can proceed which ever way works best for you. The purpose of a Mac is to use the computer and not re-engineer the device. You want to do that ... go buy a PC.

Enjoy the ride!

Calvin,

Well said.

JanP,

Quit overanalyzing.

Go buy a 320GB or 500GB drive with name as suggested by Calvin, depending on how fast you think you want.

Install it.

Follow Calvin's admonition, "BACKUP!"

Enjoy your machine.

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/...71&prodlist=dealnews

Starting over at this URL, I would get the 320 for internal and a 500 in an external FW/USB case for backup and work drive, partitioning the external into 320 and remainder.

Wow... Thanks. Great Link. YT... Jb.