expired applecare... and i wanna upgrade my hdd...DIY??

[aye5882]

hey guys, i have the original 2.0 Ghz core duo 15" mbp. It only came in 80GB HDD, and i was thinking of upgrading to a 120+GB 7200rpm. which brand do you recommend? also, what size HDD is for laptops... 2.5"? and how hard is it to do it myself? since applecare's gone, i just might take the chance if its doable. i did assemble a desktop pc a few years ago so i think i can do it... what do you guys think?

thanks!

 

[vicious7]

I was researching this myself and I'm gonna take a stab at it. There's a lot of DIY how-tos for MBPs and the more I read, the more confident I feel - heck, I tear down and rebuild engines to relax so this shouldn't be too difficult for me.

My MBP is newer than yours, but for your reference, I am looking at Hitachi.

 

[CL191]

You may want to take a look at this guide:
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/MacBook-Pro/85

I never opened up my MBP (yet) but I have opened and repaired a few things on my old toshiba laptop before, while it's not for the faint hearted, it's not overly complicated...the most important part is make sure you keep all your screws in a bowl or something similar!

Also if you fear you may forget which part goes into which part, and have camcorder around, it may be a good idea to video tape yourself taking things apart, sort of like autopsy videos...

 

[Eidorian]

The biggest fear should be getting the case perfectly sealed again. I've taken apart quite a few PowerBook G4s. They're reassembled correctly but the little seam in the front is never quite as tight again.

 

[Whiteapple]

I recommend the Hitachi Travelstar 7K200. It's a 200GB 7200rpm notebook HDD that will fit in your MBP.

It's the best drive available (at the moment).

 

[dibara2003]

Go for it. I've just replaced my hard drive about 2 weeks ago, took me about an hour to do. Just make you you have the time and patience, but it's worth it.

 

[telecomm]

A good set of tools is important too. Make sure to get a screwdriver set that's got more of a snub nose—a set that's too narrow won't get enough bite to loosen the tightest screws.

I had to interrupt PowerBook surgery (when replacing a drive) to get a new set of screwdrivers.

 

[firstrest]

I just upgraded the HDD on my MBP, which was also the 80GB version, with a Western Digital 250GB drive. I used the video from OWC's site and the Apple maintenance manual, which I found online somewhere a while ago. Just make sure you have the right tools on hand and something to place all the different-sized screws in. If you're meticulous and take care, it's very straight-forward.

My computer now runs way faster, virtually silent (far quieter than the original Fujitsu, I think it was) and obviously has vastly greater space. One other thing; I have a year and a half of Applecare remaining. The terms and conditions state that doing a user-upgrade will only void the warranty on any components you damage. Anyone got any practical experience of how Apple handles this? Do they use it as a blanket get-out of any repair?

 

[solvs]

It's not that hard, just be careful with all of those tiny screws and be prepared to lose your warranty if you screw something up.

 

[EvryDayImShufln]

If you have no warranty, go for it. I just put in a 250 gig western digital scorpio, and I'm very satisfied. It's huge in space and faster than my old fujitsu 120 gig.