Will any Serial ATA-150 hard drive work in a Macbook?

[Stampyhead]

I'm looking to replace the old 60GB hard drive in my Macbook with a 160GB, but I'm a bit ignorant, unfortunately, on what the Macbook requires. I found an MCE brand HD at Macmall for $145, but NewEgg has a Samsung for $99. They both say Serial ATA 150, so does that mean that the Samsung would work as well? Any help in this area would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Mundy]

Both of those drives will work. However, I've never heard of "MCE" (it's probably a rebranded drive) and the price isn't a good one. If it was between these two, I'd get the Samsung.

Seagate, Hitachi, and Western Digital also make good notebook drives. Virtually any 2.5" SATA-150 (or SATA-300) drive will be compatible with a MacBook or MacBook Pro. I'm running a 250GB Western Digital 2.5" SATA-150 drive in my MacBook as I type this.

 

[Stampyhead]

Both of those drives will work. However, I've never heard of "MCE" (it's probably a rebranded drive) and the price isn't a good one. If it was between these two, I'd get the Samsung.

Seagate, Hitachi, and Western Digital also make good notebook drives. Virtually any 2.5" SATA-150 (or SATA-300) drive will be compatible with a MacBook or MacBook Pro. I'm running a 250GB Western Digital 2.5" SATA-150 drive in my MacBook as I type this.

Thanks for the info. How do you like the Western Digital drive? I'm looking at both those and Hitachi's right now on NewEgg, and the Hitachi seems to be getting better reviews. How has your experience been with it so far?

 

[TheStu]

Basically you are looking for a SATA 2.5" hard drive that is 9.5mm tall. Most all of the SATA 2.5" hard drives are 9.5mm tall, so that isn't too big of an issue. And you don't have to worry about the difference between SATA150, SATA2, SATA3GB/s and all that since they all use the same connector and although I cannot promise that it will work in the MacBook due to any number of possible complications, I can say with greater than 99% certainty that it should work just fine.

What I would recommend is that you get yourself a SATA external enclosure (2.5" preferably) to put the new drive into. Then, download and run Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your old hard drive onto the new hard drive (make sure it is bootable) then just pull the old drive out of the MacBook, and put the new drive in... it is so easy, and the software is free.

 

[Mundy]

Thanks for the info. How do you like the Western Digital drive? I'm looking at both those and Hitachi's right now on NewEgg, and the Hitachi seems to be getting better reviews. How has your experience been with it so far?

It's great. I've been using it for about five months with no issues whatsoever. It is virtually silent, and the sustained read/write speeds resemble 7200rpm drives more than 5400rpm drives. I'm sure there are problem drives out there, but mine isn't one of them.

 

[Stampyhead]

Basically you are looking for a SATA 2.5" hard drive that is 9.5mm tall. Most all of the SATA 2.5" hard drives are 9.5mm tall, so that isn't too big of an issue. And you don't have to worry about the difference between SATA150, SATA2, SATA3GB/s and all that since they all use the same connector and although I cannot promise that it will work in the MacBook due to any number of possible complications, I can say with greater than 99% certainty that it should work just fine.

What I would recommend is that you get yourself a SATA external enclosure (2.5" preferably) to put the new drive into. Then, download and run Carbon Copy Cloner to copy your old hard drive onto the new hard drive (make sure it is bootable) then just pull the old drive out of the MacBook, and put the new drive in... it is so easy, and the software is free.

It's great. I've been using it for about five months with no issues whatsoever. It is virtually silent, and the sustained read/write speeds resemble 7200rpm drives more than 5400rpm drives. I'm sure there are problem drives out there, but mine isn't one of them.

Cool. Thanks to both of you for your assistance. I think I'm going to get that same WD drive you have, Mundy, since you gave it such a good review. I'll probably wait until Leopard gets here and then install them both together.