500GB 7200rpm Hard Drive... Will it fit and will it work?

Seagate's Momentus drives tend to be compatible with MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

I have an early 2006 MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.0GHz. I had no problem putting the new Seagate Momentus 500GB SATA 7200rpm into it--it fit perfectly. There have been no operating issues.

eyedeeuk:

The drive is a standard 2.5" SATA HDD for laptops. The only thing different is the 7200 rpm rotational speed. Earlier drives of the same capacity are 5400 rpm. In terms of how well it works, since the drive is relatively new I have not seen much feedback about it. Seagate has a good reputation and an even better warranty.

😉 cornelius

Yes it will fit. The thickness is 9.5, which will fit the 15" MBP. There is one 500 GB (I forget the brand, maybe Samsung?) that is 12.5 thick, and it will only fit in the 17" MBP.

There was a recent discussion on the sudden motion sensor you might like to review. Apparently there can be a problem if you get the drive with its own sudden motion sensor:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1901090&tstart=0

Good luck!

There are a couple of good Mac OS X cloning programs:

http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html

I believe you can download both of these for free. I know that you can run Super Duper as many times as you want for free, and then register it for $27 to unlock some of its other features like Smart Update. I am less familiar with CCC, but I believe you can make a donation if you like it.

If you have an external enclosure, the thing to do is to put the new drive in the external enclosure. You can then follow Kappy's instructions for extended hard drive preparation:

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1885474&tstart=60

What you want to do is to partition the new drive into however many partitions you want to end up with and sized the way you want them. With Leopard, you can resize the partitions or add or subtract them later if you like. You can use Super Duper or CCC to make an exact copy of the OS X partition. I don't run Windows myself, so I don't know how to clone that partition, but I expect it might use a different utility. Ditto with the "Other" partition, depending on what is in it.

After you do that, you can boot up from the external drive and be sure everything is working. You can go to System Preferences>Startup Disk and select which volume you want to start from. A firewire enclosure would be faster, but I believe that a USB enclosure will work.

Once you have established that you can boot from the external and it is set up exactly like you want, you can then install it in your Mac.

For the drive in your Mac, if you want to add a partition, you just go to Disk Utility and select the drive by manufacturer's name and go to the Partition tab. You then click on the "+" at the bottom and you instantly get another partition. You can drag the center bar up or down to size the partitions. If you want to keep the new partition, you can then click "Apply" at the bottom right. If you don't, then click on "Revert". So it is very simple to add, subtract, or adjust partitions in Leopard.

As to the 7200 vs. the 5400, I don't know.

Good luck!

Message was edited by: S.U.

eyedeeuk wrote:
Also, I've been told that my Dual Core 2.16ghz 15" MacBook Pro is only Sata 1 compliant. If that's true, is there any point in buying a Sata 2 7200 drive which would theoretically only run at Sata 1 5400rpm speed anyway?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks again.

SATA I and SATA II are misnomers; the real terms are SATA 1.5Gb/s and SATA 3Gb/s, while less exciting sounding, more accurately represents what the difference actually means. SATA 3Gb/s provides a larger pipe through which data can be transferred, but rotation speed (5400RPM vs. 7200 RPM) is unaffected. The so-called pipe is responsible for overall throughput, while the rotation speed affects seek times.

You can install a SATA 1.5Gb/s drive into a SATA 3Gb/s bus, and vice versa. In either case, the drive and bus will both operate at the lowest common denominator.

I am going to buy exactly the same drive. I read good comments about it everywhere. By the way whats the bus in the original macbook pro? I think it s 1,5G/s right?
To answer to th original poster. CCC is great for duplicating his partition and drive genious (which is a little expensive, but a nice utility) lets you change the size and/or number of partitions on the fly without having to format.

Mine is 1.5 GB.

3Gbs drives are going to be newer and therefore have better technology. Are you sure the factory drive you have has a motion sensor built in? I'm betting it doesn't. The OS has the sensor and you don't want a drive with a sensor built in.

In fact, if you want anything with 500GB you have to buy 3Gbs. I believe the fastest 1.5Gbs drives are 320GB 5400 RPM and not any cheaper than the equivalent 3Gbs drives. If you want a 7200 RPM 500GB HDD you don't have any choices as there is only one out right now and it is hard to get a hold of:

[Seagate 7k500|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148374] $139.99 at Newegg but out of stock

My recommendation: [Hitachi 7k320|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145228] $59.98 after $20 rebate

[Hitachi 5k320|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145228] $64.99 after $10 rebate so the 7k320 is priced better

[Seagate 5k500|http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148371] $99.99

I'm not entirely sure this is it, but if you look in the System Profiler under Software>Extensions, you might see "SMCMotionSensor". I am guessing that this has to do with the sudden motion sensor, as I see nothing on the profile of the drive itself. One way you could probably find out for sure is to call the manufacturer of your original drive and give them the model number and ask.

Seagate mentions "optional G force protection", which seems to imply you can order a drive with or without it. I think that is their name for sudden motion sensor.

Good luck!