Is 750GB too much for Macbook Pro 13 inch (2010) to handle?

Question

Level 1

0 points

Is 750GB too much for Macbook Pro 13 inch (2010) to handle?

Hi there, i am planning to upgrade my stock macbook pro 2010 (13 inch) hard drive into a larger one, i am looking at either the:

Western Digital Scorpio Blue 750GB (9.5mm) or the
WD Scorpio blue 500GB (9.5mm)

i have done my research and from googling and browsing the forums i have seen a lot of people claiming they have problems with 750GB WD hard drives making clicky noises or even the umbrella randomly appearing , is this true? Is the 750GB (even smaller at 9.5mm) too much for the 13 inch macbook pro to handle? or is it working just fine?

i really want the 750GB drive but if its gonna cause problems i would probably go for the 500GB instead

i chose the 5400 rpm because i want to keep my battery life (7200rpm means shorter battery ?)

Macbook Pro 2010 13 inch, Mac OS X (10.6.6)

Posted on Apr 13, 2011 8:22 AM

Reply

Answer 1

ds store

Level 7

30,725 points

Apr 13, 2011 8:58 AM in response to zilchified

User data is increasing all the time. It's risky work opening a MacBook so it should be done as little as possible. One should get as much storage as one can.

It's true 5,400 RPM drives are better for battery life and 7,200 RPM drives are better for performance.

If your the type that's always in class, then the 5,400 RPM

If your the type that's going from one plug to another most times, then the 7,200 RPM and reap the huge performance gain.

I don't advise SSD drives with confidential information as they are not being erased, despite what software does or says.

Also I advise the higher quality Hitachi drives, also to Disk Utility Erase with Zero option (format HFS+ Journaled) all new hard drives to greatly improve data reliability from potential bad sectors.

Reply

Answer 2

a brody

Level 10

82,941 points

Apr 13, 2011 9:28 AM in response to ds store

I'm not sure if the Hitachi drives are always advisable. Make sure they aren't from the IBM Deskstar lineup. If you can find a drive with a 3 or 5 year warranty, that's a better bet.

Reply

Answer 3

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Apr 13, 2011 9:39 AM in response to zilchified

It is not always true that 7200RPM drives use more power than 5400RPM drives. Look at the manufacturer's power-consumption specs for the drives you are considering. Some current 7200RPM drives use less than half as much power as some current 5400RPM drives; others use substantially more. Most side-by-side comparisons of energy-consumption specs for 7200 vs 5400RPM drives reveal only very small differences.

Whichever you decide to buy, your MBP's display at high brightness levels will consume much more power than the hard drive. Apple says the difference between maximum and minimum display brightness can be three hours of battery life, all other factors being equal.

Reply

Answer 4

zilchified Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 14, 2011 7:34 AM in response to zilchified

thanks for the answer guys

i am also looking for people who have the WD scorpio blue 750 gb installed and see if they have any issues or not? i have done A LOT of researching and i found a lot of ppl talking about clicks, and "the umbrella" after installing the 750GB scorpio blue drive in their system, im just really worried about this

also would the 7200rpm run hotter than the 5400 rpm?

Reply

Answer 5

eww

Level 9

53,028 points

Apr 14, 2011 8:26 AM in response to zilchified

also would the 7200rpm run hotter than the 5400 rpm?

Negligibly, if at all. The hard drive is always one of the coolest components in the machine.

Reply

Answer 6

Mac-Medic

Level 6

17,301 points

Apr 14, 2011 8:44 AM in response to zilchified

I put a 7200 RPM 500GB Seagate Momentus (ST9500420AS) in my last MBP and never had an issue with it. It was fast, ran 24/7 with no noise, ran cool and I didn't notice it using anymore battery power that the stock drive did.

Check out the new remodeled MacOSG website! 24-hour Apple-related news & support.
 MacOSG: An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast  Follow us on Twitter: MacOSG

Reply

Answer 7

zilchified Author

Level 1

0 points

Apr 19, 2011 9:40 AM in response to zilchified

update: I just installed a western digital scorpio blue 750GB (9.5mm) and so far it works PERFECTLY, no noise and no decrease in battery life

despite the reviews saying the 750gb WD scorpio blue is slow, i dont find it so, in fact i find everything snappier than the stock hitachi hard drive that came with the mbp

Reply

Answer 8

Network 23

Level 6

12,333 points

Apr 19, 2011 11:46 AM in response to zilchified

I just put in a Scorpio Black 500GB 7200 and also have not seen any impact on battery life.

All things being equal, faster RPM should mean higher power consumption. But a new drive may include new power efficiencies that cancel that out. And the older the drive you are replacing, the more chance that the new one includes all kinds of refinements for throughput and energy usage that are not reflected in the one number of rotational speed.

Reply