Upgrading Mid-2009 MBP HD, best choice

No, Hitachi/Toshiba is the best choice in 2.5" class. Nearly all the HD-philes agree on this point.

(which is unusual, since you usually cant get any majority conclusion on anything in electronics) 😊

There are currently only 3 HD manufacturers, WD, Seagate, and Hitachi/Toshiba (recently acquired by WD).

All personal conjecture aside, Hitachi/Toshiba are the best 2.5" HD, same used by Apple inside the Macbook Pro

..... also those running literally 1000s of HD in server farms agree on this.

That being said, WD are not recommended as an internal HD for a Mac.

Most reliable 2.5" class HD are HItachi/Toshiba (same as used by Apple in the macbook Pro).

MUCH empirical data (and my own as well) says that Western Digital are the worst

While Seagate makes excellent 3.5" HD, their current 2.5" class HD dont fare as well in testing.

These are the same HD used in current Macbook Pro, theyre made by Hitachi, marked Toshiba however

MQ01ABD 1 TB 2.5" Internal Hard Drive

http://www.amazon.com/MQ01ABD-2-5-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B0077CV2RO/ref=sr_1_1?i e=UTF8&qid=1377897424&sr=8-1&keywords=toshiba+5400+1tb+2.5%22

what "efficiency" would that be?

Current MBP use 5400RPM over 7200 mostly due to,not costs, but 5400 spindle speed uses less power for spinup and creates less heat.

Which paired with laptop battery life/charge is important,... especially considering speeds are barely noticeable except on huge file transfers, on the 7200RPM

there is a power variance on HD in general causing external HD via USB sometimes not getting enough juice for spinup speed/operation.

Nothing you have to worry about on throwing in an internal HD replacement of modern mfg.

fastest would obviously be a SSD, however I question that as optimal choice for a 2009. If money is no object go for it.

Best price on a 750gig or 1tb HD however would be Ebay, buy from a reputable dealer of HD who has 1000s of feedbacks at 100%

make sure they arent marked "refurbished" HD, lots on there like that.

You should be able to get a Hitachi or Toshiba (same thing) 1tb on ebay for around $55 or so with free shipping.

** I take that back, I just looked on ebay, same price as Amazon for the 1tb Toshiba 2.5" 5400rpm 😊

it says its out of stock, and the price is over double that of the Toshiba

Hitachi makes the HD for Toshiba in 2.5", so youre getting the same thing but paying half the price in Toshiba.

If you want that Hitachi travelstar, here it is on ebay for $69 by a reputable seller:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HGST-Travelstar-5K1000-0J22413-1TB-SATA-2-5-Laptop-Hard- Drive-HTS541010A9E680-/251275236853?pt=US_Internal_Hard_Disk_Drives&hash=item3a8 12bd5f5

I know this sellers reputation, however his prices are higher:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hitachi-Travelstar-7K1000-1TB-7200rpm-SATA3-2-5-Hard-Dri ve-HTS721010A9E630-9-5m-/370789354623?pt=US_Internal_Hard_Disk_Drives&hash=item5 654c48c7f

thats a 7k1000 you posted, 7200rpm. You want 5400rpm due to lower power consumption from spindle speedup and less heat (negligible).

WD acquired Hitachi yes, however hitachi quality still remains autonomously unique. Of what little HD-philes can agree on, that Hitachi/Toshiba as the best is one of them.

WD has quality issues in consumer level HD i wont get into here, additionally sms sensor conflicts (sudden motion sensor).

There are currently only 3 HD manufacturers, WD, Seagate, and Hitachi/Toshiba (recently acquired by WD).

however Hitachi was forced to spin off its 3.5" HD to Toshiba (complicated, I know) to break up an international "hard drive monopoly"

Toshiba HD 2.5" made by Hitachi

Toshiba HD 3.5" made by Hitachi, but now owned by Toshiba, but still marked Hitachi (confused yet?) 😁

you dont need to worry about heat from the HD no, I shouldnt have mentioned it, its next to nill.

On your older macbook, the only place youll notice faster speeds is on large file transfers, however the cost between the two is negligible.

this link you posted looks good, only only 6$ more than ebay but with amazon youve got a great guarantee, so go for it>

http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Travelstar-2-5-Inch-Internal-0S03508/dp/B008EC4O76/re f=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377923606&sr=1-5&keywords=Travelstar+5K1000

thumbs up. Remember to always backup your data. 2 copies is 1, and one is none 😊