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Level 1

125 points

MACBOOK HD Enclosures !! (Update your Macbook HD)

I have a question about the hd enclosures. Will the original MacBook drive work powered only by the USB connection in an enclosure to be operated as an external USA 2.0 HD?...Do you have any idea what is the power consuption in ma? (500ma, 900ma ??)

Thanks !!!

PS By the way a good place to get them is at www.cooldrives.com

MacBook Intel-Duo 2Ghz/512RAM/60Gb HD , PowerMac G4 MDD Dual 1.25GHz/1.5RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Jul 11, 2006 9:18 AM

29 replies

macthew

Level 3

845 points

Jul 12, 2006 3:40 AM in response to Macky

Hi Macky
I just installed a Seagate Momentus 100GB 2.5" 7200RPM in my Macbook & was surprised to see the temps go up to 72C (normal 60C) but then realised it was caused by , I presume Spotlight, it then settled down to normal temps, 52C when doing nothing, 60C light use & 70C with heavier usage, so the faster drive doesn't seem to make much difference temperature wise.

GwiDan

Level 1

116 points

Jul 12, 2006 4:04 AM in response to macthew

Do you feel any vibration from your drive?

Jul 12, 2006 4:15 AM in response to macthew

Have you noticed any real performance increase with the 7200rpm drive??? How does battery life compare?

I was considering getting that drive - but was also tempted to wait for Seagate to release an sata version of their 160gb drive (it uses parallel something or other ot get more storage and more efficient battery life)....

I guess I need to work out really how many TV shows and how much music i really need on my macbook...

kaidomac

Level 1

55 points

Jul 12, 2006 5:06 AM in response to andrewrchambers

OWC has the 160gb Hitachi drive for $279:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Hitachi/0A28844/

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Jul 12, 2006 5:22 AM in response to Eric Kracinski

whatever

Jul 12, 2006 5:37 AM in response to kaidomac

Ah well spotted... I think i'll wait for a week or so until some reviews of the drive pop up though, all I can find at the moment is release reports and such.

Cheers for mentioning it though.

Jul 12, 2006 1:10 PM in response to Eric Kracinski

I have to agree with Eric.

If you have an external drive with dual interfaces (FW / USB), boot off each one. You'll see a substantial difference in boot times and anything else that's disk intensive. FW is much faster.

IMHO, for most tasks the average user doesn't really see that much difference between the two. USB can handle bursty data xfers, but not substained transfers over a long period of time.

And if you think that's fast, boot off a FW800 drive! I don't have one, but we use them at work. They're fast.

Jul 12, 2006 1:30 PM in response to Macky

Hey Macky,

I found an enclosure at www.cooldrives.com. I think it's the only 2.5" SATA one they carry, about $27 plus shipping, took three days to get to me. It is very simple and works well. It comes with a USB Y-cable in case you need extra power from a spare USB port (AC adapter is optional and extra). I put my stock 60G drive in it and it works well with only the one USB connection. It's very small and portable.

I purchased the WD 120G drive from OWC. Used SuperDuper to clone my OS back and forth from the old drive in the enclosure to the new drive. The WD is very quiet, I can't tell any difference in noise level and/or vibration between this and the factory drive.

Hope this helps,
Alan

Jul 12, 2006 1:51 PM in response to EtherDesigner

If it helps, the exact enclosure is at:

http://cooldrives.stores.yahoo.net/almiposa25in.html

Also, I wanted to mention, I've not seen any difference in temperature or battery life (the WD drive is a 5400 RPM). It doesn't seem to be any different than before. I'm very happy with it, and the extra space is welcome.

Macky Author

Level 1

125 points

Jul 12, 2006 5:36 PM in response to EtherDesigner

Thanks Ether for your reply. I got the same enclosure from USB Gear for a little less than cooldrives. I'm waiting for it tough. But it is good to know I made the right decision. Also good to know that works with only one USB cable. Someone mentioned in the forum that you needed both USBs on the Y cable to make it work.

I thought on getting the WD 120Gb drive for the space, but I ended up getting a good deal on a Hitachi Travelstar 100 Gb 7200 RPM for $10 more than the WD (I'm also waiting for it impatiently). I work with hard core applications and I 'm more concerned about performance than with battery life/space. Anyway you can always connect your new and portable 60Gb USB drive. By the way, your HD upgrade shouldn't make any difference in heat/battery life since it spins at the same rate that the original drive does. But thanks for mentioning it.

MacBook Intel-Duo 2Ghz/512RAM/60Gb HD , PowerMac G4 MDD Dual 1.25GHz/1.5RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Macky Author

Level 1

125 points

Jul 13, 2006 2:02 PM in response to EtherDesigner

Ether: could you please explain to me how did you clone your original drive into the new one? where did you get superduper? does it copy everything? (mail, ical, address book, etc).

Thanks

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Jul 13, 2006 2:07 PM in response to Macky

SuperDuper! can be found at VersionTracker. It clones the drive (or can be used to copy on the directories you tell it to.

Jul 13, 2006 4:22 PM in response to Macky

SuperDuper can be found right HERE.

It copies EVERYTHING - every last bit and byte.

Jul 21, 2006 4:37 PM in response to EtherDesigner

I just reviewed this drive on my website. I absolutely love it and would recommend it to anyone.

White 2.0GHz MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.7) Upgraded 100GB Hard Drive and 2GB RAM

MACBOOK HD Enclosures !! (Update your Macbook HD)