Macbook Owners: Ever Add Hardrive Space?

Skip Drinkwater

I have the standard Macbook with 75 or so gigs or hardrive space, all but 3 of which as used up on software (this is AFTER I've erased everything I didn't need). I kinda regret not getting the Pro, which came with more gigs, but I was wondering if it's possible to add more, and if it's worth doing (how much, etc)? An external drive is out of the question, because I need the extra room for another software program that takes up about 30 gigs. Couldn't find any info elsewhere, so any help would be appreciated!

DeeRock

I just had to pay $675.00 at the Mac Shop to have a 7200rpm 160GB hard drive installed with 2 extra things of ram and backup. I hated to have to pay that much but I HAD to do it. But now it is top of the line. I did the math and would have basically cost near the same amount to buy it from jump like this. So your answer is YES it can be done.

mannybolone

Damn Dee - that's really expensive but I guess you're also paying for labor. I recently upgraded the HD on my MacBook Pro to a 250 GB model but my campus tech dudes did it for me. I also bought a HD enclosure for my old 80 GB drive and now use it as an external back-up drive.

The actual drive wasn't that expensive. $250 or so?

AlGarth

I have the standard Macbook with 75 or so gigs or hardrive space, all but 3 of which as used up on software (this is AFTER I've erased everything I didn't need). I kinda regret not getting the Pro, which came with more gigs, but I was wondering if it's possible to add more, and if it's worth doing (how much, etc)? An external drive is out of the question, because I need the extra room for another software program that takes up about 30 gigs. Couldn't find any info elsewhere, so any help would be appreciated!

Ummm...I'm curious what program you need to install that takes up 30gb of HD space just sitting there??

I have every program imaginable on my mac and I still have room to breathe. In fact my entire applications folder is only 25gb and includes all the adobe programs, Final cut pro, after effects, flash, dreamweaver, swift 3d, officeX, etc...

I'm just curious what is taking up all your space?

ariel_calmer

I'm just curious what is taking up all your space?

Perhaps music?

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive. Actually the size of my music folder was larger than my entire macbook HD (I moved awhile ago from a powerbook that died).

AlGarth

I'm just curious what is taking up all your space?

Perhaps music?

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive. Actually the size of my music folder was larger than my entire macbook HD (I moved awhile ago from a powerbook that died).

Yes I know music and movies are a huge space hog but my understanding is that he has already excavated his HD of everything that was extra fluff and he still is in need of extra room for more programs.

I am highly suspicious that he is doing something out of the ordinary. In fact I can't even think of any one program that needs 30+ gigs of space.

AlGarth

Also... replacing a HD is not rocket science if you are at all mechanically inclined.

Simply google "replacing hard drive in macbook" for a step by step guide from Apple.

ariel_calmer

Oh right, yeah I'm ready too fast. Yeah 30 gigs is wild for one program.

You should install it yourself. It's not tough, and a replacement 2.5" HD will be pretty cheap from www.newegg.com or wherever. Here are instructions:
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130

Not tough to fill up a 60-gig macbook tho. I'm down to the minimum installs I need for work and minimal distractions and I've got only around 3 gigs to spare, which is scratch disc. 60 gigs isn't what it used to be. OSX install, MS office, CS3, a dozen gigs of in-progress work docs.

Skip Drinkwater

I have the standard Macbook with 75 or so gigs or hardrive space, all but 3 of which as used up on software (this is AFTER I've erased everything I didn't need). I kinda regret not getting the Pro, which came with more gigs, but I was wondering if it's possible to add more, and if it's worth doing (how much, etc)? An external drive is out of the question, because I need the extra room for another software program that takes up about 30 gigs. Couldn't find any info elsewhere, so any help would be appreciated!

Ummm...I'm curious what program you need to install that takes up 30gb of HD space just sitting there??

I have every program imaginable on my mac and I still have room to breathe. In fact my entire applications folder is only 25gb and includes all the adobe programs, Final cut pro, after effects, flash, dreamweaver, swift 3d, officeX, etc...

I'm just curious what is taking up all your space?

I have Logic Pro 7, which takes up about 30 gigs, Kontakt2 Which is another 15 gigs, and an East-West software plug-in which is about another 15 gigs or so. It's not the actual software that takes up all the space, it's the plug-in libraries that come with each program. I qualify for a free upgrade to Kontakt 3, which is about 30 gigs in itself, if I'm not mistaken. So a bigger harddrive would be nice.

Skip Drinkwater

Oh right, yeah I'm ready too fast. Yeah 30 gigs is wild for one program.

You should install it yourself. It's not tough, and a replacement 2.5" HD will be pretty cheap from www.newegg.com or wherever. Here are instructions:
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/130

Not tough to fill up a 60-gig macbook tho. I'm down to the minimum installs I need for work and minimal distractions and I've got only around 3 gigs to spare, which is scratch disc. 60 gigs isn't what it used to be. OSX install, MS office, CS3, a dozen gigs of in-progress work docs.

Thanks for the info. I'm just a bit reluctant to crack open my laptop and perform the surgery myself. I guess it's do-able though.

AlGarth

i would get a g5 tower for stuff that intense.
70gb of space for 3 or 4 programs is ridiculous. There are some things that are better suited for desktop comps. You will find much better performance from 7200
+ rpm hard drives.

Skip Drinkwater

Everything runs fine, but now I'm kicking myself for not springing for the Macbook Pro which comes with almost double the hard drive space.

60 gigs isn't what it used to be.

Tell me about it. When I bought the Macbook, I remeber thinking, "no way I'll ever need more space than that."

Skip Drinkwater

By the way, is there any brand/model internal Hard Drive (for the 13" Macbook specifically), anyone would recommend? Something reliable in the 100-160GB range.

drewnice

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive.

Did you move your "archived" MP3 folders to an external or your actual, active iTunes folder to an external drive? Is that even a good idea? I need to find a solution to free up some space on my hard drive, short of buying another one. All other big files have been moved externally, but what do I do about my massive iTunes folder?

I'm also upgrading to USB 2.0 today because my new (second) external defaults to regular USB on my G4 and it took 12 hours to transfer around 80 GB. NAGL.

Bambouche

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive.

Did you move your "archived" MP3 folders to an external or your actual, active iTunes folder to an external drive? Is that even possible? I need to find a solution to free up some space on my hard drive, short of buying another one. All other big files have been moved externally, but what do I do about my massive iTunes folder?

Thinking about the future (as I already had 2 300Gig internal drives and 2 500Gig externals), I bought the ReadyNas NV+ about 6 months ago.





It has 4 hard drives, 750 gigs each = 3 terabytes storage.
X-Raid, mirrored across the four drives so I will never lose anything, ever...

It's programmed to back up my computer once a day.
It has streaming media capabilities, so you can store all your photos/movies/music there and watch/listen, etc.
I configured a portion of it to be a dedicated ftp terminal, so I can access my home server from anywhere, anytime--or use it like my own personal sendspace if i want to send my friends anything.

Welcome to the secret server...

Aser

you don't really have to crack open your laptop, the new laptop lines all have replaceable drives accessible through the battery compartment. It's ridiculously easy to replace yourself.

Skip Drinkwater

you don't really have to crack open your laptop, the new laptop lines all have replaceable drives accessible through the battery compartment. It's ridiculously easy to replace yourself.

Thanks, seems pretty simple.

is there any brand/model internal Hard Drive (for the 13" Macbook specifically), anyone would recommend? Something reliable in the 100-160GB range.

Can someone help with this?

rain103

Damn Dee - that's really expensive but I guess you're also paying for labor. I recently upgraded the HD on my MacBook Pro to a 250 GB model but my campus tech dudes did it for me. I also bought a HD enclosure for my old 80 GB drive and now use it as an external back-up drive.

The actual drive wasn't that expensive. $250 or so?

same. had connections to a techy that did it for $250 or so.

ariel_calmer

you don't really have to crack open your laptop, the new laptop lines all have replaceable drives accessible through the battery compartment. It's ridiculously easy to replace yourself.

Damn! This is sweet, way better than the powerbooks. I replaced the HD on my powerbook and it was a big pain - lift up the keyboard, shield, unscrew the HD, etc.

Now I'M thinking of upgrading my macbook's 60 gig....

DOR

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive.

Did you move your "archived" MP3 folders to an external or your actual, active iTunes folder to an external drive? Is that even a good idea? I need to find a solution to free up some space on my hard drive, short of buying another one. All other big files have been moved externally, but what do I do about my massive iTunes folder?

I'm also upgrading to USB 2.0 today because my new (second) external defaults to regular USB on my G4 and it took 12 hours to transfer around 80 GB. NAGL.

What laptop do you have?

If you want really fast transfer between ur laptop & ext. drive.

I've got an ext drive with an esata port. You can buy something like

http://www.shopaddonics.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=ADEXC34-2E

and slide that into ur express port and you can get 3.0 Gbit/s transfer rate.
Thats over 6 times faster than USB 2.0

Bambouche

is there any brand/model internal Hard Drive (for the 13" Macbook specifically), anyone would recommend? Something reliable in the 100-160GB range.

Can someone help with this?

Seagate Barracuda.

Hard drive failure is the #1 computer problem. With technology allowing for easier access to video and sound, and computers requiring more and more space, it stands to reason that "you" (anyone using the technology) are more likely to suffer hd failure.

Back that shit up.

Aser

no matter what anyone recommends, there will be someone bitching to high hell about it failing on them. Best bet for hd's, buy something that has a good replacement warranty and back that thang up.

Skip Drinkwater

Thanks!

drewnice

I'm doing fine now I moved my MP3s to an external drive.

Did you move your "archived" MP3 folders to an external or your actual, active iTunes folder to an external drive? Is that even a good idea? I need to find a solution to free up some space on my hard drive, short of buying another one. All other big files have been moved externally, but what do I do about my massive iTunes folder?

I'm also upgrading to USB 2.0 today because my new (second) external defaults to regular USB on my G4 and it took 12 hours to transfer around 80 GB. NAGL.

What laptop do you have?

I have a G4 tower. Update: Just picked up and installed my USB 2.0 card, now my new external is up and running beautifully. I also just moved my entire iTunes folder to the new drive and my internal went from ~2G to 50+G in a couple hours time!

Bambouche

no matter what anyone recommends, there will be someone bitching to high hell about it failing on them. Best bet for hd's, buy something that has a good replacement warranty and back that thang up.

With Seagate, you can write them and say you have a failed drive and they will usually replace it, free, no matter when you got it. I imagine other companies are the same, but I don't know. So few people do it. Mostly just network nerds who know they can get a free drive (buy a new one for the client + send the old one in to the manufacturer for replacement = free gigs, dog)


*pushes glasses up nose* "Heh, heh... yea."

prof_rockwell

you should be careful about doing your own upgrades because I think Applecare goes void if any work is done by any non-apple certified tech.

Brian

you should be careful about doing your own upgrades because I think Applecare goes void if any work is done by any non-apple certified tech.

pretty sure simple things like ram and hard drive installation don't void warranty considering they show you how to do that stuff in the manual and website.