iBook G4 Hard Drive...Needs Replaced, Suggestions?

[Scott Baret]

Well, the hard drive is on its last legs in my iBook G4. It makes a clicky-type spinning sound in a rhythmic manner. I'm not willing to shell out the money for Disk Warrior if the drive has a hardware problem and instead wish to invest in a new hard drive. Disk Utility won't repair it, nor will fsck when running in single user mode.

What kind should I get? I'm thinking of going with a 7200 rpm even though it will run hotter only because I want a drive that actually performs, not some underachiever that can't even handle virtual memory (like the one that came with it). I'm looking for brand name and drive type here.

Then comes the fun part...100+ random screws and a lot of PAIN...but it will be worth it...much cheaper than buying a new MacBook. I also figure that if I do get a new machine eventually I'll just take the new drive out of the iBook and make it into an external--so that I can prolong my investment.

 

[Patrickool93]

Is it really 100+ screws? You might want to consider buying the drive and asking the local Apple Store to install it for $30.

 

[bluekatt]

i feel your pain

i have to dismantle maybe not just 1 but 2 ibooks

....urgh

 

[Dan 7.1]

to be honest man i'd go for a larger capacity 5400rpm drive for less money. you won't really see that big of a difference between a 54 and a 72 on that machine.

two i found with a real quick newegg.com search:

120GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache

80GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache

i have almost the exact same 120GB drive in my 1GHz TiBook (its a samsung spinpoint M, but i bought it over a year and a half ago so its probably an older model), and it has been excellent. very quiet, good performance, etc.

 

[Franklinstein]

I recommend Fujitsu, Samsung, WD, or Seagate. Seagate has a 7200RPM model, if you really want to get one. Between 54 and 7200, it won't make a super noticeable impact on speed (unless you do lots and lots of very disk-intensive work like A/V stuff), but it will often subtract at least 15 minutes from your battery life.

Hitachi tends to have high failure rates after about two years, especially if you actually use your computer for things besides email and light web browsing. Toshiba drives are kind of weak, they also tend to unload the drive's heads after five seconds (other drives use ten seconds or so), and it occasionally affects performance when watching compressed movies off of them.

Be sure to choose at least a 5400RPM model, and be 100% sure to choose an ATA drive, not one of the SATA models.

My iBook G4's original Fujitsu drive is still going strong two years later, still quiet and reliable. I replaced the slow Toshiba drive in this iBook 800 with a 5400RPM Samsung Spinpoint not too long ago. Though it's slightly warmer than the old Toshiba, it's almost totally silent (unlike the Toshiba), and its performance is noticeably better.

As for taking the iBooks apart, it's not quite 100 screws, it's closer to 50, though it's still a pain to do such a simple chore. I recommend doing it yourself, though, as I've seen too many iBooks coming from an Apple service program with noticeable cosmetic blemishes or missing/strpped screws.

 

[~tl]

Getting the iBook apart is pretty straight forward if you go slowly and follow the guide on iFixit.com:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/

The screw guide that they provide is particularly useful -- just stick the myriad of screws on to there as you take them out and then you know which is which!

As for which hard disk to choose, I've always been a fan of Seagate drives.

 

[LCGuy]

I'd personally go with Hitachi or Fujitsu, personally.