I've needed a bigger hard drive in my laptop for a long time. Yesterday (via the most excellent dealnews) I found a Western Digital 2.5" 320GB drive for $160 shipped and ordered one immediately.
When it arrives I'll install it in my MacBook Pro using iFixit's illustrated guide and a Torx screwdriver I ordered a few days ago. The procedure isn't for the faint of heart, as shown in the video below, but I've done a lot of this kind of work (I once installed a modem in a PowerBook Duo 250—yikes!) so I'm confident I'm up to the task.
I might go ahead and upgrade the wireless card to 802.11n while I have the case open. Hmm.
Update: I've completed the procedure, and it wasn't as tough as I thought it might be. Copying all of my data onto the new drive took a lot longer than the physical replacement did. BTW, I've updated the iFixit link above to point to their MacBook Pro guide instead of the version for the plain old MacBook.
Top Tip!!
Keep an empty ice cube tray on your desk during surgery. You can pop the screws from each stage into an empty compartment, then just go backwards when it's time to rebuild.
Posted by: Robin | February 25, 2008 at 08:17 AM
Thanks, Robin! Excellent idea.
-c
Posted by: Charlie Wood | February 25, 2008 at 08:23 AM