From what you describe, it sounds eerily like it. If the hard drive doesn't spin, the system will freeze. If there is some kind of mechanical problem with the hard drive, then that could prevent it from spinning. If the hard drive is not spinning due to a mechanical failure, then the hard drive needs replacing.
Macs don't use any different hard drives than Windows computers use -- a hard drive is a hard drive. Apple doesn't make their own hard drives. Neither does Microsoft. Seagate, Western Digital, IBM, Hitachi, and Toshiba all manufacture hard drives, and each of those have been used in both Windows and Mac computers.
Your single experience with a single failed hard drive on a single Macintosh computer speaks nothing as to the reliability of Macs vs. Windows computers. It is a single, isolated incident. If you were struck by a meteor, would you assume that EVERYone has been struck by a meteor, or that your personal experience of being struck by a meteor makes being struck by meteors a common thing? Now, if you owned
three Mac computers and
all three had their hard drives fail, you may be onto disproving the "Macs are more reliable than PCs" saying... but so far, you got nothin'.
EVERY hard drive will fail. There isn't a hard drive on this earth that will last forever. The only question is: when will the hard drive inevitably fail? Sooner? Later? Either way, a good backup is your only protection -- and a good backup system goes without saying and should be common knowledge at this point. If you do not have a backup system -- even the simplest of ones, like burning your important documents to a CD/DVD every so often or copying the project you're working on to an external hard drive -- then you are gambling with your data, and, some may say, deserving of the data loss that a failed hard drive incurs. You don't trust your life in a car to the airbags alone -- you also wear a seatbelt, each and every time you drive. You shouldn't trust your data to exist in a single place on a volatile, mechanically complex and delicate hard drive, either.
Hard drives are relatively inexpensive. They can be found everywhere: amazon.com, newegg.com, tigerdirect.com, ebay.com, target.com, walmart.com, costco.com, samsclub.com, etc. There are a couple different kinds of hard drives out there: laptop hard drives vs. desktop hard drives. Internal hard drives vs. external hard drives. Drives that connect via EIDE interfaces vs. drives that connect via SATA interfaces. USB hard drives. Firewire hard drives. eSATA hard drives.
You need an internal, SATA laptop (2.5") hard drive. Some MacBooks are easy to replace the hard drives in. Others are not. Without knowing which specific model you have, it would be tough to recommend you doing it yourself or taking it to a professional.
