Powerbook hard drive solutions...?

T

The Madhatter

Registered
My brother has a Pismo Powerbook 300 Mhz and only a 6 GB hard drive. He wants more space, and needs it pretty badly so he can install OS X (although he'll need to get more RAM). His model of Powerbook does not have FireWire on it, only USB and SCSI 2. How do you suggest going about getting a better hard drive? Here are the options we have considered:

1. USB - He has two ports, but it would be so darn slow I would get sick. We hope to not have to resort to USB.

2. Internal hard drive - can you buy internal hard drives that will fit in his model Powerbook? If so, are they expensive, and is it a hassle to install it?

3. FireWire - We could buy a FireWire PC Card (such as an OrangeMicro one) and then an external FireWire hard drive (probably at least 40 GB, they aren't TOO expensive). Would this be fast and feasible? It sounds like the best solution to me...

I figured SCSI 2 would be too cumbersome. If there are any better solutions than the three I came up with, please let me know. He just needs it for more space to store files and stuff, not for video editing or anything. I would tell him to install X on the internal hard drive, and put all the extra stuff on the external HD. Please let me know what you would recommend. Thanks a lot.
 
Originally posted by The Madhatter
2. Internal hard drive - can you buy internal hard drives that will fit in his model Powerbook? If so, are they expensive, and is it a hassle to install it?
Click to expand...

This is your best overall bet:

1) Purchase a new IBM TravelStar 2.5" hard drive from TransInt'l ( http://TransIntl.com/ ) or MegaHaus ( http://www.megahaus.com/ ), as they are both excellent (and cheap) online retail/wholesalers of said drives. Note: you can buy the 20GB, 30GB (both at 4,200 rpm) or 48GB (5,400 rpm -- but pricy) TravelStar. It will take about 10-15 minutes max to open the PowerBook (follow the manual instructions that came with your PowerBook), remove the 6GB drive, and install the new drive. I DID THIS EXACT THING TWICE OVER A ONE YEAR PERIOD ( 6GB --> 20GB then 20GB -->30GB!).

2) [optional] purchase ($115-$120) a new Oxford 911 chipset (fast!) FireWire Hard Drive enclosure for your 6GB drive and now you will have TWO drives -- an internal AND a *BUS POWERED* firewire 6gb drive. Trans Int'l sales these great (and beautiful and reallly small!!) enclosures too. I have several and have NEVER had a single problem with them. They also come with the optional A/C adapter if you decide (why, I don't know) to use a 4-pin firewire cable instead of the 6-pin (powered) firewire cable.

Good luck!
 
I would offer some different advice on the particulars -- Instead of the IBM TravelStar, I would recommend the Fujitsu MHM2200:

http://www.googlegear.com/ggweb/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100080

Why? -- well, the TravelStar has garnered a reputation for SOMETIMES pausing unexpectedly (up to 15-20 seconds, on a regular basis!) in SOME older-model PowerBooks (I can vouch for this directly), and it also MAY die prematurely, with a horrid clicking sound indicating its upcoming demise.

The Fujitsu has no such issues, as far as I can tell / have researched, and its only $103.99 at the above web site.

I agree with your fear of USB -- I think it sucks, and would NEVER consider it for something as important as a hard drive.

Installing the replacement internal drive is not too much of a hassle. There are sure to be several web sites out there with explicit directions (pictures included) if your manual does not bother to help.

Obviously, you'll need to perform a complete backup of all the stuff you care about prior to yanking the 6 Gig. Various methods, but because you don't have FireWire, none of them are very convenient...

But, as you mentioned, you could get a FireWire PC card (I would avoid Orange Micro, personally -- they have a spotty reputation from the news I've read) and then take GadgetLover's advice on the transintl.com external 2.5" FW case (although the power cord sucks -- the prong is way too long and therefore the connection is scary/wobbly). Putting the 6 Gig in that enclosure would then mean you would have the luxury of NOT having to backup prior to installing the new 20 Gig, because the 6 Gig will appear in its entirety on the desktop when attached via FireWire (assuming your OS is new enough to have the FW exensions installed already).

For PC FireWire cards, you have a choice -- either one or two ports: Here's my recommendations -- (a week old, but hopefully still current)

*** 1-port PCMCIA card --

http://www.cc-inc.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?DPNo=963656

KeySpan Serial adapter/CardBus/plug-in module/IEEE 1394 Firewire/IEEE 1394
$43.99

*** 2-port PCMCIA card --

http://www.pagecomputer.com/cgi-bin/prodinfo?cd=04&pn=MG200016

MACALLY DUAL PORT FIREWIRE CARDBUS FOR G3 POWERBOOKS
$70.45


Hope you get all the right stuff you need, and feel free to post back here if there's more questions/problems.

happy holidaze!

-S
 
Originally posted by macsolu
I would offer some different advice on the particulars -- Instead of the IBM TravelStar, I would recommend the Fujitsu MHM2200:

Why? -- well, the TravelStar has garnered a reputation for SOMETIMES pausing unexpectedly (up to 15-20 seconds, on a regular basis!) in SOME older-model PowerBooks (I can vouch for this directly), and it also MAY die prematurely, with a horrid clicking sound indicating its upcoming demise.

***
But, as you mentioned, you could get a FireWire PC card (I would avoid Orange Micro, personally -- they have a spotty reputation from the news I've read) and then take GadgetLover's advice on the transintl.com external 2.5" FW case (although the power cord sucks -- the prong is way too long and therefore the connection is scary/wobbly). Putting the 6 Gig in that enclosure would then mean you would have the luxury of NOT having to backup prior to installing the new 20 Gig, because the 6 Gig will appear in its entirety on the desktop when attached via FireWire (assuming your OS is new enough to have the FW exensions installed already).
Click to expand...

First, I have several TravelStars and have never had a problem with them. Ironically, three years ago or so I had a Fujitsu drive that died on me after only about a year, so all I can say is to each their own -- I would hardly say that the IBM TravelStar (one of Apple's own PowerBook suppliers) has a "spotty reputation", but whatever.

Second, the power cord on my TransIntl FireWire HD enclosure (911 chipset 2.5" enclosure) works great and is not too long -- so your problem may be unique. Second, a power cord is NOT even necessary as the enclosure is BUS POWERED via the 6-pin FireWire cable.

In any event, whichever drive you decide to buy, I would definately suggest going this route. I, and many others, have done so with absolute success.
 
i'll add one more thing about size of any hd. you said "at least 40gb". i say not more than 40 gb. several reasons for this i have discovered. you might notice i have an 75gb maxtor (said 80gb on the box) and while it holds lots of data it can be a pain when things go wrong. or even for regular maintainence. little things like searching take awhile. booting after a forced shutdown or power outage takes forever while disk first aid checks and repairs the disk. running almost any repair & diagnostic program can take from 3 hrs to 24+. defragmentation and optimization is well over a 24 hour operation.
then there's the other side of things going wrong - where do you back up that much data so that you don't have to freak when the drive is no longer being recognized? and what if you did lose that much data in one place, what would the consequences be for you? there are ways around this of course but none of them are cheap.
so bigger isn't always better. better to get one that fits your needs and leaves you 5-10gb extra to play with. you can always add another one later via firewire. you will appreciate that optionn the first time something does go wrong.:)
 
OK, so I'm probably quibbling here, but GadgetLover did NOT read my reply too closely -- I gave the "spotty reputation" label to the Orange Micro FireWire PC card, NOT the TravelStar drive. And I was, I think, careful enough to insert the qualifiers of "SOME" and "MAY" to my warnings about the performance & reliability of those IBM 2.5" drives. So, yes, to each his own -- I'm offering my direct experiences with several newly-purchased TravelStar and Fujitsu drives, and their subsequent behavior in several PowerBook G3 models. You can even note that a programmer released a utility SPECIFICALLY to fix the TravelStar (and selected other manufacturers...) drive's propensity to randomly "auto-park" the read/write heads:

http://www01.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/gb3/eijim/index-E.html

I believe there was a thread on Macintouch not too long ago about this.

As far as the too-long length of the prong (NOT the cable) for the power cord to supply external power to the 2.5" drive enclosure sold by Transintl.com, I have only worked with one unit so far, and thus cannot say if it was a singular flaw.

I wish you "absolute success", but, thanks to the vagaries of hardware with its occasional sloppy design/quality control, make sure to keep all your paperwork!

-S
 
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