Macbook Pro Upgrade

mshaddix · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134 Location: Auburn, AL

I am thinking of upgrading my 13" Macbook Pro. I plan to upgrade from 2GB to 4GB of ram and also upgrade the 160GB HD to 250GB. I plan to upgrade to a 7200RPM drive. I like the idea of a bit faster HD but my question is: How much will this affect my battery life? I have the built in 7hr battery. (I usually get about 7.5hrs)

Am I losing minutes, or even hours with this upgrade? I am a college student and it is very important to have my laptop with me all day.
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13" 2.26 Macbook Pro
G4 1.5 MacMini
16GB iPhone 3GS
120GB iPod

Fox · Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 2:17 pm Post subject:

I did a similar upgrade to the one you're planning - 4gb RAM and a 320gb 7200rpm drive (Seagate). I don't keep careful track of battery life, but as far as I can tell, there has been minimal, if any effect on it. That's probably because the newer drives are more power-efficient despite the higher rpm's. If there's a particular drive you are thinking of, look up its power consumption stats (from the company or a review), and compare it the same information for your present drive.
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Mini 1: 2.3 ghz Core i5; 8 gb RAM, Corsair 240gb SSD, 500 gb Seagate XT
Mini 2: 2.26 ghz Core 2 duo, 8 gb RAM, 500 gb Seagate
Also a Cube, 13" MacBook Air, 20" 2.66 ghz iMac & 11.6" Acer 1810TZ running Ubuntu, Mint & openSuse

mshaddix · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134 Location: Auburn, AL

I'm pretty sure I will go the crucial.com route for the RAM.
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13" 2.26 Macbook Pro
G4 1.5 MacMini
16GB iPhone 3GS
120GB iPod

iMav · Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 10:09 pm Post subject:

I upgraded my 13" MBP to 8GB of ram and two hdd's (replacing the SuperDrive with a second hard drive)...a 640GB and a 500GB.

I have noticed only minimal battery life impact. And that is with a second hard drive.
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-=iMav=-
http://geekhack.org

mshaddix · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134 Location: Auburn, AL

Question: Can I use the restore discs that came with my mbp to do a fresh install of Snow Leopard on the new HD?

I sold my iMac and with it my Snow Leopard DVD. I really don't want to have to drop another $30 for a new SL disc on top of the cost for the bigger HD.
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13" 2.26 Macbook Pro
G4 1.5 MacMini
16GB iPhone 3GS
120GB iPod

iMav · Posted: Wed Jun 09, 2010 7:16 am Post subject:

mshaddix · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134 Location: Auburn, AL

What is the largest HD you can put in a MBP?

I don't see many HDs over 500GB in the 2.5" form factor.
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13" 2.26 Macbook Pro
G4 1.5 MacMini
16GB iPhone 3GS
120GB iPod

ez061111 · Veteran Member Joined: 29 Mar 2009 Posts: 887

I have a 750 GB WD drive in mine.
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2.0 GHz i7 Mini 8 GB RAM, OWC Merc Extreme SSD & Samsung Spinpoint
2.6 GHz i7 Mini 16 GB RAM, Samsung 830 & Hitachi
15" 2.3 GHz i7 MBP 16 GB RAM, OWC Extreme Pro 6G SSD & WD Black

mshaddix · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2009 Posts: 134 Location: Auburn, AL

I just upgraded to a WD Scorpio Blue 500GB.. Installation was easy as pie and it took about 25mins to reinstall SL.
_________________
13" 2.26 Macbook Pro
G4 1.5 MacMini
16GB iPhone 3GS
120GB iPod

jennie · New Member Joined: 27 Sep 2010 Posts: 1 Location: UK

Instead of upgrading, its better to take new 13 macbook with upgraded version and sell earlier one.


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