[kieran]

I gave my old 12" iBook G4 to my girlfriend a while ago.

It's a 1.07ghz G4 with a 30....yes, 30......GB HDD. It works fine for her now because all she does is use iPhoto, email, web, etc... Little stuff.

The only problem is that the HDD is starting to show it's age. Her music is starting to fill up over half of the drive.

I was looking for a replacement drive for her so we can actually do some updates on there. There isn't any room to download updates at this point.

Looking for like a 60-80 GB replacement drives. Nothing too big because we'll probably end up replacing the iBook soon with a desktop or new lappy and keep the iBook around as a spare.

Anyone have any suggestions/recommendations on what I should get? Anything available on Amazon is a plus as I have Prime shipping and the money would go to AN.

Thanks.

[PB PM]

Any 2.5" 80GB IDE drive will do, look for ones on sale to save a few bucks, thats about it.

Here are some on Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...889&name=ATA-6

[PKIDelirium]

The worst part of this is gonna be the irritating, foul-language-generating surgery on the iBook, not finding a new drive.

Those things are a pain in the ass to operate on. Fortunately I've never had to open mine.

[Dorian Gray]

Originally Posted by PKIDelirium The worst part of this is gonna be the irritating, foul-language-generating surgery on the iBook, not finding a new drive. Those things are a pain in the ass to operate on. Fortunately I've never had to open mine.

Indeed. It's not a trivial matter to replace the hard disk in an iBook. I'd get a 500 GB LaCie Starck external hard drive (I just got one and it's superb!) and move as many files as possible onto the external drive or the cloud.

[kieran]

Yeah, I know it's going to be a pain in the ass, but I look forward to it.

It'll be a nice little side project. Never opened any of my laptops, and this one is an older one that needs to be upgraded a bit.

[scratt]

No-one has mentioned iFixit here. I assume you know about their guides kieran. But just chucking the name in there in case you don't.

[kieran]

Yeah, I've seen them and looked through a couple, but never actually used it.

Figured this iBook would be a good place to start tinkering with my own computers. I hope to eventually replace the 80GB HDD in my MBA with an SSD, but not for at least another year.

[DMBand0026]

Opening of the iBook won't be the problem, it'll be everything after that. Speaking from experience, that's a phenomenally difficult and time consuming operation that you will not do correctly.

Good luck!

[Kyros]

Originally Posted by DMBand0026 Opening of the iBook won't be the problem, it'll be everything after that. Speaking from experience, that's a phenomenally difficult and time consuming operation that you will not do correctly. Good luck!

Seriously, set aside a whole day for it. It probably won't quite take you that long, but it might, if you are meticulous. Also, I find the best way not to lose screws or put them back in the wrong spot is to put screws from each step on the iFixit guide into a separate container/compartment. That way you can easily just work backwards. My dad has opened my mom's ibook several times (the cables in the hinge kept getting pinched and ruined), and he said the first time he did it it basically took him an entire day. He is meticulous, but he does also know what he's doing when it comes to these kinds of things.

Also, look at potential upgrades that can be done at the same time. I don't know if you plan on upgrading anything else on such an old computer, but better to do it now than having to open it up again, although it does get easier the second time .

[PB PM]

Other than the hard drive, there is nothing to open up an iBook for, the RAM is easily upgraded from under the keyboard.

[remlemasi]

Keiran, be SURE to be very careful and gentle when pulling plugs out of their sockets (I'm speaking about the sockets that are soldered into the board); specifically the plug for the power button. You may inadvertantly pull the socket off! I botched that part when I first opened it up... to say the least, I freaked out. For a few months, I NEVER shut down my iBook, only sleep and restart if necessary (I know... ). If it ever got shut down completely, I needed to open it up a little bit and short the two pins with a flathead to start it up again. Fortunately, I had a friend who helped me solder it back a few months later.

Perhaps you've already had success with it, but if that's not the case, just be weary of pulling the sockets out of the logic board.

Other than that, it should be OK. Just print out the screw guide and put double-sided tape on the boxes and tape them down to keep track of them.

Thankfully, I'm on a unibody MBP now, which, suffice it to say, has ridiculously easy upgradeablity...

[PB PM]

Yup, the new machines are easy, just as long as you don't strip one of the drive mounting screws like I did. I still need to go to the hardware store and get another one, since my drive is currently only mounted with three screws.

[Kyros]

Originally Posted by theelmerguy Keiran, be SURE to be very careful and gentle when pulling plugs out of their sockets (I'm speaking about the sockets that are soldered into the board); specifically the plug for the power button. You may inadvertantly pull the socket off!

I did the same thing to my G4 PB replacing its HD. Luckily I was also able to solder it back.

[remlemasi]

Originally Posted by Kyros I did the same thing to my G4 PB replacing its HD. Luckily I was also able to solder it back.

Haha. Did you do it right away or ever have to short it with a flathead (or any other metal object for that matter) to turn it on? Looking back, it was a pretty ridiculous way to turn your computer on...

Originally Posted by PB PM Yup, the new machines are easy, just as long as you don't strip one of the drive mounting screws like I did. I still need to go to the hardware store and get another one, since my drive is currently only mounted with three screws.

... and I thought there was no way to muck it up.

[PB PM]

I used the wrong hex head screw driver on the first one, what can I say.

[Kyros]

Originally Posted by theelmerguy Haha. Did you do it right away or ever have to short it with a flathead (or any other metal object for that matter) to turn it on? Looking back, it was a pretty ridiculous way to turn your computer on...

I fixed it right away, and I kind of expected it actually, since it was already half torn off from me opening my computer out of curiosity when I was bored waiting for it to dry after spilling tea on it. Yeah, this powerbook has been through a lot. It has dents all over the place from dropping it multiple times and I once spilled almost an entire can of soda on it. It was so bad that you could tell there was liquid behind the screen for about a week. I don't think I'm going to buy another computer until this one actually breaks, which will probably be never based on its track record so far.