[iBook] Performance improvement with 7200rpm hard drive

[Ben Chong]

I finally went ahead and had the upgrade done on two 12" ibooks, a  
1.2GHz(768MB RAM) and my 1.33GHz(1.5GB RAM).

The 1.2GHz got fitted with a 60GB 5400rpm Seagate Momentus that I had  
laying around. The 1.33GHz got a new 100GB 7200rpm Hitachi.

Perceived performance is a little improved. Both notebooks take about  
42 second to boot to the login dialog.

My biggest beef with my 1.33GHz was that after I logged in, it took a  
while for it to be useable since I usually launch iCal, Mail and  
Safari at the same time...

With the new hard disk, the wait and the spinning wheel is a lot less  
and I am waiting less before I can start doing stuff. Applications  
also appear to launch faster. If you have a lot of mail in a Mail  
folder (e.g. my junk mail folder), clicking on that folder will bring  
up the list of emails faster.

Heat doesn't seem to be a problem. I have been online for the past  
hour in bed with the ibook on my lap and I don't smell bacon... :-)  
The palm rests are still cool to the touch. I am, of course, running  
with the Better Battery Life mode.

The only downside I have noticed is the higher noise level of the  
7200rpm drive compared to the 5400rpm one on the 1.2GHz.

I've ordered a 12" powerbook on Ebay. When I get it, I'll post a  
comparison of perceived performance between that and my upgraded  
1.33GHz ibook.

BTW, the ibooks were upgraded locally by MacService.

Ben