Pimped the Macbook to the Max
Tags: TIALIR*I've now upgraded the Macbook to it's limit of pimping. 4gb Ram and 320Gb Hard Disk and apparently that is all that can be done with it.
The disk is a Seagate 5400.5 320Gb disk with an 8Mb Cache. I was keen to go for a 7200 rpm disk with 16mb Cache but (according to CanCom) a 7200rpm disk invalidates the Macbook warranty because the Macbook carcass is largely pastic and not rated for any increase in heat. Interestingly both RAM and HDD are considered by Apple to be user installable parts (not true for the Macbook Pro).
The RAM I bought from crucial.com and the disk I bought from CanCom an Apple Reseller in Cambridge that I bought the Macbook from in the first place. I negotiated the price of the drive down to 77 GBP which is about 15-20 GBP more than the cheapest online price I could find. I justify that (to myself) by hoping that these small businesses will remain in business if we put a percentage of their purchases through them. They are handy for warranty repairs and advice.
I upgraded the RAM a while ago and the disk about 30 minutes ago. I cloned the original disk using Super Duper! with the new disk attached via a 20 GBP enclosure. The cloning took about 3 hours (left it running overnight). Replacing the disk was very easy following Apple's own instructions. And now I've got more room to breathe! Also I can put the VM of my old Dell laptop on the Mac and do a bit more work with bbMetaBlog and install the iPhone SDK and start learning Cocoa.
*That's all there is let it rest
