My HDD on my Black Macbook is busted. Any brand would you recommend that is less than 5k? I rarely use this notebook. So, a 250 GB or a 320GB would do.
You can get a 320GB Seagate or WD for less than 5K. Curiously, you can get an 320 GB Ovation external HDD (which contains a Seagate 320GB) for less than what you would spend for a bare drive. Well, I guess the warranty's out although I read in another thread that the vendor swapped out the HDD from the MB and the external enclosure and still honored the warranty.
I've had some friends have problems with some Seagate drives. Mind you, they've performed excellently for me but there are some batches that have problems. Just get from a seller like Abacus who is willing to swap them in case you have issues. 320GB drives should be around 3K in price nowadays.
Go for a Seagate Momentus 7200 RPM 320 GB drive for about 3.9K. Seagate and WD are both reliable, but you can always get some bad apples. Always use Time Machine to backup to an external drive.
Hard drives are a hit and miss.... I've tried almost every brand and the real thing to consider is the warranty from the place you bought it from... ask how long will they honor direct replacement (without having to wait from the manufacturer) and how long the manufacturers warranty and their replacement terms as well...
