[jedstheman]

Hi all,
I just ordered a brand new PB from the Apple store; I' m very excited about it!
I'm wondering, however, about the performance difference between the 4200 RPM and 5400 RPM drives. I got the 4200 RPM drive. I'll be using it mostly for web design in PhotoShop and Dreamweaver, and multi-track audio recording. For audio, I have a LaCie FireWire drive where all the audio will live. I probably won't have any audio on the internal drive, except for my iTunes library.
Will the seek time of a 4200 RPM drive cancel out the 1.5 GHz processor?
I recently replaced a 7200 RPM drive with a 5400 RPM drive in a dual 450 MHZ G4 desktop. With the 5400 drive programs loaded noticeably slower than they had with the 7200 drive. Is this an indication of what I can expect with the 4200 RPM in my PB?

[Arne]

Check out Barefeats.
A bit further down on that side you find the comparison between the HDs.
Cheers,
arne

[Praxis]

With a slower hard drive, programs will load into the RAM much slower. HOWEVER, once the program is loaded and running, it will make no difference (unless you are RAM starved).

[Filburt]

Considering 5400 rpm hard disk costs only $50 more, I think it's a must-have-upgrade, more so than 128 MB VRAM. Since you have an external hard disk (which I assume is either 5400 or 7200 rpm), audio and/or video apps should work fine. But be warn that 4200 rpm hard disks are often too slow for multimedia apps such as GarageBand.
Apple should offer 5400 rpm hard disk as a standard feature (sucks when you are buying it from non-Apple store which may offer better price, such as Amazon).

[jedstheman]

Well, I really wish I had posted with this question earlier, I already ordered it, and it should be here tomorrow or the day after.
Yes, my external is a 7200.
Does anyone know how difficult it is to replace a hard drive in a PB? Does it void my warranty? Is this something I can get done at an Apple store?
Thanks

[icu400]

there is an article around here somewhere about it
its not impossible, put pretty tough from what I saw of the article
no idea if it voids the warranty or not, but if that void's the warranty, then so should adding an airport card (but I am sure that doesn't):P

[Praxis]

When you add an airport card, you put it in an empty slot.
When you change the hard drive, you have to disconnect and take out the Apple hard drive, then stick in a non-Apple one. This would be dangerous to the computer and obviously void the warranty.
Not only that, but the slot with the RAM and Airport slots are very easy to get to. In PB's you unscrew a panel, in iBooks you take off the keyboard. The hard drive, on the other hand, requires that you take apart the case, which voids the warranty.