2009 15" MacBook Pro Hard Drive Issues

Hey everyone,
I'm having some trouble with my mid 09' 15" MacBook Pro, 2.53 GHz, 8GB RAM, 250GB Hard Drive running 10.7.2. Recently, my hard drive failed and I have AppleCare so it was replaced for free. The computer came with a 250GB drive which means it had to be replaced with a 250GB drive from Apple.
I work for an Authorized Apple Reseller (privately owned - not corporately owned apple store) and they can complete machine repairs here and they ordered/replaced the apple drive for me.
Here is my issue: I am a film/video production student and as a result I do a lot of video editing/web design. My 250GB hard drive is no match for working with a lot of HD quality video, it's a space hog! I'm very technically savvy and an replace RAM and hard drives in machines myself since I work for an Authorized Apple Reseller. I've purchased internal 500GB drives to replace my 250GB drive so I can have more space to store/work with video.
My machine can't seem to read or work with any 500GB internal drive I purchase and install. I've used 2 different Western Digital 500GB 5400 RPM drives, a Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM drive and even a Hitachi 500GB 7200 RPM drive. I've used Carbon Copy Cloaner to copy my information from current 250GB drive to the new 500GB drives and they will boot but they run like crap! They will work....I attempt to open an application and i get the rainbow spinning wheel of death and the machine will then freeze for 5 minutes. I can use it again for 30 seconds after which it freezes again for another couple minutes and this just goes on and on.
I've also tried installing Snow Leopard fresh onto the drive and manually moving my content over via an external drive or something. Same result! I couldn't even install Snow Leopard completely without the install failing.
None of the service techs at my work can answer my problems, they've never seen it before. AppleCare was no help on the phone. Also, my machine passes all of Apple's service diagnostics.
Can anyone think of anything else I haven't done to help me?! I would really appreciate it!
Thanks guys!!

Have you replaced the SATA cable to the hard drive?
Can I suggest you consider external storage for your video production?
No matter how big a drive you install in your MacBook Pro it will quickly fill up.
There are a number of external drives available specifically built for video editing.

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