Is it worth replacing HD?

I have a six and a half year old iMac model 2104 which has been fantastic. After doing some research I think my hard drive is failing.
I'm hearing clicking sounds and get a folder icon with a ? in it when I boot up. To get it to boot up sometimes takes three attempts and inserting my installation disk.
So, my question is, is it worth replacing the HD or should I just buy a new iMac?
Thanks,
Peter

Yes you could, I put a larger HD in my Early 2006 Intel iMac almost 3 years ago and it still work fine for the Grandkids to work and play games on.
see > iMac Intel - iFixit
However if you want or need to keep up to date with both Hardware and Software, then you would be better off buying a new or newer iMac.

Similar Messages

Screen has lines running through it, is it worth replacing screen?

Screen has lines funning through it, is it worth replacing screen on 2009 iMac?

What do you mean by lines running through it? There have been users with vertical lines, sometimes blue, or yellow, or pink, or combinations. Those have all turned out to be a bad graphics unit chip that the Apple store techs were able to remove and replace without replacing the entire logic board.
Take it to an Apple store genius bar and have the techs test and advise on how to resolve this.

My iPhone 4S shuts down when it says it's still got charge... Is it worth replacing the battery

I charged my phone to 100% and the charge went down really quickly. It then turned off at 25% and a few minutes later turned back on if I hold down the two buttons then turned of again at about 15%. I keep turning it back on to get it really low so I could recalibrate the battery and the charge still went down really quickly and this time it turned off at about 9% but then charged it not to full and it turned off at 20%
Is it worth replacing the battery or is there something else making this happen?

If the phone is no longer under warranty, you can get a new battery at a third party like ifixit.com and any tools you might need to replace it.

Is it worth replacing the battery on my 4 year old macbook pro?

I purchased my macbook pro 13 inch basic model summer 2009.
The battery is basically dead so I have to keep it plugged in all the time.
I'm wondering if it is worth replacing the battery this late?
Should I just wait it out until I have to buy a new laptop?
How long does a macbook generally last?
Thanks!

of course - i'm still using my late 08 Macbook Unibody and have no issues.
if your Macbook Pro still works for you - spend the extra $$$ and replace the battery - if you want it to last even longer - upgrade the RAM to 8GB and change the hard drive to SSD.
tolal investment = $50(RAM) $100 - $150 (battery) $100 - $200 (SSD) = $400 Max and you'll end up with a very fast macbook pro.

Worth replacing a hard drive on a 3 year old computer?

I'm using a Powerbook G4 12" with 1.33 GHZ and the original hardware, purchased it back in Fall '03. The past couple of days, it has started to act up - about 60% of the time, it wouldn't even turn on properly, failing to even reach the Apple startup screen. If I did succeed in reaching my desktop, applications would take forever to open or simple stall. Anyhow, I ran disk utility off the install disk and found a minor problem in the volume bitmap, which was promptly fixed. The stalling persisted. So I ran Apple Hardware Test and was given the 2STF/8/3: ata-100 ata-6 mass storage error code. I don't know what that means exactly but gauging from some of the other posts, it looks to be predicting the imminent failure of my hard drive. I'm going to try and take it into the Genius Bar tomorrow but am not hoping for much.
At any rate, the crux of my question is this: if it is my hard drive preparing itself for the great beyond, is it worth buying a replacement hard drive for my 3-year old computer? Or should I just buy a new cheap Macbook? I'm on a student budget at the moment, so I'm trying to figure out which makes the most long-term sense. Last thing I want to do is fork out for a new hard drive only to have something else breakdown. I haven't upgraded my current computer much - I added an airport card and just bought a new battery but that's it.
Any thoughts? Apologies for the long-winded post.
Powerbook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.6)
Powerbook G4 12" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Welcome to Apple Discussions, robtas and johndavi.
From the description it seems most likely that the internal hard drive is failing. Judging by your model of PowerBook, I would not be surprised if the drive is a Toshiba. If so, then you may also hear unusual noises from the drive.
The normal thing to do is backup/retrieve your data (if necessary or feasible) and then replace the drive. A hard drive replacement is not necessarily that expensive. Potentially you might be able to source a suitable drive online from $60 upwards and have that fitted for, maybe, $50. If you are comfortable working with a computer's innards then online structions are available here.
As for whether you should just buy a MacBook... personally I think, for now, you should just replace the drive unless you have other urgent needs that a MacBook can serve. The MBs may also have teething problems that need sorting out. Replacing the drive will be far cheaper than buying a MB.
15" 1.25GHz/12" 1GHz PBs, 2xPPC Mac minis, 12" iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6) Cube, 2xTAMs, iPods 2G/4G, iPs, AEBS, AX

Screen's Lost Brightness. Worth Replacing?

I've owned my 17" PB for nearly 3 years now, and have been using it for about 6-8 hours daily most days. With the exception of a failed hard drive a year and half ago, replaced under AppleCare, I've had no problems with it. It's still in primo condition and I'd like to keep using it for another year and a half or two. I never travel with it but use it as a desktop unit, from time to time moving it to another room in my home.
But the screen has dimmed in maximum brightness by about 40-50%(as measured with a photographic light meter when compared with a little used 17" PB); I guess that's normal for these screens under heavy use.
While the screen is still easily usable, it's just not as enjoyable as a brighter screen. I can have a new screen installed for about $600. The point is, is it worth doing?
There's always the possibility of parts of my PB failing, and resulting repair costs to consider; after all, it has been used a lot over the past 3 years, but right now, it's still going strong.
For various reasons, I DON'T want to go for a MacBook Pro right now; heat issues, overall quality control issues, the built-in iSight camera which I neither need nor want, for example.
And I really do like my PB....it's plenty fast for my needs(I mostly use it for writing and some photo editing).
I'd like other folks feedback on this matter.
17" Powerbook - 1.5GHz - 1.5GB RAM - Mac OS X (10.4.9)

I wouldn't replace the screen. There are many problems with the last sold panels for the 1,67GHz G4 (check for the issue of vertical lines). If you have bad luck you'll get one of these panels.
In general it's not worth to spend so much money for an old notebook. If I were you I would work with it as long as possible and then buy a new one.

Burning issues - worth replacing?

Recently, I've been getting the error message that says "The device failed to calibrate the laser power level for this media" every time I try to burn a CD. Having checked the forums, I see that reducing burn time (in disk utility? I burn using iTunes - not sure what the differences are between the types of burning) and using different brands will probably help. However, as I used to be able to burn the brand of CDs I'm using just fine and as my computer has been taking much longer than usual to load CDs and DVDs of any sort, I'm wondering if the drive is just worn out. I can tinker with it to fix it, but I'd rather it just work like it used to on its own. I need to go to an apple store tomorrow anyway, and I'm still under extended warranty. Would it be worth my time to take my computer in and try to get the drive replaced?
I really appreciate your input!

To Apple Discussions!
"and I'm still under extended warranty. Would it be worth my time to take my computer in and try to get the drive replaced?"
Of course. That is what a warranty is for. Get your $$$ worth. Besides, you will get an answer faster than waiting for one on a message board.
*A few things to try before you take your computer in for repairs:*
Repair permissions. It is recommended that you should do so anyway after each burning session.
Another help source (if you haven't already done so).
Go to your OS Help Menu. In the search field type cd
Click on all the troubleshooting topics & Support Articles that pertain to your issue.
You can also do the same in Disk Utility. Open same up.
At the bottom left of the window, click on the purple button w/the "?" in the middle.
This will bring up the Help Menu.
===============
Try a different brand. Some superdrives get very picky after a few hundred CD/DVDs.
Make sure the DVDs are not dirty, smudged and/or scratched.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=50448 How to Handle and Clean CD and DVD Discs
Your drive may need cleaning. Cleaning kits can be purchased from any store that sells CD/DVDs.

Is my 40 GB non video IPOD worth replacing battery?

I bought my first Mac when Panther came out. Thus my first Ipod was dated to whenever that is. I have a firewire connection and a charger stand and I spent a whole bunch on peripherals to add photos, do voice recording, etc. I saw in Scott Kelby's Doing Cool Things with your IPOD book, that batteries eventually need replacement. He compares bringing to Apple Store with sending out to two online vendors. I have not yet upgraded to a video IPOD, but have been happy with books on tape and audio notes, music withthis old ipod. Unfortunately, other concerns left it in the charger with my Mac sleeping and Scott tells me Use it or Lose it. I want to replace this battery unless you all tell me it is a dead horse. I am about to buy an IPod touch for myself and a Nano for my student daughter. The granddaughter and son all fight over the Nano they already have . It is the reall slim one. I cannot see on About my Mac what the serial number or model is on this IPOD. Is it sane to replace battery for use by me for listening to books on tape. ??Are these on line replacement places better for older IPODS than Apple store for cost? Any advice appreciated. Out of date in San Diego. PS I spend about 8 hours on laptop surfing or using web sites for tranining (NAPP,Lynda.com). It is awkward to always be attached to laptop. Have it linked to my HDMI TV. Which helps but I have to control stop/pause/play with scroll bar thumb two fingers, etc. Please any help if if is ok to put money into this IPOD.

If it's a 40GB non-video iPod with a color screen, it is an +iPod photo+ (aka +iPod with color display+ ), which is a 4th gen iPod. If it has a monochrome display and a click wheel, it is an earlier 4th gen iPod. If it has a touch wheel and 4 round touch buttons, it is a 3rd gen iPod.
Replacing the battery yourself is not that difficult on any of the above mentioned iPods. The hardest part is opening the case, which is actually not that hard if you do it properly.
You can buy replacement batteries for lest than $10, including the shipping and the plastic tools.
[For example, if the iPod is a 4th gen.|http://cgi.ebay.com/Battery-for-APPLE-Ipod-20GB-20-GB-MP3-Player-4th-Gen-4 GW0QQitemZ400038705242QQcmdZViewItemQQptZOther_MP3_Player_Accessories?hash=item40 0038705242&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&trkparms=72%3A1234%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1% 7C294%3A50]
(I don't know anything about this particular seller.)
There are online guides, such as this one
http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Browse/iPod_Original
and there are probably video guides on YouTube.
Although the battery may be weak and not hold a charge, does the iPod otherwise work properly. If so, it is certainly worth less than $10 to replace the battery. However, if you have to pay more than $60 to get it replaced, then it may not be worth it compared to the price for a new or refurb (on Apple's Special Deals page) iPod.

Battery - is it worth replacing?

Hi, My three-year-old ipod's battery seems to be dying. I am wondering if folks think it is worth it to replace the battery (remember the the ipod is 3-yrs-old) or if I should just wait until it dies completely and buy a new ipod? Basically what I am asking is if I am likely to get enough time out of my ipod with a new battery to make the purchase worth it. How long do these little machines last anyway?

You can get your battery replaced by Apple for about $60. You can also do it yourself (or have a friend do it) for about $30.
Many iPods last for 5 years or more, espeically if well taken care of. Since yours has reached 3 (and has had no problem, I assume), I think it would definitely be worth the money to purchase a new battery for it

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to Mavericks OS. The screen died and it's not worth replacing. How do I remove the hard drive and use a drive sled to access info I need?

I have a late 2008 Macbook Pro last updated to the Mavericks OS. The screen died and I took it into an Apple store and was told replacing the screen and the hardware to repair everything would cost almost as much as buying a new laptop or a cheaper model. I was told that I can use a drive sled to access data I need on my hard drive. How do I remove my hard drive and use a drive sled to get to the information I need? What makes matters more complicated is I need to update my iPhone and my iTunes/App store purchases. How can I accomplish this?
My wife has a late 2008 Macbook Pro as well, which I am assuming I need to run my hard drive. Is there a way to just access just my hard drive without interfering with hers?
I know this is lengthy. Thanks to whoever looks at this and offers advice/instruction.

the device you need is an External enclosure for a 2.5" (laptop form factor) SATA drive.
A USB-interface enclosure will be slow, but is adequate for this task and for re-purposing as a backup drive later. A firewire-interface drive would be faster, but is harder to find, more expensive, and faster than needed for this purpose.
The drive will mount as an "extra" drive on your wife's Macbook, and you can drag and drop whatever you wish. You could create a separate Account for yourself on her computer, and use Migration Assistant or just copy your stuff over to the new account. Then it would not interfere with her files.

Is it worth replacing the MacBook Pro with an iPad Air?

I've been sat in the realms of contemplation for some time now. Since the release of the iPad Air it looks as though it is now possibly a viable option for me to replace my aging MacBook Pro. I essentially only use my laptop for photographs and music. My photo collection is about 11GB in size when they are in their original format outside of iPhoto. (iPhoto bloats it up to 33GB). My music collection is miniscule and we're talking only about 2GB in size, as it's only stuff I have purchased from the iTunes Store, so I know I can listen to this whenever I want to by re-downloading specific albums or tracks with "Purchases in the Cloud." At the moment I think the Macbook Pro is more than I actually need for what I use it for. Things like document creation etc. isn't an issue for me as I've used pages previously on my laptop and my documents are iCloud synced.
For me, I'd be looking at 64GB or 128GB capacity, as I use a Sony NEX-6 DSLR so the files as JPEG are large. I'm not one to keep every single photo I have taken, I'm kind of "minimalist" so out of say 400 photos I'd only keep 100 of the best ones.
I have read that some people have used services such as Dropbox for additional cloud storage, but I'm looking at using a networked hard drive that supports iOS so I can back up my photos to a physical drive at home should anything detrimental happen to the iPad (if I did get one).
I'm curious to hear if anyone has gone down the route of replacing their laptop or even desktop with a high-capacity iPad, and hear how they've got on with it. This is becoming a more frequently asked question after researching the vast spaces of the Internet, but there are no answers specific for my needs!
Message was edited by: C.Moore - Spelling & grammar corrections.

An iPad is a great device, but it's no computer replacement. It lacks the file sharing/structure that comptuers have and the ability to easily get files onto/off it without the internet.
That said, if you still have your desktop and use it for most of the computing work and basically just want a photo viewer, check your e-mail device, then it may work for you.
The networked harddrive will be the hard part. Since the iPad lacks a file manager anything you use on it must have an app so that you can access it. And that app also must be allowed to 'send' your files to another app. So that may be what you really need to research. The ability and ease of using a network drive to do the file sharing you want.

Worth replacing battery?

For about a year now I've been using my Macbook Pro without a battery because it became warped and was making the trackpad unusable (sits right above the battery so the cursor would fly across the screen or get locked into one of the corners or act as if I was clicking continuously). Everything works fine if I don't have the battery in and just have it plugged into the wall.
Went to my oh-so-helpful Apple Store recently (am I the only one who never gets good service there?) and the told me they "don't do batteries anymore" and that I would have to buy it online. I'm not too keen on buying a 150 dollar battery that already didn't last me a single year of use without some kind of idea of whether I'll be able to put a new battery in and not have the same problems. Looking at my current battery, it's definately warped but I'm not sure whether that caused some sort of warping on the Macbook itself (at which point a new battery would do nothing for me).
Has anyone experienced this problem and successfully replaced the battery afterwards? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you, -d

1. I don't know the background on your MBP. But it seems that either you're still under warranty (and can probably get a replacement battery as a part of the warranty) or aren't (for whatever reasons). In the first case, I'd make your way to your local Apple Store to replace your defective battery. In any case, contacting your local Genius will verify the warped battery and its unusability.
2. I've not experienced this issue, but if you aren't under warranty, you have several options. You can continue to use your MBP without the battery. Or your can purchase a new battery. These are widely available on the web, and although the MBP is not officially user replaceable, it can be done in under ten minutes. They're usually considerably less than $150, though I couldn't determine the vintage of your machine from your post.

Is it worth replacing a hard drive on a 2007 IMAC

Just had my 2007 IMAC to the genius bar and found out that I need to replace the hard drive in order to use it at all (i believe I will not be able to recover anything that was on it). sooooooooo......
Should I have the hard drive removed and recycle the computer?
Should I have the hard drive removed and sell it on ebay?
Should I have the hard drive removed and reolaced in order to use it?

Depends on what you can afford. If you need to use it for a little while longer get an external, 7200 rpm, FW 800 hard drive and boot from it till you're ready to get a new iMac. Then the external HD can be used to restore your files to the new Mac and then can be used for a backup drive.
One of these would be a good candidate: Macsales.com - OWC Mercury Elite Pro USB 3.0/2.0, FireWire 800/400 External Hard Drives
OT

Worth replacing/selling or just bin it?

Just having a tidy up and I came across my old ipod touch that died on me.
Self repairing seems to have come along way since when I shoved it in the back of my drawer and I'm basically wondering is there a market for purchasing it or fixing it myself (not worried about the warranty, that expired about 4 years + ago.)
I guess I must have dropped it one day, one day it just stops working and the Apple guy points out a slight dent above the power button and a slight seperation between the glass and metal back. I'm figuring with the dent it's basically worthless/impossible to fix? Perhaps myol' faithful may have a future in spare parts?
Cheers for the reccomendations.

I would say not worth fix a 1G or 2G iPod. There are few app not available that are compatible with those iPods. If you purchase a new one Apple will give you a 10% discount.

Worth replacing my telephone cabling with Cat5?

I shall soon be having Infinity installed in my home office to replace ADSL. My office is in a detached building and I have a 20 metre run of bog standard telephone cable from where the BT cable enters my house to the master socket in my office. Am I likely to see any speed benefit by replacing this with Cat5e cable? My house is approximately 300 metres from the fibre cabinet.
Thanks

Hi Disco
As pippincp mentioned, for the network side of things it's best to go for CAT6 to future proof your network. For your office network you can ask the BT engineer to install the new master socket as the service enters the house. That way you will get the best possible VDSL signal. The modem should be sited there. The HH3 could be sited there also or in your office connected via the CAT6.
Yes, you could also use CAT5/6 for the telephone connection to your office. I wanted to standardise comms in my house so I installed CAT5 for the phone to another room in the house. I already had the cat5 wired up for the phone extension. The BT engineer installing my infinity was very helpful and wired the CAT5 directly into the backplate (user) connection side.
ptan

Is it worth replacing HD?

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for