Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB Sata 8MB Cache 2.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive OEM - Sony Playstation PS3 Compatible

PS3 Slimline Hard Drive replacement

Slimline PS3 Hard Drive froze and began making a clicking noise. I tried reformatting the existing drive a couple of times but it simply kept stopping after 60-70%. So, faced with dealing with Sony I decided to try & replace it myself.
I'd never tried something like this before so wasn't 100% confident but having switched over last night I can vouch for how simple the whole process was, took less than an hour. The physical swop itself took minutes.
Fortunately I didn't have too much on the exisiting drive so wasn't concerned with backups.
The cross thread screws were quite tight so do ensure you use a suitable screwdriver, I ordered the Draper suggested by Amazon when I bought this drive. The only frustration being the screwdriver took several more days to arrive than the Hard Drive. The drive itself arrived very securely packaged, no danger of problems in the post.

- On your memory stick create a folder called PS3 (upper case)
- In the PS3 folder create another folder called UPDATE (upper case)
- Go to the Playstation website
- Download the latest Operating Software (at the time of this review it is v3.50).
- Cut and Paste downloaded file into UPDATE folder
- Put the memory stick safely to one side

- Turn over PS3 and open the small flap on the bottom. Once opened you will see the blue head of a screw. This locks the hard drive in place in the PS3 so unscrew and carefully put the screw somewhere safe. (putting all screws on a piece of sticky tape or piece of paper is sometimes recommended).
- Slide the front panel (under the disc slot, the one with all the features printed on the casing) to the right and it should reveal the existing hard drive.
- Pull down the small wire handle and gently pull the exiting drive out.
- You will notice 4 screws securing the drive to the metal casing. Carefully unscrew them, again safely putting them to one side.
- The drive should now easily come out of the casing and simply replace with your new hard drive. (There shouldn't be any confusion as to which way it goes in as the screws only align to the holes in the casing if correct). Don't over screw.
- Slide the new drive back into the PS3 firmly.
- Pop the plastic cover back on the front.
- Turn over and replace the blue headed screw.

Hardware done - it really is only 5 screws.

- Plug in the PS3 and follow the instructions on screen.
- It will go through a format and a system update from your memory stick (don't worry it will prompt you to plug the stick in when needed).
- You will also need your controller cable to connect controller to PS3.

The product is great and the process was extremely simple.

1 month on the drive is working perfectly still.

I bought this drive to replace the stock 250GB in the new 13" Macbook Pro and have since reverted to the original and sold the Scorpio Blue.

If you do a search on Google you will find a number of issues with this drive and Apple computers. I purchased this hard drive thinking that it would be OK and that they were just being picky; how wrong I was! There are a number of reviews on Amazon for this drive with people saying they work great in the Macbook laptops so I guess this just depends on what level of performance you consider "great". In some computers the lag on this hard drive might be masked by slower components.

Despite setting the Macbook not to power down the hard drive during use, there are noticeable delays if you leave it for 30 seconds or more e.g. when reading a web page. If you then go to scroll down the page, type text or click on something in the dock there is a lag of a second or so while the hard drive spins back up. This also involves a number of irritating clicking noises from the hard drives. Although a couple of seconds doesn't sound too bad, when it's every minute or so it makes simple tasks very frustrating.

So before you purchase one of these drives for use in an Apple Macbook please do a Google search and view the problems that (many!) others are having and decide if you're willing to put up with lacklustre performance in your new hard drive.

Well, it worked fine for two whole hours - nice and quiet - before starting to click and not working at all.

Now i know even the best manufacturers occasionally produce duds, and I hope my experience is exceptionable, which is why I'm giving three stars rather than one, but let the record state...