"Mike, Good news: I just finished installing a Hitachi 500gb 2.5 inch hard drive in my 17in Penryn Macbook Pro. I was concerned that it might be a tight fit because the drive is 12.5mm tall, but it actually went in with some room on top to spare. In fact, the clamping bracket on the interior side of the drive actually still sits higher than the drive itself. So it comes nowhere near the palmrest on the left side... This is huge news for those like me who have been waiting for the 500gb Samsung M6 Spinpoint drive, which was supposedly said to be 'shipping' last month (according to Samsung). The M6 is spec'd at 9.5 mm, which should fit all modern laptops. (noted below last week's post - I originally thought the OWC 500GB On the Go kit used the M6, but Jamie wrote it was the Hitachi 5K500, which at 12.5mm high fits in a 17in MBP, but not the 15in (or Mac Mini).-Mike)

I had long since run out of room on my 320gb WD drive, and decided to jump when OWC announced that the 12.5mm drive would fit in the 17in macbook pro only. (Mentioned below Last Thursday's news post on the OWC 500GB On-the-Go portable drive) They were right! I'm glad I got it. It runs very very quiet. I cannot even hear it, but I could hear the WD drive (not that it was loud...just noticeable).
No speed tests yet, b/c I am still migrating my files over.

(I asked if he bought the OWC on-the-go drive for reusing the previous MBP internal drive in the external case, or just bought a bare drive. He later wrote:)
I just bought the bare 500GB drive from OWC. Got it 2 days later with very reasonably priced ground shipping. I tend not to buy the drive in an enclosure because OWC's warranty is only one year then. (Wouldn't the (3yr) HD warranty be covered if a failure happened though? I always thought the 1yr warranty on the ext case models was on the ext. case/bridge board and that the HD inside has its own warranty from the MFR (which OWC has mentioned in past posts on Ext. drives - that the HD inside can have a longer warranty than the case kit alone).-Mike) I already have an SATA OWC FW800 enclosure to use with my old drive. However I just realized that they (OWC) now have a DIY kit with the drive + an enclosure separately for one price, (listed here) but it only comes with USB and eSATA (that I saw) and I prefer to have FW800.

Thanks for the tip on the warranty. (on the MacBook Pro - i.e. upgrading the HD inside should not void the warranty unless they can prove the HD install caused a problem.) Thats good info to know. I always kept the old drive in case I need warranty service so I can throw it back in (The original drive always has an apple logo on it, so I figured you can't fool them!) (I had PB G4s repaired under warranty (FW port failure) without a problem even though I had upgraded the HD inside-Mike)

One additional note: the (new) Penryn 17in MacBook Pro in my opinion is much easier to open up then the 15" MBP (merom). The 17 doesnt have those snapping connectors that can be quite finicky. The top case lifts off quite easily. I always feel like I am bending the top case to disengage those snaps on the 15in.
I think I'm sticking with my hi-res 17 for a while! (BTW: Apple notes the 17in Hi-Res screen has LED backlighting which should help w/battery life - all the 15in are LED backup but with the 17in (to date) they only note an LED backlight if you choose the $100 Hi-Res (1920x1200 res) Option-Mike)

eBay makes it so easy to upgrade to new systems! There's always someone out there who wants a used macbook pro.
Thanks for the follow up!
-Dave"

"Editing plug-ins and SDK for Aperture 2.1 arrive
On the same day that Apple posted the Software Development Kit (SDK) that third-party developers can use to create image editing plug-ins for Aperture 2.1, the first image editing plug-ins from third-party developers have arrived and several others are expected to appear shortly"

"About MacBook Pro EFI Firmware Update 1.5.1
This update fixes several issues to improve the stability of MacBook Pro computers.
After the firmware is successfully applied to your Mac, your Boot ROM Version will be:
MBP21.00A5.B08 or MBP31.0070.B07
(BTW - Same versions as listed for EFI Firmware Update 1.5, which some readers said would not apply to their SR MacBook Pros. I suspect v1.5.1 was released to address that.-Mike)

System Requirements: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, Mac OS X 10.5.2 or later"

They've also posted Firmware Restoration CD 1.7.
FYI - got a reply to this post confirming my assumptions above about the 1.5.1 update:

"The new EFI 1.5.1 update today appears to have fixed the problem, and I was able to apply the update finally. Previously it stated that EFI firmware update 1.5 did not apply to my MBP, which was purchased in early Febuary and had (firmware) MBP31.0070.B05.
Now finally it's up to date with MBP31.0070.B07.
-Dave"

BTW - a reader (Terry) that bought one of the latest (Penryn) MacBook Pros wrote they have a firmware prefix of MBP41.xxxx so this update is not for them. (He noted firmware MBP41.00C1.B03 in his system bought last week.)

"Hi Mike, I was recently in a very serious car accident involving me and my three young daughters. We are all home recovering and while passing the time I thought I would pass on a little note regarding iPhone durability. I know alot of people have had concerns regarding iPhone durability. I am here to tell you that the very iPhone that I am sending this email from was ejected from my vehicle and picked up from the median. (didn't hit the pavement/concrete.)
I was hit in the drivers side by a vehicle traveling approximately 65 mph. Not a scratch on the phone. This is the toughest phone I have ever owned. We are all recovering nicely and since I am bound to a bed, the iPhone has been my link to the outside world...
-David H.
(sent from my incredible iPhone)"

"Hi Mike, One of my absolute favorite OS X VoiP apps has just been updated and now includes video chat like Skype. I wrote an article on my blog about it here. Gizmo5 for Mac OS X
Thanks, Alan"

(from several mails this weekend)
"Subject: Nvidia 8800 GT windows problems
Just wanted to give some quick Nvidia 8800GT feedback from an early Mac Pro User. (1st Gen Mac Pro and recently swapped in the $279 8800GT card. 2008 Mac Pro owners w/8800GT card previously hadn't mentioned any Bootcamp/Windows card recognition/support problems so I assume they have later bootcamp drivers - or there's some difference in the 1st Gen Mac Pro's 8800GT card ID) Windows support so far is non existant in Boot Camp. Although the card works great in OS 10.5.2, Windows XP cannot see the hardware and no driver that I have downloaded anywhere seems to work... not official drivers, bootcamp drivers, or Beta drivers. So, if someone uses bootcamp/windows and switches to this card...Beware...
(he later wrote)
Just wanted to drop you a quick note that I have found a driver that solves the Geforce Windows XP/Mac 8800GT problem I e-mailed you about earlier! Download the latest Nvidia forceware drivers at http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ ... and then install them. Windows XP will see the Nvidia 8800gt card and everything works great!
(Although some sites always post beta/dev/unofficial (or tweaked) Drivers did you try the latest (beta or WHQL) versions at Nvidia's site?)
I used forceware version 174.93 (at link I mentioned) and it worked like a champ. Maybe there is a version at Nvidia's website that will work, but I tried everything that I could find and nothing worked for me.
The problem with the official Nvidia driver off their site is that for some reason it wouldn't recognize the Apple branded Geforce as an official card and the installer would quit! Hopefully their "official" driver will be changed soon to address this!
-Douglas"

When I was into homebrew PC builds here I really liked Nvidia's control panel features (especially after the "Coolbits" registry patch - which enables advanced features including clock speed controls, etc.)
Update - here's some replies from 2008 Mac Pro owners w/8800GT cards that noted they didn't need any beta/Dev drivers:

" Mike, Just a FYI that in BootCamp under Vista 32-bit, the latest Nvidia Forceware drivers work fine and have since I got the card. I can't speak for XP; I run XP under Parallels.
-P"

" I'm using a Late (he means "early") 2008 Mac Pro with Nvidia 8800GT card. I just installed Boot Camp and then Win XP. It went smoothly. As I did the Boot Camp install, after Win, I noticed that it automatically loaded a nvidia driver. Things work super. I presume Apple included the right driver...
Regards, Fred "

I can only assume the 2008 Mac Pros ship with later Bootcamp drivers (or some difference in how the 1st gen's 8800GT is ID'd). But regardless, this is a good reminder that on the windows side Nvidia (and ATI) drivers are updated fairly frequently (sometimes even to address performance/issues for a single game). A different world than what we see on the OS X side (where graphics card driver updates are rare unless part of an OS version update). BTW - although anyone that's used Windows already knows the routine, here's a link to another reply on installing drivers for it under windows in this apple forum thread.

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