If you're the kind of power user who could use an extra internal hard drive in your laptop, then you'll be thrilled to hear about the new OptiBay from MCE Technologies. The OptiBay allows you to replace the optical drive in your PowerBook or MacBook with an additional internal hard drive of your choosing.
There was a time in the not-too-distant past (well, eons in Internet time) when Apple's PowerBooks had an expansion bay that could accommodate an extra battery, optical drive, Zip drive, and even an extra hard drive. But starting with the PowerBook G4, all of Apple's notebooks only supported one internal drive. If you can live without an internal optical drive—heck, MacBook Air users do it all the time—MCE's OptiBay lets you install practically any 2.5" hard drive in the space it's currently occupying inside your laptop's casing.
MCE will sell you an OptiBay already stuffed with a 250GB, 320GB or 500GB 5400 RPM drive, or a speedy 320GB 7200 RPM drive. Or you can opt for just an OptiBay enclosure and fill it with whatever 2.5" hard drive your heart desires. It connects to your laptop's motherboard via ATA—or SATA on the latest MacBooks—and shows up as any other standard drive. You can use it with Boot Camp, Time Machine, or even set it up in a RAID configuration. Imagine a high-speed striped RAID for doing remote video work, for instance. Or imagine having two 500GB drives installed for 1TB of storage packed inside your MacBook. The options are practically limitless.
But don't think that your optical drive will be ignored. MCE has an option for an external USB case for your optical drive—or in the case of the 9.5mm SuperDrives used in MacBooks and 15" MacBook Pros, which no external case is available, a complete external 18x dual-layer SuperDrive. The OptiBay is user installable, though MCE will happily do all the work for an additional charge for those that think the definition of "user-installable" is just a tad too braod. For 12" PowerBooks, however, MCE recommends professional installation—if you've ever tried taking apart a 12" PowerBook, you know this is wise advice.
Prices range from $199-399 for the Optibay with a drive, or $99-$129 for a bare enclosure. Installation and external optical drive options are extra.
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