Recommendation for firewire portable hard drive please

[daktafari]

I would appreciate any recommendations for a reliable portable firewire hard drive. Thank you.

[crazzyeddie]

Depending on what your definition of portable is... I find my 3.5" OWC drive VERY portable. Its barely bigger than a 3.5" drive itself.

If you want 2.5" drives, i would also recommend OWC. I have had the best experiences with them and they use and test their hardware with all Macs. My 3.5" is very fast and it comes with all sorts of Shareware for free!! (the 2.5" drives do too).

Their prices are very fair, and the drives are very quiet because the power supply is external, so you dont need a fan.

OWC Firewire Section (http://eshop.macsales.com/Static_Pages/index.cfm)

[Peyote]

MacResQ is having a sale this week on the 2.5" Archos 20gig FW hdd. I own one myself and it's very portable. The only thing I don't like is the plug that plugs into the drive is kinda large. But the drive is only $99 right now, so it's totally worth it. I haven't had any problems with it so far, and I bought a neoprene PDA case to protect it.

Incidentally, I ordered a USB2.0 version, and the drive I got had a cord for USB 2.0, and a Firewire cord. So I would assume that if you order a FW version you'll probably get a USB cord as well.

[merges]

SmartDisk (formerly VST) makes very reliable, highly portable firewire hard drives.

http://www.smartdisk.com/Products/Storage%20Products/Hard%20Drives/FireLite.asp

[Les Kern]

I've purchased perhaps 40 FW hard drives (job related, of course!) and I have NEVER seen a VST (SmartDisk) fail. Ever. I've had a few Maxtors die. The BusLink drives have never failed either, and they are the OEM's Retrospect reccomends.

[ryme4reson]

I just sold my PowerMac and purchased a PowerBook. I still have the drive from the PowerMac, so is it possible to buy a FW enclosure that will allow me to connect that HD to my POwerBook? Thanks for any help!

[whocares]

Originally posted by ryme4reson
I just sold my PowerMac and purchased a PowerBook. I still have the drive from the PowerMac, so is it possible to buy a FW enclosure that will allow me to connect that HD to my POwerBook? Thanks for any help!

Yes:
http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Page.cfm?Parent=685&Title=&Template=1
(thanx crazzyeddie for the link)

I have a OWC 3.5" drive (40GB - 7200 rpm) for my iBook and it's way faster than the internal HD :rolleyes:
Speed improvement in PhotoShop is amazing :D

[dho]

Whatever you do, do not buy a pyro drive kit and stick a drive in it.

It was the cheapest appearing option when I bought 2 of them a few months ago.

The power source on one got toasted a week or two after I bought it. The second one doesn't provide enough power for my 7200 ata drive.

I highly recommend that you do not go with the cheapest option unless you are certain it is the best choice for you

[Coca-Cola]

http://www.apple.com/promo/dotmac/smartdisk/