Advice on purchasing external harddrive

[Felix_the_Mac]

Hi there!

I am looking to buy an external hard drive, for backing up mainly but also to put my dvd collection on.

I have a 15" AlPB with 80GB disk. I am looking to get a drive of 80GB - 160GB.

I was looking at Olixir Mobile Data Vault which I read has very high G tolerance and is rugged.
I am a IT consultant and the ability to throw the HD into my briefcase would be usefull but is not crucial. (www.olixir.com)

I might have bought this already but I was concerned that it did not have FireWire 800

However, I did a bit more research (which I should have done first) and found that if ruggedness is not your prime concern then there are scores of alternatives.

I am particularily impressed by the ability of some drives (eg NetDisk) to be network attached since I could plug it in to my Airport base station and it can act as off-site storage for my PB. :-)

(I know this will be slow which begs the question why I am worried about not having FW800, but it is versatile)
Can you give me any pointers based on your experiences?

Edit: I definitely want FW or USB even on a drive with Ethernet.

Edit: I cannot find any other drives with Ethernet and USB / FW apart from the NetDisk. If you are aware of any please let me know.

[wrldwzrd89]

Ethernet Disk by LaCie (http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10073)

Available in capacities of 80, 160, 250, 500 GB
Uses Windows XP Embedded
Compatible with Windows, Mac OS, UNIX, Linux
Connects via USB 1.1, FW 400, or Ethernet

[Felix_the_Mac]

Well spotted!

Unfortunately it's not what I am after because of

1) Prices start at $499 for 80GB
2) Format (ie size/shape) it is designed to be rack mounted, definitely not portable.

Thanks anyway.

[Pismo]

You should buy an OWC Mercury Elite (http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Page.cfm?Parent=681&Title=&Template=1) drive. It has FW 800/400 and USB 2. My brother in law has the 120 gig and it is very fast and reliable. Great bang for your buck too!!

*Edit* Get one with the 8 MB buffer

[wrldwzrd89]

Originally posted by Pismo
You should buy an OWC Mercury Elite (http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Page.cfm?Parent=681&Title=&Template=1) drive. It has FW 800/400 and USB 2. My brother in law has the 120 gig and it is very fast and reliable. Great bang for your buck too!!

*Edit* Get one with the 8 MB buffer

I don't think this was what Felix_the_Mac was looking for either - it has no Ethernet connection.

[Felix_the_Mac]

Pismo: thanks for the suggestion.

Originally posted by wrldwzrd89
I don't think this was what Felix_the_Mac was looking for either - it has no Ethernet connection.

My perfect product would have ethernet, FW 800 and be rugged.
However, these 3 features do not seem to be available in a single package so I will have to compromise.