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External harddrive
- Thread starter dmsee
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Go with Seagate. Great price to gigabyte ratio.
You could by a laptop HDD and put it in an enclosure, but if you want to save yourself the trouble (and get some cables too), check out the Seagate FreeAgent Go.
You could by a laptop HDD and put it in an enclosure, but if you want to save yourself the trouble (and get some cables too), check out the Seagate FreeAgent Go.
it will work with both osx and widows if you format it FAT32 which means a maximum file size of 4 gig... keep this in mind
Each file can only be 4GB. The drive will be reduced to 32GB.
Hopefully you formatted your Windows partition in FAT32. Use OSX to access your windows files, and use the External HDD to back up in Time Machine.
EDIT: The drive will not be reduced to 32GB. See my second post below.
It seems to me like Western Digital has the best deals. I went through this a few weeks ago when i needed one. I really wanted a compact drive but not for twice as much as a WD MyBook, which is what i have. It seems ive seen a lot of threads about seagate w/ mac problems, which is why i didnt get one.
If you're referring to WD's "My Passport" External HDD, then yes, it is a bit cheaper than the FreeAgent Go. However, it only has USB support, while the FreeAgent supports FW800, FW400, and USB.
Western Digital does have variations of their "My Passport" HDDs. The only one with FW800, FW400, and USB support is the My Passport Studio. It is a nice drive, but it's going to cost you more than the FreeAgent Go.
Notable information: The FreeAgent Go comes in 250GB, 320GB, and 500GB versions, while the My Passport Studio comes in 320GB, 400GB, and 500GB versions.
What does that mean?drive be reduced to 32gb
Yes i just checked i have a windows partition as ms dos fat32
I'm sorry, it appears I've made a mistake. If you format (for example) a 500GB external HDD in FAT32, you will be able to use all the 500GB of space, but each file can only be 4GB (minus 1 byte) in size. That may or may not be a problem for you.
What's good about your Windows partition being FAT32, is since you probably don't want to live with the burden of 4GB files only, you can access your Windows partition files through OSX, then transfer them to your OSX partition or your external HDD.
Of course. Mac uses HFS+ and Windows (typically) uses NTFS. HFS+ supports files sizes up to 8 exbibytes and NTFS supports file sizes up to 16 exbibytes.
FAT32 (nowadays) is most useful for communication between HFS+ and NTFS. For example, my iPod Classic is formatted in FAT32. I can use all 80GB, but my individual file sizes are limited to 4GB.
In a nutshell, HFS+ and NTFS can support individual file sizes larger then your HDD can even hold.
If it's a HDD it's Mac compatible. Sometimes companies will offer HDDs as "Mac," but all that really means is that it's already HFS+ formatted. You can take any HDD and format it anyway you want.
I've had experience with Seagate, and they are very solid and reliable. Western Digital is good too, but I find they run hot.
You never said if you were wanting a slim portable external or more of a desktop kind thats not so portable. This is what i have, http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Essential-External-WDH1U6400N/dp/B001F3YIMC
I didnt think 640gb for under $100 was too bad. And if you dont wanna pay the sometimes substantial extra for firewire 800 then mite as well go for usb. Since usb 2.0 is supposed to be faster than FW 400.
I didnt think 640gb for under $100 was too bad. And if you dont wanna pay the sometimes substantial extra for firewire 800 then mite as well go for usb. Since usb 2.0 is supposed to be faster than FW 400.
If i recall correctly the powerbooks and every macbook pro but the first revision had firewire 800 also. Of course the second generation macbooks have 800.
western digital has some great deals. but i wouldn't get the absolute CHEAPEST drive, unless i was using it as an external that wouldn't be moved around much.
make sure if you are planning to get a regular 3.5 SATA that you don't skimp on the enclosure
buy one in the 30$-50$ price range. other wise, you may end up with your hard drive, metal to metal, with the enclosure.
i have seen nice ones with rubber bumpers built in that not only reduce noise, but reduce vibration. which is a good thing if you ask anyone with hard drive knowledge.
make sure if you are planning to get a regular 3.5 SATA that you don't skimp on the enclosure
buy one in the 30$-50$ price range. other wise, you may end up with your hard drive, metal to metal, with the enclosure.
i have seen nice ones with rubber bumpers built in that not only reduce noise, but reduce vibration. which is a good thing if you ask anyone with hard drive knowledge.
The main difference (besides color choices) is the lack of a FW800/FW400 connection on the FreeAgent Go NOT labled "Mac." It only has USB, which is fine, but FW is so much faster.
better buy an external hdd (in opposite to internal then make external with enclosure) the main reason is because buying an internal then making it external with an enclosure will at most save you $5-$10 and the case quality will not be nearly as good as the one designed to be external to beging with, some external enclosure do not even spin down the HDD when not in use, which means mainly it will waste your laptop batteries (and also will make a bit of noise, i mean a bit because those drives are so small they *usually* are very silent)
Now, if you will use the HDD at home (you wont be moving it around) and you want a lot of storage and you are looking at spending not too much, then go for 3.5" form factor (e.g. Seagate 1TB ~ $99.99 @ bestbuy) if in the contrary you are looking something portable (or you just dont want a bulky box with an extra cable connected to the wall) then go for a 2.5" external drive (FreeAgent for seagate or the WD equivalent would be my first choices, i actually own a freeagent, the pc version btw which doesnt have the FW port "I'll say something about this next" and I like it a lot, mine is silver and goes great besides my macbook, also have some LED that "breathes" just as apple's LED does, so its almost like the little brother, performs great and is fast, mine is 250GB cost me $80 like 3 months ago, now though you can get that one for ~$65 and for ~$80 the 320gb one and ~$120 the 500. As some people pointed out the only difference (besides maybe the factory formatting ???) is that the mac version comes with FW, which yes is faster than USB however for a 5400rpm HDD that only have (8mb? cache) the bus should not have any effect in the performance (rather will be the drive the one limiting the speed, and you wont be able to do nothing about it) however MBP usb's are scare and most people rarely uses FW, which means if you could find an offer for lets say ($10~$15 extra, maybe on ebay or amazon) and you do not use the FW for any other thing, then you should consider getting one with FW port. Furthermore if you do not mind getting a 3.5" form factor HHD then the difference in an HDD with FW vs the equivalent one with only USB drops dramatically and you'd be able to get one with FW for about the same as one with only USB. Also for 3.5" form factor HDD then probably buying an internal (3.5" HHD) and then using an enclosure could actually not be a bad idea if you choose the right enclosure and right HDD, I was actually thinking in making myself one with the rocketfish enclosure (~$20 from ebay refurbished or "like-new" condition) which have the advantage of offering a multimedia card reader and eSata, its also made of aluminum which means it wont look bad besides my mac.... however haven't decided since then I'd have to have a power cord with a brick and my desk is pretty clean atm......
Well now you can make an informed decision, cant you?
I particularly like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rocketfish-Hard...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318
however I have not idea if its good, or if it looks good in real life (from pictures I like it) furthermore i have seen them cheaper than ~$25 so do research, the link is just to show you what I am talking about.....
Now, if you will use the HDD at home (you wont be moving it around) and you want a lot of storage and you are looking at spending not too much, then go for 3.5" form factor (e.g. Seagate 1TB ~ $99.99 @ bestbuy) if in the contrary you are looking something portable (or you just dont want a bulky box with an extra cable connected to the wall) then go for a 2.5" external drive (FreeAgent for seagate or the WD equivalent would be my first choices, i actually own a freeagent, the pc version btw which doesnt have the FW port "I'll say something about this next" and I like it a lot, mine is silver and goes great besides my macbook, also have some LED that "breathes" just as apple's LED does, so its almost like the little brother, performs great and is fast, mine is 250GB cost me $80 like 3 months ago, now though you can get that one for ~$65 and for ~$80 the 320gb one and ~$120 the 500. As some people pointed out the only difference (besides maybe the factory formatting ???) is that the mac version comes with FW, which yes is faster than USB however for a 5400rpm HDD that only have (8mb? cache) the bus should not have any effect in the performance (rather will be the drive the one limiting the speed, and you wont be able to do nothing about it) however MBP usb's are scare and most people rarely uses FW, which means if you could find an offer for lets say ($10~$15 extra, maybe on ebay or amazon) and you do not use the FW for any other thing, then you should consider getting one with FW port. Furthermore if you do not mind getting a 3.5" form factor HHD then the difference in an HDD with FW vs the equivalent one with only USB drops dramatically and you'd be able to get one with FW for about the same as one with only USB. Also for 3.5" form factor HDD then probably buying an internal (3.5" HHD) and then using an enclosure could actually not be a bad idea if you choose the right enclosure and right HDD, I was actually thinking in making myself one with the rocketfish enclosure (~$20 from ebay refurbished or "like-new" condition) which have the advantage of offering a multimedia card reader and eSata, its also made of aluminum which means it wont look bad besides my mac.... however haven't decided since then I'd have to have a power cord with a brick and my desk is pretty clean atm......
Well now you can make an informed decision, cant you?
I particularly like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Rocketfish-Hard...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318
however I have not idea if its good, or if it looks good in real life (from pictures I like it) furthermore i have seen them cheaper than ~$25 so do research, the link is just to show you what I am talking about.....
My 17" MBP should be enroute from China. I am curious about this question also. I travel a lot, in the US Air Force. The Seagate looks like a good option but a bit big for taking with me. I am only allotted so many pounds. I go to Kuwait in May for another tour of duty. I was looking at this.....
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV355ZM/A?n=portable&fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MzE2NjQ3Nw&s=topSellers
Expensive yes, I have the G Drive 500g for my iMac....works great! I want something that is somewhat small an easy to carry in my Booq bag. Any idea's will be appreciated.
Oh yeah, this will be mainly for time machine and what-not. Any idea's?
http://store.apple.com/us/product/TV355ZM/A?n=portable&fnode=MTY1NDA0Nw&mco=MzE2NjQ3Nw&s=topSellers
Expensive yes, I have the G Drive 500g for my iMac....works great! I want something that is somewhat small an easy to carry in my Booq bag. Any idea's will be appreciated.
Oh yeah, this will be mainly for time machine and what-not. Any idea's?
That drive is awfully overpriced, I dont know if its good or not since I havent even heard of it, however the tech specs sound like they sucks, furthermore it uses external power which means that you gonna have to carry the powersupply cord which will come with a brick, the only feature it offers over most other drives is the FW, which you can actually get a version for a few more $$ from Seagate, WD, etc... Though if you dont need FW or dont want to save USB ports, then save the money.
These are pictures of my own seagate FreeAgent, I dont think you going to find a drive smaller than that with more than 250GB (you can buy it up to 500Gb) in a while, also is cheap ($70 for 250GB $89 320Gb and $120
for 500Gb which is actually less than half the G-drive or whatever is called)
here is a picture so you compare the size and thickness against a dollar bill and a microSD card (the kind goes inside the cellphones, you can even see my 15" MBP in the background which is actually thicker than the drive itself)
That drive is awfully overpriced, I dont know if its good or not since I havent even heard of it, however the tech specs sound like they sucks, furthermore it uses external power which means that you gonna have to carry the powersupply cord which will come with a brick, the only feature it offers over most other drives is the FW, which you can actually get a version for a few more $$ from Seagate, WD, etc... Though if you dont need FW or dont want to save USB ports, then save the money.
These are pictures of my own seagate FreeAgent, I dont think you going to find a drive smaller than that with more than 250GB (you can buy it up to 500Gb) in a while, also is cheap ($70 for 250GB $89 320Gb and $120
for 500Gb which is actually less than half the G-drive or whatever is called)
here is a picture so you compare the size and thickness against a dollar bill and a microSD card (the kind goes inside the cellphones, you can even see my 15" MBP in the background which is actually thicker than the drive itself)
![1000255.jpg]()
![1000256.jpg]()
God damned, I admire honesty! Thanks brother......
Where did you acquire it? Got a clicky?God damned, I admire honesty! Thanks brother......
take a lookg at this page:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...SP&sp=-bestsellingsort+skuid&usc=abcat0500000
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeA...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235539244&sr=8-3
http://www.amazon.com/Seagate-FreeA...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1235539262&sr=8-18
sometimes they have seagate promotions other WD promotions etc, today it seams like seagate are a bit more expensive that i paid for mine however WD are cheaper and they look similar, if you like one much more than the other just wait till next week and it might change, also you can save 5~15 if you look at amazon...