thinking of buying external hard drive

[acidrock]

hey I'm thinking of buying an external hard drive. It doesn't have to be the latest model but I'd like something to back up all my music on, the one I have in my computer is getting full. I have the originoal G4, but I am also thinking of upgrading to a laptop in the fall/ winter quarter and selling my studio display. I do have firewire capability. I looked at macconnections website but it seemed that even when I did searches for mac it only came up with drives for PC's don't know why, maybe that was on sale? Any advise please, something a student could afford would be good? I"m looking for maybe 120-160 GB, I have 80 now and it's filling up with iTunes! ah! I would buy an iPod but it's to much, and I don't want to risk it being stolen.

nathan

[iLikeMyiMac]

Search on newegg.com
Take a look at this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-154-602&depa=1) 120gb for $129
Or this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-219&depa=1) 160 gb for $160

[acidrock]

Search on newegg.com
Take a look at this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-154-602&depa=1) 120gb for $129
Or this (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-219&depa=1) 160 gb for $160

hey those look really good and in my price range! thanks, do you know anything about the brands?

[Blue Velvet]

...our new Lacie Big Disk 320gb.

FW 800 & 400, USB 2, solid case, nice design, all cables, silverkeeper software...

Data transfer like greased lightning – a quality piece of gear.

(Our previous Lacie stuff has lasted – we still have a working external 2gb SCSI drive about 7-8 years old attached to a beige G3)

[MacFan26]

The Lacie hard drives are great. I have the 120GB d2 hard drive. With a little searching you can probably find one for a good price. Last year Apple had a nice discount on those at the education store, I believe they were only $129, that same deal isn't there now, but you can probably find them somewhere else for a good price.

[Diatribe]

Yep, I can only recommend the LaCie drives. Very well built and they look good too. I have the 250GB triple interface and could not be happier.

[crazzyeddie]

I've always had great luck with OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com). They are Mac specific and have awesome support, not to mention great prices and FAST drives.

[cluthz]

hey those look really good and in my price range! thanks, do you know anything about the brands?


Haven't heard of Fanton, but the 160 Gb is a Western Digital.
Western Digital is known to produce very good hds,
maybe not the most silent ones, but among the fastest.
Never used their externals.
I've got a two friend who has external maxtors (5000 DV i think)
and they couldnt be happier. They've had them for about 2 ears now..
no problems

[johnkrz]

i have a phaanton drive it goes s good with my powerbook and my g5 i luv it its fast as heck intil u start trying to transfer more than one folder at a time. i also have used lacie but they are a little pricey. you do not need drivers for the phantom for osx either.

[Lincoln]

I have been looking into buying an external hard disk drive too. What I wanted was a reasonably priced external FireWire 800 200+GB bus powered portable hard drive. Unfortunately they don't exist (yet :rolleyes: ).

So back in the real world:
As size was the most importanat factor (followed by performance) I had to skip the bus powered drives (max = 80GB). I was also determined to put that FW800 Port on my powerbook to good use too.

I read a lot of reviews and Lacie drives are the ones that seem to be the ones get get the best review scores, etc.

I am looking into getting one of their Big Extreme FW800 models (320GB version) - this drive rocks!! It also fits in with my budget of £200.

Lacie's Website for Big Disk Extreme (http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10123)

The above link has a quite amusing Quicktime Video link to a part of a Final Cut Pro User Group Tech Demo. Its worth a look as it demonstartes what's possible with the Lacie Drives. :cool:

[BornAgainMac]

Usually you can buy a standard hard drive and a separate Firewire HD enclosure for less money. I have seen 250 GB drives at $150 after rebate thru retail channels. I bought one enclosure that didn't allow for the heat to escape and it was very hot after a hour of use. So I took the cover off as I backup and placed a large fan over it. It keeps it cool and I don't worry about damaging it. It also works with USB 2.0.

[wdlove]

I've always had great luck with OWC (http://eshop.macsales.com). They are Mac specific and have awesome support, not to mention great prices and FAST drives.

I second the recommendation for the OWC Mercury Elite. I purchased mine in July 2002 MWNY. It was recommended by Dr. Mac, Bob Levitus.

[acidrock]

hi ! Thanks for all the responses, Someone made a comment about the sound? Are external drives really loud? I can't have things that are two loud because I want to play music at night before I go to bed and am not sure if the drive would go to sleep when my computer does. I know it depends on the brand etc. let's talk about lacie sp and Fantom, but any info would make good conversation.

oh and about the discounts, I tried looking at apple's website, but couldn't find anything, I will look again, I am a student right now but I am also employeed by the UW and can take advantage of the discount there too, so I wouldn't have to pay for shipping. maybe I'll go by the stores today and see what they have. There are apple stores in Seattle too, but I think I will go by the UW one first. I'm not going to buy yet but am thinking of it before I go back to school.

hey are these drives really big also? I know that on the web external cd burnners look really small, but when I got my yamaha one I was so surprised at how huge it was! That probably depends on the model but I'm probably not going to get more than a 160 one.

What do you guys do with your hard drives? Are you storing music on them? I go back and fourth between getting an iPod or a drive, but I think a drive would be a couple houndred cheaper, surprisingly!

Any plans for the big holdiay weekend? thank god for a day off on Monday, I get to go to a huge concert in Seattle, Built to Spill are playing! -nathan