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Best Hard Drive for Time Machine?

eowl

eowl

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 18, 2011
37
0
Hi all,

I'm wanting to start regularly backing up my mac, so want to use the time machine function but I was wondering which hard drive would be best for me to use. I'd like at least 1TB and not to pay for than £100 preferably, I have looked at the WD my book but I have seen some bad reviews so was put off that one and cannot find a my passport for under £100.

Thanks!
 
saberahul

saberahul

macrumors 68040
Nov 6, 2008
3,645
111
USA
eowl said:
Hi all,

I'm wanting to start regularly backing up my mac, so want to use the time machine function but I was wondering which hard drive would be best for me to use. I'd like at least 1TB and not to pay for than £100 preferably, I have looked at the WD my book but I have seen some bad reviews so was put off that one and cannot find a my passport for under £100.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure about the price but in my opinion, if you use your laptop on the go (assuming you have a laptop and not a desktop) then you should opt in for a wireless drive such as the Time Capsule (probably more expensive than your budget). I currently use the My Passport and although it works well, I find it highly annoying having to connect the USB cable every time.
 
eowl

eowl

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 18, 2011
37
0
Thanks, I have looked at some Time Capsules on eBay and I might be able to push my budget a bit further, but would it matter if I got a first generation or are they not good enough anymore?

Thanks
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
I'd go for a second gen. if you can...Just installed a Three TB TC on my network..Remember, it does a lot more than just backups. It provides a 5GHZ broadcast for IOS devices as well as being a pretty sharp wifi provider too.

I didn't think it would come close to my Gigabit Draytek, but it actually beats it for speed.
 
Shrink

Shrink

macrumors G3
Feb 26, 2011
8,929
1,727
New England, USA
Macman45 said:
I'd go for a second gen. if you can...Just installed a Three TB TC on my network..Remember, it does a lot more than just backups. It provides a 5GHZ broadcast for IOS devices as well as being a pretty sharp wifi provider too.
Click to expand...

I just installed 2TB Time Capsule. Aside from Time Machine wireless, automatic, no fuss, no muss back up, I'm getting a much faster (according to Speedtest) upload and download speeds on both my MBP and iPhone4. At least double the speeds I was getting with my Verizon router. MBP now 43 down, 33 up (from 20 down, 17-18 up), and the phone is now 23 down, 21 up.

However, it is pricey - might be over your limit.:D
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Shrink said:
I just installed 2TB Time Capsule. Aside from Time Machine wireless, automatic, no fuss, no muss back up, I'm getting a much faster (according to Speedtest) upload and download speeds on both my MBP and iPhone4. At least double the speeds I was getting with my Verizon router. MBP now 43 down, 33 up (from 20 down, 17-18 up), and the phone is now 23 down, 21 up.

However, it is pricey - might be over your limit.:D
Click to expand...

+1 but if you are limited for funds, a USB caddy and the old partitioned hDD route should be cheap enough....I've just put the three drives away and removed the device from my system.

If you want fire and forget backup the TC is the way to go.
 
eowl

eowl

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 18, 2011
37
0
I'll keep my eye out on ebay for a TC that's going cheap then,

thanks for all the help
 
lhlee96

lhlee96

macrumors member
Jul 5, 2009
84
5
Sydney
eowl said:
Hi all,

I'm wanting to start regularly backing up my mac, so want to use the time machine function but I was wondering which hard drive would be best for me to use. I'd like at least 1TB and not to pay for than £100 preferably, I have looked at the WD my book but I have seen some bad reviews so was put off that one and cannot find a my passport for under £100.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

This might be slightly above your price range, but the LaCie d2 Quadra drives have never let me down.

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10554
 
monokakata

monokakata

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,036
583
Ithaca, NY
Shrink said:
I just installed 2TB Time Capsule. Aside from Time Machine wireless, automatic, no fuss, no muss back up, I'm getting a much faster (according to Speedtest) upload and download speeds on both my MBP and iPhone4. At least double the speeds I was getting with my Verizon router. MBP now 43 down, 33 up (from 20 down, 17-18 up), and the phone is now 23 down, 21 up.
Click to expand...

I installed a 2 tb TC yesterday and saw the same increase. I don't understand it (but welcome it!). My ISP (cable) has me on a 10 mbps plan, and whenever I tested with Speedtest, that what I got, with a 2008 Airport Extreme, and their Cisco modem.

After I installed the TC and rebooted the modem -- 20+, and this AM even 26. Later today I'm going to put the 2008 AE back in, to see what happens. Wired Mac Pro, wireless MBP -- the same increase.

I can't think of an explanation. It wasn't the first time the modem had been rebooted (or the old AE), but after those other reboots there was no change.

Any ideas?
 
Shrink

Shrink

macrumors G3
Feb 26, 2011
8,929
1,727
New England, USA
monokakata said:
I installed a 2 tb TC yesterday and saw the same increase. I don't understand it (but welcome it!). My ISP (cable) has me on a 10 mbps plan, and whenever I tested with Speedtest, that what I got, with a 2008 Airport Extreme, and their Cisco modem.

After I installed the TC and rebooted the modem -- 20+, and this AM even 26. Later today I'm going to put the 2008 AE back in, to see what happens. Wired Mac Pro, wireless MBP -- the same increase.

I can't think of an explanation. It wasn't the first time the modem had been rebooted (or the old AE), but after those other reboots there was no change.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...

I don't have a clue as to why any of this is happening. My Verizon plan is supposed to max out at 35 down when ethernet wired. How I am getting 43 down wireless is beyond me. No complaints, mind you - but a mystery to me.

I don't have a long ethernet cable (order to arrive next week) to find out what the speed will be when I wire my MBP to the TC. How high can it go??!!:confused:

Sorry I can't offer any help.:D
 
Macman45

Macman45

macrumors G5
Jul 29, 2011
13,197
135
Somewhere Back In The Long Ago
Shrink said:
I don't have a clue as to why any of this is happening. My Verizon plan is supposed to max out at 35 down when ethernet wired. How I am getting 43 down wireless is beyond me. No complaints, mind you - but a mystery to me.

I don't have a long ethernet cable (order to arrive next week) to find out what the speed will be when I wire my MBP to the TC. How high can it go??!!:confused:

Sorry I can't offer any help.:D
Click to expand...

Sheesh....With that cable you are likely to burn out the Verizon infrastructure in the entire state of MA:D
 
monokakata

monokakata

macrumors 68020
May 8, 2008
2,036
583
Ithaca, NY
Shrink said:
I don't have a clue as to why any of this is happening.
Click to expand...

My suddenly-high speeds appear to have been an aberration. I was indeed getting well over 20 this AM. Four hours later, the new TC was showing 12-14, and when I substituted the old AE, changing nothing else, I saw the same. I went back and forth a couple of times and each test was in the same range. A couple went below 10 (with the TC), which is what I've been seeing for months.

Damn. Probably it was a system-wide thing, and just a coincidence that when I made the swap the throughput was high for some reason. Here in Hawai'i there are inter-island hops. I'm not sure what the physical link to Honolulu is, from where I am. Probably microwave repeaters.

Anyway, my finding seems spurious.
 
Shrink

Shrink

macrumors G3
Feb 26, 2011
8,929
1,727
New England, USA
monokakata said:
My suddenly-high speeds appear to have been an aberration. I was indeed getting well over 20 this AM. Four hours later, the new TC was showing 12-14, and when I substituted the old AE, changing nothing else, I saw the same. I went back and forth a couple of times and each test was in the same range. A couple went below 10 (with the TC), which is what I've been seeing for months.

Damn. Probably it was a system-wide thing, and just a coincidence that when I made the swap the throughput was high for some reason. Here in Hawai'i there are inter-island hops. I'm not sure what the physical link to Honolulu is, from where I am. Probably microwave repeaters.

Anyway, my finding seems spurious.
Click to expand...

I just re-tested (4:14EST) and my readings were the same - 43 down, 33 up. Mine still doing magic!

That will teach you to live in paradise!!:D
 
-tWv-

-tWv-

macrumors 68000
May 11, 2009
1,583
2
Ohio
OP, I have a 1TB MyBook external HDD and it has been fine for over a year.. I use it every day to back up my MBP with time machine and have had no problems with it. The only annoyance that I have with the HDD is that it is fairly loud when in use. Other than that, I have had no problems.

I would recommend the MyBook if that's what you want and is in your price range.
 
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