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External HDD which one to buy?

I

Itzmemark

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 4, 2012
70
0
Given I have done a lot of research and I have read the pervious post I have narrowed it down to 3. Any help for you guys would be a great help as you guys prob know way more about these things that I do. It will be 2tb and usb 3.0 cuz lets face it I'm praying the new iMac supports it. Thanks again

1st.

http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10559

2nd

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-FireWir...OG/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1336023089&sr=8-18

3rd

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/ME3SC7H20TB/
 
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I used to buy WDMyBooks but when I decided to go firewire exclusively and having a WD Firewire drive fail I went with the G-Tech drive. I liked the looks of it next to the iMac and it has performed flawlessly. I got the 2 TB model.

415Pf-QJ8%2BL._AA300_.jpg


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LZV0B0...nd=1414836197470800535&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=

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miles01110 said:
No platter-based drive is better than any other.
Click to expand...

Well that's not really true.

A 10,000 RPM platter drive will be better than a 7,200 RPM platter drive.

A 7,200 RPM platter drive will be better than a 5,400 RPM platter drive.

When a platter drive fails, data recovery is very possible.

When an SSD drive fails, data recovery? Well the SSD users I know keep all their data on platter drives!
 
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If you buy the OWC (MacSales) unit the drive can be removed which allows replacing it with a larger capacity one later, or moving the drive into another case.

If you already have an iMac, you will be stuck at USB 2.0 speeds. It makes more sense to buy a FW800 drive. There is no guarantee that new iMacs will have USB 3. For instance you could buy the OWC Mercury Elite Pro for $230 and then if new iMacs have USB3 you would have the option of buying the bare case for $60 if you feel it necessary. Otherwise you be $20 ahead of buying the USB3 unit.
 
I bought some OWC Mercury Elite Pro cases to put my own hard drives in a while back, but I decided to buy the OWC Mercury Elite Pro Mini with a 750 GB HDD this time because the cost difference with buying a drive from Newegg and the case from them was basically a few dollars at best this time and OWC provides 1 year of data recovery service with the complete assembly. I did use some MacAlly cases from Newegg, but I like the build quality of OWC better.

OWC isn't ashamed to post their benchmark results on their products pages, and because of bus limits for USB 2.0 and FW, it is possible for a 5400 RPM drive to equal a 7200 RPM drive. In fact, until you get to either eSATA or USB 3.0 buses, you don't actually see that some 7200 RPM drives are slower than 5400 RPM drives (it's definitely there in the laptop hard drives and Mercury Elite Pro Mini, which use laptop hard drives). It's really about platter density and the number of platters, but RPM does help, when all other aspects are equal.

What it also really boils down to is what you are comfortable with. I've know some people to have issues with LaCie drives, but I also know people who don't have a problem with them. I've personally have been liking OWC and their customer support.
 
I would get an enclosure that supports USB 3.0 (for the reasons you stated) and FW800 both. Beyond that, get whatever is cheapest. No reason to spend more on a commodity item like this.
 
Buffalo 2TB Drivestation - HD-LB2.0TU2-UK - USB 2.0 :eek:

  • USB 2.0 Interface
  • Easy to use, no drivers required
  • Connects to USB on any PC or Mac
  • 2 Year Warranty

w0255189_newpage.jpg


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harcosparky said:
I used to buy WDMyBooks but when I decided to go firewire exclusively and having a WD Firewire drive fail I went with the G-Tech drive. I liked the looks of it next to the iMac and it has performed flawlessly. I got the 2 TB model.

Image

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LZV0B0...nd=1414836197470800535&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=
Click to expand...


That's a good drive.

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talmy said:
If you already have an iMac, you will be stuck at USB 2.0 speeds.
Click to expand...

Important to keep in mind.
 
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"Completely incorrect" and "correct" are both wrong in this case.

A 7200RPM drive will have less rotational latency than a 5400RPM drive. That is good, so in that respect the answer is "correct".

However there are other factors in disk performance -- seek time, density, and transfer rates, that aren't related to rotational speed. So it is reasonable to expect some 5400RPM drives to be faster than some 7200RPM drives.

This is also why SSDs, which have zero rotational latency and zero seek time don't perform infinitely faster than HDs, and some SSDs perform much faster than other SSDs. Lots of factors are involved!
 
Heya

I would suggest you buy a dual bay or best multiple HD units.

The reasons are superior data protection/integrity.
 
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