Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Seeking advice on portable FW drive for MBP

J

joeliethegoalie

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 7, 2007
81
1
boulder,co
The external portable HD holding my iTunes library is about maxed out. I'm looking for a new portable drive that meets these criteria:

portable
250gb min
7200 rpm
FW800
powered by FW bus

The only things I've found that even come close are those LaCie Tough Drives (at 200gb) and this. It appears to be pretty much what I'm looking for and the price seems about right, but the description reads like it's an enclosure only.

Anyone have any experience w/Freecom drives, and/or have any other advice for me? Thanks!
 
Fact: Your not gonna get a 2.5" 250Gb HD with a spindle speed of 7200RPM unless someone actually manufacture a OEM unit.

However, if the size ain't a issue and you don't need it mobile. Why not go for a standard 3.5" HD? You can find compacities up to 1TB in available as retail and OEM form. If FW800 is essential then buy a OEM drive and a empty FW800 enclosure to fit the drive.
 
UltraNEO* said:
Fact: Your not gonna get a 2.5" 250Gb HD with a spindle speed of 7200RPM unless someone actually manufacture a OEM unit.

However, if the size ain't a issue and you don't need it mobile. Why not go for a standard 3.5" HD? You can find compacities up to 1TB in available as retail and OEM form. If FW800 is essential then buy a OEM drive and a empty FW800 enclosure to fit the drive.
Click to expand...

Size and mobility are key and I am considering going the OEM + closure route. If I were to do that, should I be looking at a 2.5 or 3.5 drive?

Also, what do you make of this: http://www.cooldrives.com/40728mbbualt.html.

Thanks (again).
 
joeliethegoalie said:
Size and mobility are key and I am considering going the OEM + closure route. If I were to do that, should I be looking at a 2.5 or 3.5 drive?

Also, what do you make of this: http://www.cooldrives.com/40728mbbualt.html.

Thanks (again).
Click to expand...

If your not planning to have a mobile drive/unit, perhaps the 3.5" route might be better as the capacity will be much bigger and access/seek speeds, much faster.

I'm curious.. do you really need a 7200RPM drive? I have a Western Digital Scorpio SATA 320Gb @ 5400RPM installed in my MBP and it's plenty fast...

As far as enclosures go, it's up to the buyers as the different styles doesn't suit everyone.. I prefer the OWC cases. Handy when you have a groups of drives in the same enclosure.. because it's transparent you can just look to see which box is what drive.
 
UltraNEO* said:
If your not planning to have a mobile drive/unit, perhaps the 3.5" route might be better as the capacity will be much bigger and access/seek speeds, much faster.

I'm curious.. do you really need a 7200RPM drive? I have a Western Digital Scorpio SATA 320Gb @ 5400RPM installed in my MBP and it's plenty fast...
Click to expand...

I do want the 7200rpm as I'll be dealing w/lots of music. Listening, of course, plus editing and radio and live DJing.

I'm open to a larger internal drive for the MBP, and will also explore the 3.5" ext FW800 drives w/enclosures.

From what I'm hearing here and my own research, it appears that the ideal solution for me just doesn't exist yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back