External storage question

TheDill · Dec 28, 2012, 01:16 PM

I have a late 2010 MBA and am starting to run out of memory on it, with my itunes taking up the majority of my space. My question is, would it be wise/easy to get a 3.0/2.0 USB external hard drive to store some of my music and videos on? I am in college and live far away from home, so I'd prefer an external hard drive as opposed to using remote file accessing, and my school's connection is crap so that doesn't help matters. I've never had to use any sort of external storage and this is my first mac, so I'm new to all of this and any suggestion will help. Thanks.

coldjeanzzz · Dec 28, 2012, 01:33 PM

Yes

wolfpuppies3 · Dec 28, 2012, 01:40 PM

I believe you are running low on storage, not memory. External HDDs are the solution to your space/storage problem. You will not have use for a USB 3 connectivity as your Air is USB 2 but the 3 would be backwards compatible. Definitely consider relocating your iTunes library and your iPhoto library as well .

WesCole · Dec 28, 2012, 02:09 PM

Depending on the size of your library, you could get an SD card or USB flash drive to store your media. Might be a little easier to carry around.

halledise · Dec 28, 2012, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDill

I have a late 2010 MBA and am starting to run out of memory on it, with my itunes taking up the majority of my space. My question is, would it be wise/easy to get a 3.0/2.0 USB external hard drive to store some of my music and videos on? I am in college and live far away from home, so I'd prefer an external hard drive as opposed to using remote file accessing, and my school's connection is crap so that doesn't help matters. I've never had to use any sort of external storage and this is my first mac, so I'm new to all of this and any suggestion will help. Thanks.

external HDD is your best option
500gb external HDD are available for around $80 - get a small form factor.
if you're a bit clumsy with your gear then I'd recommend something like this:

http://goo.gl/gjqsE

or this if you want the duck's nuts:

http://goo.gl/YQBAw

TheDill · Feb 1, 2013, 11:36 AM

Okay, so I've gotten my external HD and just have a quick question now. To clear up space on my MBA I have backed up my whole itunes onto my external HD and have begun deleting some of the songs from off my itunes that I don't listen to anymore since they are now on my EHD. My question is, if I back up my itunes later down the line when it has new content in it, will the newer backup overwrite my older itunes folder backup, thus deleting the songs from my EHD that i deleted from my itunes earlier? (i know, confusing, but I'm not good at this so its the best I can explain it.) Like will it overwrite the itunes backup folder on my EHD completely or will it simply add the songs that I have just bought in itunes and keep all other music/movies on there?

Sorry for sounding primitive but this is my first Mac and first experience with external HD's. Thanks.

kulimer · Feb 6, 2013, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by halledise

or this if you want the duck's nuts:

http://goo.gl/YQBAw

wow, that thing looks awesome. How heavy is 9.2oz? I've never seen this before.

Dec 28, 2012, 01:16 PM	#1
TheDill macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Cincinnati, OH	External storage question I have a late 2010 MBA and am starting to run out of memory on it, with my itunes taking up the majority of my space. My question is, would it be wise/easy to get a 3.0/2.0 USB external hard drive to store some of my music and videos on? I am in college and live far away from home, so I'd prefer an external hard drive as opposed to using remote file accessing, and my school's connection is crap so that doesn't help matters. I've never had to use any sort of external storage and this is my first mac, so I'm new to all of this and any suggestion will help. Thanks.
	0

Dec 28, 2012, 01:40 PM	#3
wolfpuppies3 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Virginia, USA	Memory and storage are entirely different animals I believe you are running low on storage, not memory. External HDDs are the solution to your space/storage problem. You will not have use for a USB 3 connectivity as your Air is USB 2 but the 3 would be backwards compatible. Definitely consider relocating your iTunes library and your iPhoto library as well . __________________ 2012 MBA 13, 2 Ghz i7, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD; 2011 MBA 11, 1.8 Ghz i7, 4 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD; 2010 MB Pro 15, 2.66 Ghz i7, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD; two iPad 3s and a mini, two iPhones and a bunch of iPods
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Dec 28, 2012, 02:09 PM	#4
WesCole macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Texas	Depending on the size of your library, you could get an SD card or USB flash drive to store your media. Might be a little easier to carry around. __________________ 2010 15" MacBook Pro, Anti-Glare Hi-Res, 2.4 i5 128 GB SSD & 500GB HDD in optibay; iPhone 5 32GB; ATV3; 2011 Core i7 27" iMac 2GB VRAM; "New" iPad 32GB AT&T 4G; 2012 MacBook Air 13", i7, 8GB, 256GB
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Dec 28, 2012, 01:33 PM	#2
coldjeanzzz macrumors regular Join Date: Nov 2012	Yes
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Feb 1, 2013, 11:36 AM	#6
TheDill Thread Starter macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Cincinnati, OH	Okay, so I've gotten my external HD and just have a quick question now. To clear up space on my MBA I have backed up my whole itunes onto my external HD and have begun deleting some of the songs from off my itunes that I don't listen to anymore since they are now on my EHD. My question is, if I back up my itunes later down the line when it has new content in it, will the newer backup overwrite my older itunes folder backup, thus deleting the songs from my EHD that i deleted from my itunes earlier? (i know, confusing, but I'm not good at this so its the best I can explain it.) Like will it overwrite the itunes backup folder on my EHD completely or will it simply add the songs that I have just bought in itunes and keep all other music/movies on there? Sorry for sounding primitive but this is my first Mac and first experience with external HD's. Thanks.
	0