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Portable External Drive

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hypertc13

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 17, 2009
126
0
So the space on my Macbook Air drive has quickly filled up. I have what is probably a 4 year old 500 GB external drive that is big a bulky and only use it for backing up stuff. However im looking at getting a smaller external drive that I could store music, movies and documents on that would be easy to carry around and take on trips. Any advice?

Thanks!
 
jmoore5196

jmoore5196

macrumors 6502a
May 19, 2009
840
338
Russellville AR
I know everyone has a favorite brand; mine is G-Technology. Their 500GB USB3 "slim drive" is literally that - about the size of my iPhone, the same finish as my Air. I have my entire iTunes library on the drive, which saved me a lot of space on the SSD.

This drive is less than $100 and - in my view - represents great value for money, especially since it's such a speedy performer. Overall, it's a good companion for the Air.
 
Weaselboy

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,136
15,597
California
hypertc13 said:
So the space on my Macbook Air drive has quickly filled up. I have what is probably a 4 year old 500 GB external drive that is big a bulky and only use it for backing up stuff. However im looking at getting a smaller external drive that I could store music, movies and documents on that would be easy to carry around and take on trips. Any advice?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I really like the WD My Passport line.
 
T

Talon Six

macrumors member
Feb 5, 2012
68
0
The Gulf Coast
I made my own portable USB 3.0 drive using a 500GB 5400 RPM drive I had laying around from an upgrade to my Mac mini. I have a 2012 13" Air, so I bought a $20 USB 3.0 enclosure from Amazon.

It took me three tries to get iTunes to have my music on the Air and the movies/TV shows on the portable drive, but it works like a champ now.
 
Acorn

Acorn

macrumors 68030
Jan 2, 2009
2,642
349
macrumors
I have a 1 terabyte usb 3.0 western digital passport. you can get it in silver for about 80 bucks. I like it alot.
 
S

solderguy1

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2012
40
0
This is my first bummer about having a 2011 model. The choices are either running a usb3 drive at slower usb2 speeds or buying an expensive Thunderbolt drive which has an active cable and drains the battery faster.
 
A Hebrew

A Hebrew

macrumors 6502a
Jan 7, 2012
846
2
Minnesota
If you do not care for Thunderbolt speeds just go to your local walmart and buy a cheap one. I personally have a Samsung 500gb (I don't know the exact model) that I purchased for $40
 
A

astrorider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2008
591
126
hypertc13 said:
So the space on my Macbook Air drive has quickly filled up. I have what is probably a 4 year old 500 GB external drive that is big a bulky and only use it for backing up stuff. However im looking at getting a smaller external drive that I could store music, movies and documents on that would be easy to carry around and take on trips. Any advice?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If you have an SD card slot in your Air, and you've been getting by with the SSD up to this point, maybe you don't need a full external hard drive and a 64 or 128GB SD card is all you need? It'll give you a little bit more space without the need to attach something every time you want to access your music, etc. Like a 2nd internal hard drive, format it as HFS+ for better speed and even encrypt it if you're already using FileVault2 on your Air.
 
U

UG.Frontera

macrumors newbie
Aug 6, 2011
26
0
United Kingdom
astrorider said:
If you have an SD card slot in your Air, and you've been getting by with the SSD up to this point, maybe you don't need a full external hard drive and a 64 or 128GB SD card is all you need? It'll give you a little bit more space without the need to attach something every time you want to access your music, etc. Like a 2nd internal hard drive, format it as HFS+ for better speed and even encrypt it if you're already using FileVault2 on your Air.
Click to expand...

That's a really good idea with the SD slot, didn't even think about that. Lucky I came here first before I went and brought a 2tb Western Digital Passport. (Over kill for the space I need)
 
A

astrorider

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2008
591
126
UG.Frontera said:
That's a really good idea with the SD slot, didn't even think about that. Lucky I came here first before I went and brought a 2tb Western Digital Passport. (Over kill for the space I need)
Click to expand...

Another thing to add...if you're ok with being limited to 64GB (the max current size of micro SD cards), there are a couple adapters on the market that let the cards sit flush with the side of Macbooks:
http://theniftyminidrive.com
or
http://theminidrive.com/TheMiniDrive.com/Specs.html
 
K

kyjaotkb

macrumors 6502a
Nov 20, 2009
937
883
London, UK
solderguy1 said:
This is my first bummer about having a 2011 model. The choices are either running a usb3 drive at slower usb2 speeds or buying an expensive Thunderbolt drive which has an active cable and drains the battery faster.
Click to expand...

Well, I chose to follow a third route with my 2011 Air: €29 Thunderbolt to FW800 cable + €129 WD MyPassport Studio 1TB. I recommend you that setup which works pretty well. Matte Aluminum finish, outstanding build quality, 3 yrs warranty and nice 60 MBps transfers!
Olivier
 
S

solderguy1

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2012
40
0
kyjaotkb said:
Well, I chose to follow a third route with my 2011 Air: €29 Thunderbolt to FW800 cable + €129 WD MyPassport Studio 1TB.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for posting that, getting very interested. That adapter cable looks nice and short, and would leave the two usb ports free.

Somewhat tempted to velcro the drive on top of the MBA lid/flap. What do people think, bad idea?
 
Last edited:
Boyd01

Boyd01

Moderator
Staff member
Feb 21, 2012
7,679
4,567
New Jersey Pine Barrens
There's also this, which includes the thunderbolt cable: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Buffalo/HDPA1.0TU3/

I also have a 2011 MBA, but I don't think this would be a good solution because most of the time I use it with an old Apple Cinema display and need the thunderbolt port for a DVI adaptor.

I have also cringed at the cost of upgrading to an OWC 512GB SSD and came to the conclusion that it would make more sense to just get a new MBA built to order with Apple's own 512 SSD since I could also get USB 3 and 8GB RAM that way.

But I'm not to that point yet, I still have about 140GB free on my 256GB SSD and it should meet my needs for another year I'm sure. :)
 
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