ex. HDD for new MBPr video editing - which one of the three?

[JimiHx]

Hi guys,

I just bought a MBPr for a month trip to South Africa. I need to bring at least one work project with me, total size (events+projects) already about 700 GB.

So I need an external HDD and I want it to be USB powered. I will also be shooting and editing there so I figured I need more than 1 TB.

My options: costs

Two Hitachi Touro Mobile Pro 1 TB 2x 85 euro

A WD My passport 2 TB 150 euro

G-Tech 1 TB mini portable drive 2x 120 euro

The WD does not have 7200 rpm so I figure I should drop this one?

I am not sure if the hitachi has USAP? wich I picked up from other forums is neccesary/good for editing.

In that case I should go for the G-Tech, wich will cost me about 70 euro more.

What do you think?

[ChrisA]

Originally Posted by JimiHx

...
In that case I should go for the G-Tech, wich will cost me about 70 euro more.

What do you think?

g-tech has the best all roundreputation for this purpose.

But you willneed at least one more drive. Who will you back up this data? Traveling with only one copy of the data is not a smart move. Butting all three copies of your data in one luggage is not smart either.

I'd suggest buying three copys of the g-tech drive and buying some kind of padded cases for them (even if it is just the box they come in) Pack one as cary-on and put the other two in different luggage don't keep all the backups and the live drive in the same hotel room.

Rules for data you care about: Data needs to be on three different physical meadi and two different geographical locations.

Buy the disks a month or so before you leave and use them a bunch. If one is going to fail it will be either in the first week or years later. So push it hard while you still have a chance to replace it if it fails and have time to test the replacements

What size. Withtoday's prices 1TB is to small. For only a few more $$ you get 2TB. And with video editing you NEVER want to get even close to a full drive. The drives are faster if 60% or less full. I'd buy three 2TB g-tech drives for the trip. Assuming you are shooting footage that costs a fortune to shoot and can't be replaced. So dump the files to multiple backup drives and keep the drives in rotation and not all in one place

[noshjewman]

G-Tech is now owned by Hitachi. They have a great reputation from when they were a little company, I'm not sure whether this reputation is still deserved.

I agree that having a back-up drive, though annoying, is vital.

[JimiHx]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

What size. Withtoday's prices 1TB is to small. For only a few more $$ you get 2TB. And with video editing you NEVER want to get even close to a full drive. The drives are faster if 60% or less full. I'd buy three 2TB g-tech drives for the trip. Assuming you are shooting footage that costs a fortune to shoot and can't be replaced. So dump the files to multiple backup drives and keep the drives in rotation and not all in one place

Great advice Chris, thanks for that.
Are there USB-powered, 7200 rpm and 2TB drives out there? Cause I can't seem to find them... At least not USB 3.0

[jmoore5196]

Originally Posted by ChrisA

Rules for data you care about: Data needs to be on three different physical meadi and two different geographical locations.

Truer words were never written! The key is to identify the data you care about. Snaps from your last birthday party are nice to have, but not vital. Any projects for which you're buying an external HDD, on the other hand, deserve to be backed up somewhere.

Incidentally, my vote would be for the G-Tech drives. I have one of the newer 1TB and it's an excellent performer.