"Smallest" External Hard Drive for use with MBA?

I believe that the largest 1.8" HDD made is 220GB and I don't know of any external drives using such small components.

I have a couple of those tiny Memorex USB 1" HD drives, but their capacity is fairly small, 4GB and 8GB. I don't think they make them any more, as 8GB flash drives are smaller and cheaper.

The smallest "drive" I have found it the Lexar Echo ZE 32GB USB 2.0 Backup DriveLEHZE32GASBNA currently at $60. You can barely see it on the side of the Air. I use it to store movies and videos to watch, but not take up precious ssd space.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031RG2A6/ref=oss_product

-howard

Hey,

Hopefully, I'm not hijacking the thread here... See bottom for large Air drive recommendation.

About the Lexar Echo... Does it get hot? I am in the market for a very small USB stick like that but the last one I tried got very hot so I took it back to Fry's.

I found one review on Newegg and the guy said it got hot and that it had problems transferring large files. Have you noticed any issues?

Thanks in advance.

Also, for a large capacity USB HD, I use the Iomega eGo silver model. Mine is last year's model - 320 GB and I have had no issues with it. Admittedly, it looks more like the older model Air, but it is pretty thin.

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0347330

Just bought. Love.

I have a 50G SDD in my MBP, I've got all the storage I could ever use wirelessly with my NAS (Synology) and WebDAV.

happyslayer said:

Hey,

About the Lexar Echo... Does it get hot? I am in the market for a very small USB stick like that but the last one I tried got very hot so I took it back to Fry's.

I found one review on Newegg and the guy said it got hot and that it had problems transferring large files. Have you noticed any issues?

Thanks in advance.

Click to expand...

I haven't had any problems with mine so far. I am surprised it would get hot unless it was defective. There is also a tiny little USB device which holds a microSD card and it is even smaller than the Lexar Echo. The microSD card inserts into the USB plug side of the thing ... amazing!

http://www.amazon.com/elago-Mobile-microSDHC-Memory-Reader/dp/B002HGFKR8


-howard

hfg said:

The smallest "drive" I have found it the Lexar Echo ZE 32GB USB 2.0 Backup DriveLEHZE32GASBNA currently at $60. You can barely see it on the side of the Air. I use it to store movies and videos to watch, but not take up precious ssd space.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0031RG2A6/ref=oss_product

-howard

Click to expand...

Users report this drive as being extremely slow. I need a drive for the reasons you mentioned above -- I need storage for movies that I can watch on the plane on my MBA. Does the poor performance of this drive make it a bad choice for this use?

This isn't a 1.8" hard drive but rather a USB thumb drive. Expensive, but technically small and larger than 250 GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139147

Sam Spade said:

Users report this drive as being extremely slow. I need a drive for the reasons you mentioned above -- I need storage for movies that I can watch on the plane on my MBA. Does the poor performance of this drive make it a bad choice for this use?

Click to expand...

It seems to work fine with the .m4v HandBrake files on my 11" MB Air viewing under VLC. It does not heat up at all. I did reformat the drive as OS Extended Journaled (it comes as Fat32. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. I have seen a very short video breakup once or twice, but I don't really know if that is the encoding of the video, the MBAir, or the memory speed.

-howard

I've got a 16GB MosKeyTo and a 1TB Rikiki GO. I'm thinking of returning the Rikiki Go, though. The picures make it look like it's exactly as thick as the USB connector, but it's actually about 40% thicker. I'm guessing that the pic is of the 500GB version and that the 1TB model has an additional platter, making it thicker. In any case, it's a little thicker than I would like. I think I may just stick with my 320GB Seagate FreeAgent Go for now.

You realistically have three options:

1. SD card (assuming you have a new 13".) They're available at up to 64 GB, obviously still under your 250 GB requirement. There are USB flash drives at up to 256 GB, but they're insanely expensive ($700+,) 128 GB is slightly better at ~$300. I lump SD and USB together in the 'ultra-small, but expensive for the capacity' grouping.

2. 1.8" hard drive. These are the same hard drives that are used in the iPod Classic. More expensive than physically-larger, at much lower capacities, but still way cheaper than an SD card or USB drive of equal size. Toshiba *JUST* released a 250 GB model, but it isn't shipping in any devices yet.

3. 2.5" hard drive. Bigger than a 1.8", but still not too big (and USB-powered.) Available up to 1 TB. This really is your best bet. They're not too large, yet they are available in high capacities, for not too much money.

There's also the "not really the same thing" choice of cloud storage. Many different internet-storage providers, from the simple Apple MobileMe iDisk to Microsoft SkyDrive, etc. Most have a monthly/yearly cost, and you have to have internet access to get to them, but they don't require anything physically present.

I use a lacie rikiki hard drive (up to 1tb) and a moskeyto usb key (up to 16gb) too. They both look great!
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11559
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11572

The Samsung S1 250GB 1.8" USB hard drive has been shipping for over a year.

Perfect for the MBA.

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/newsView.do?b2b_bbs_msg_id=261

This is my Toshiba 250gb 1.8" drive.

It cost me £90 from Amazon.

I use it with my Mac Mini's and my work laptop.

It measures 90mm by 58mm by 10mm.

It is thing of beauty as well as ver small. Comes with a protective case - as the casing is black chrome...



Whoops! Shown bigger than actual size. Sorry about that...

Thiol said:

This isn't a 1.8" hard drive but rather a USB thumb drive. Expensive, but technically small and larger than 250 GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139147

Click to expand...

LOL

256GB
$722.99
"Limit 100 per customer."

Sure, I want 101 at that price.

Consultant said:

$722.99
"Limit 100 per customer."

Sure, I want 101 at that price.

Click to expand...

I know, right? Crazy price...

DukeOfHunslet said:

Whoops! Shown bigger than actual size. Sorry about that...

Click to expand...

Use tags :)

And.. very nice HD! Small enough to slip in a pocket / bag without ever noticing it.

Looks like in the U.S. one has to buy a bare 1.8" HDD, and a 1.8" USB enclosure separately.

I bought the Samsung S1 250GB for £33 from here. Now only pink and red 120GB sizes left for £28 delivered for those in the UK. Much smaller and lighter than its 2.5" sibling and less shoddy on the transfer rates than you might have expected. I have quite small hands - this thing is really compact.




Low res photo courtesy of the MBA it accompanies.

Hopefully these will come down in price and go up in capacity fairly quickly

http://www.lacie.com/uk/products/product.htm?pid=11589

Then you can have SSD backup too.

weckart said:

I bought the Samsung S1 250GB for £33 from here. Now only pink and red 120GB sizes left for £28 delivered for those in the UK. Much smaller and lighter than its 2.5" sibling and less shoddy on the transfer rates than you might have expected. I have quite small hands - this thing is really compact.

Low res photo courtesy of the MBA it accompanies.

Click to expand...

Only pink left, even at that low price I can't do pink