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Need new external hard drive

F

fa8362

macrumors 68000
Jul 7, 2008
1,571
497
That drive is small, slow and usually quiet. When accessed, you'll hear a low level squeak.

Speed doesn't matter much for backup, so don't let that put you off.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,346
12,464
My advice…

Don't buy a "pre-assembled" drive.

Rather -- buy a "bare" drive, buy either an enclosure or perhaps a USB3/SATA dock, and then "roll your own".

You don't need technical expertise (even _I_ could do it!).

Advantages of doing things this way:
- you get to pick out the best combination of parts
- since you assemble it yourself, you know what's inside if you ever have problems and have to "get into things".

If you want to get a 2.5" sized drive, you might consider this enclosure:
http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U32-M.html

If you want a 3.5" drive, I think a USB3/SATA docking station might be a good choice:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Dock...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003UI62AG

Either of the above will yield VERY fast read/write speeds.

The advantage of using a USB/SATA dock is "swap-a-bility". If you get a second or third bare drive, it's a snap to just remove one drive from the dock, and put another in.
 
C

Curtiss

macrumors newbie
Mar 21, 2013
10
0
Indiana
Im using a 1.0TB wd drive with a blackx usb docking station by thermaltake. Its slow usb2 but works good for backup. Plus can swap out drives as needed.
 
Giuly

Giuly

macrumors 68040
Oct 16, 2009
3,348
4
That depends whether you ask for timezone, state o
I'd rather get the 2TB desktop version, which would allow you to keep more backup data.
61LQDmr0sOL.jpg
 
GALAGA

GALAGA

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 22, 2013
72
0
vegas
fa8362 said:
That drive is small, slow and usually quiet. When accessed, you'll hear a low level squeak.

Speed doesn't matter much for backup, so don't let that put you off.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice!

----------
Fishrrman said:
My advice…

Don't buy a "pre-assembled" drive.

Rather -- buy a "bare" drive, buy either an enclosure or perhaps a USB3/SATA dock, and then "roll your own".

You don't need technical expertise (even _I_ could do it!).

Advantages of doing things this way:
- you get to pick out the best combination of parts
- since you assemble it yourself, you know what's inside if you ever have problems and have to "get into things".

If you want to get a 2.5" sized drive, you might consider this enclosure:
http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/U32-M.html

If you want a 3.5" drive, I think a USB3/SATA docking station might be a good choice:
http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-Dock...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B003UI62AG

Either of the above will yield VERY fast read/write speeds.

The advantage of using a USB/SATA dock is "swap-a-bility". If you get a second or third bare drive, it's a snap to just remove one drive from the dock, and put another in.
Click to expand...

those are great items,I will consider doing that, thank you
 
S

scottw324

macrumors 6502
Mar 5, 2012
453
1
They just had a special Amazon for a 4TB seagate USB 3 ext hdd for $139, normally $179 and above.

Been thinking about buying it for awhile since my seagate 3TB ext hdd (bought it for $119) only has 800GB free.

Needed something that I could us to backup my movies, TV shows, and music.

I am also looking at getting the USB3/SATA drive docks for future swap ability for increased storage. I hear they can be noisy so I might just use them for backup versus using it to stream my media content to throughout the house.
 
U

utekineir

macrumors 6502
Feb 20, 2008
327
1
scottw324 said:
They just had a special Amazon for a 4TB seagate USB 3 ext hdd for $139, normally $179 and above.

Been thinking about buying it for awhile since my seagate 3TB ext hdd (bought it for $119) only has 800GB free.

Needed something that I could us to backup my movies, TV shows, and music.

I am also looking at getting the USB3/SATA drive docks for future swap ability for increased storage. I hear they can be noisy so I might just use them for backup versus using it to stream my media content to throughout the house.
Click to expand...

costco also has had this one for around $150 the last couple months.
 
Fishrrman

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,346
12,464
"I am also looking at getting the USB3/SATA drive docks for future swap ability for increased storage. I hear they can be noisy so I might just use them for backup versus using it to stream my media content to throughout the house."

They aren't noisy, at least in my experience.

So long as the drive _in_ the dock is relatively quiet, that's all you'll hear (the drive platters spinning). And that won't be very noisy at all.
 
S

scottw324

macrumors 6502
Mar 5, 2012
453
1
Fishrrman said:
"I am also looking at getting the USB3/SATA drive docks for future swap ability for increased storage. I hear they can be noisy so I might just use them for backup versus using it to stream my media content to throughout the house."

They aren't noisy, at least in my experience.

So long as the drive _in_ the dock is relatively quiet, that's all you'll hear (the drive platters spinning). And that won't be very noisy at all.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks for the info. Probably my next purchase for storage space I will make.
 
H

Hakone

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2011
509
4
Southern California
scottw324 said:
They just had a special Amazon for a 4TB seagate USB 3 ext hdd for $139, normally $179 and above.

Been thinking about buying it for awhile since my seagate 3TB ext hdd (bought it for $119) only has 800GB free.

Needed something that I could us to backup my movies, TV shows, and music.

I am also looking at getting the USB3/SATA drive docks for future swap ability for increased storage. I hear they can be noisy so I might just use them for backup versus using it to stream my media content to throughout the house.
Click to expand...

Looks like it dropped to $130 today.
 
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