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anyone could recommend a good external hard drive for the imac?
- Thread starter gentleman00
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I got the Iomega eGo 500GB drive for free when I bought my 27" iMac from Best Buy a couple weeks ago. It has Firewire 400 and 800 as well as USB 2.0 connections. I use it with Time Machine and it seems to work really well and is fast.
I can vouch for this version of the ego drive. It is so fast on firewire 800!
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/628510-REG/Iomega_34629_500GB_eGo_Portable_Mac.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/628510-REG/Iomega_34629_500GB_eGo_Portable_Mac.html
That is just a terrible, terrible drive. It has a cache of only 8mb - ugh. It is super slow at 5400RPM - ugh. I'd run away as fast as I can from this drive.
Of course, when you ask for recommendations, it all depends on what you are going to be using the drive for. If it is only for backing up, time machine, or as a music server, then a slow drive like 5400RMP and only a USB connector will be fine.
On the other hand, if you intend to do video editing and will store your clips on this drive, then at least make sure it has a decent cache 32MB minimum (64MB or more would be better), and in addition to the USB, it should have FW 400 minimum (FW800 would be better).
If you intend to store applications you will access from this drive (like some parts of FCS or LS), then also make sure it is a fast drive like a 7200RPM, good cache, 32MB, FW400 or FW800.
If you have important files you need extra reliability for, it won't hurt to have an external drive solution that can do a RAID 1 at a minimum.
So once you've defined your needs, more recommendations can be made.
Yep, the WD drives seem good - except for some folks having issues with their FW800, but I never had a problem. I have actually 2 of the 2TB WD MyBook drives, and I'm considering a 4TB one once I buy the iMac.
Given how undemanding your purposes are, almost any drive out there will do, though personally I like the Western Digital drives.
yep thats the one i'll be getting.
Just waiting for the 2TB drive with FW800 to come down to less than $200 - a bit hard in canada. Trying to buy them off amazon results in $60 postage
Until then i'll have to make do with my 500GB USB Western Digital for backups. Should be fine, atm its packed with video files and my iTunes library, but thats because my only other HD is an 80GB internal on my PowerBook. Once the i7 with 2TB internal gets here I can copy all the video and music off and then use it as a time machine backup.
What is the situation with the WD drives and the SmartWare that's installed on them?
Does it impact using it with Time Machine? Do you just leave it there? Near as I can tell it installs a Virtual CD on your desktop that you can't easily eject. I saw on the WD website that to uninstall it you need to first update the firmware. Seems like a lot of fussing just to use a drive.
Does it impact using it with Time Machine? Do you just leave it there? Near as I can tell it installs a Virtual CD on your desktop that you can't easily eject. I saw on the WD website that to uninstall it you need to first update the firmware. Seems like a lot of fussing just to use a drive.
Well since this is an external hard drive thread (and I don't want to start another), what would you all recommend as the FASTEST external? Its for iMac, video editing scratch drive. Obviously no esata allowed, which means FW800.
I am thinking one of the G-Tech RAID 0 drives...high enough up the product line to get 64 MB of cache. FW800 with esata as well in case I ever upgrade to a Mac Pro. Can I do any better than that?
Regards,
G.
EDIT: Well I just looked at the specs again on some of the G-Tech drives and it seems 32 MB cache is as high as they come...at least on the ones that include FW800. So does anyone know of a drive with 64 MB cache?
I am thinking one of the G-Tech RAID 0 drives...high enough up the product line to get 64 MB of cache. FW800 with esata as well in case I ever upgrade to a Mac Pro. Can I do any better than that?
Regards,
G.
EDIT: Well I just looked at the specs again on some of the G-Tech drives and it seems 32 MB cache is as high as they come...at least on the ones that include FW800. So does anyone know of a drive with 64 MB cache?
Seagate
I have a Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1TB Windows edition ($20 less than the mac version) with NTFS-3G and Macfuse. I like the windows version because 1. It's less expensive. 2. With NTFS-3G installed, I can use it on my Windows Vista machine, Linux machine, and OSX. Only problem is that there is no FireWire,
but hey, it's twenty bucks cheaper. It's $120 and I highly recommend it.
I have a Seagate FreeAgent Desk 1TB Windows edition ($20 less than the mac version) with NTFS-3G and Macfuse. I like the windows version because 1. It's less expensive. 2. With NTFS-3G installed, I can use it on my Windows Vista machine, Linux machine, and OSX. Only problem is that there is no FireWire,
but hey, it's twenty bucks cheaper. It's $120 and I highly recommend it.
I've been running a pair of LaCie d2 Quadra 750 Gb drives for over a year, using the FW 800 connections to my G5. I'll just plug them right into my i7 when it arrives next week. One is used for AV file storage; the other for Time Machine for the G5's 160 Gb internal. Since the new iMac has a 1 Tb internal, I'm thinking about adding the 2 Tb version of the Quadra to use as its Time Machine drive and repurposing the 750 to backup for my MBP 320 Gb. If that makes sense.......
Anyway, I've owned several LaCie drives and never had a problem with any.
Whatever you get, make use of the FW 800.
Anyway, I've owned several LaCie drives and never had a problem with any.
Whatever you get, make use of the FW 800.
What about....
Any try this?
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock
seems like a good solution.
Any try this?
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock
seems like a good solution.
A lot of people are reporting that the casing on this drive is peeling off with heat. Whilst I haven't experienced this, I can no longer recommend this drive unreservedly.
How did you find this thread? Were you looking for it specifically?
And will I get an answer this time?
The thread (another meaning of thread) continues.
What a blind bat I am. Thanks. Avatars are much easier to recognise.
Didn't think your guide is that old though. Time surely flies and the questions keep pouring in nonetheless.