External Hard Drives?

[BiikeMike]

I'm looking for a 250-500 GB (depending on price) External hard drive. I have a few questions about external drives.

I have a G4 Powerbook, and a Windoze XP Pro desktop. If I get an external, and partition it, will both machines be able to see all the partitions? I want to be able to keep photos and music on it to share with both computers, but also have seperate partitions to back up each system respectively.

On that note, what is the best way to back up a Mac? I have Norton Ghost for the PC, but I haven't backed this on up yet...

 

[BiikeMike]

Oh yeah, USB and FireWire would be preferred


Thanks

 

[Keebler]

fat32 is the way to go

Hi biikemike,

I have a bunch of externals - lacies have been dependable. They run hot, but are worth it. especially if you'll be doing backups...leave it off when not in use.
they have FW and are fairly priced. g-tech is another great brand, but they are a bit more expensive.

check out versiontracker for backup software. i use retrospect as it came with maxtor and it's pretty good.

as for sharing, format in fat32 as both winxp and mac recognize it. in fact, i think it's the only format recognized by both.

cheers,
keebler

 

[Meyvn]

Iomega's Triple Black drives are probably the best ones on the market. They have USB 2.0, Firewire 400, and Firewire 800 (hence the triple part). I've heard their USB 2.0 isn't that great, but that the firewire is superb. Regardless, very few drives have 800, which you CAN use on a PB, and is a HUGE benefit.

 

[JW8725]

Hi biikemike,

I have a bunch of externals - lacies have been dependable. They run hot, but are worth it. especially if you'll be doing backups...leave it off when not in use.
they have FW and are fairly priced. g-tech is another great brand, but they are a bit more expensive.

check out versiontracker for backup software. i use retrospect as it came with maxtor and it's pretty good.

as for sharing, format in fat32 as both winxp and mac recognize it. in fact, i think it's the only format recognized by both.

cheers,
keebler

With all due respect I beg to differ from this newbie. LaCie HD's are NOISY and expensive. Try the search feature, should throw up past threads on those nasty things. Stay away from LaCie HDs! I was lucky enough to flog mine, I wont be going back there! Grab something like a Samsung Spin point and buy a case for it. Cheaper and silent too.

 

[CalfCanuck]

While I often recommend buying a complete unit to non-techies, one good thing about a do it yourself (buy HD and case separately) is a longer warranty.

I just purchased a 500 GB Seagate 7200 rpm with a separate FW800/400/USB2 case for $478 from Other World Computing. The nice thing was the 5 year warranty on the Seagate, versus 1 year on a LaCie (I have a couple of those as well). And the HD drops in the case in a couple of minutes (in case you've never done this before).

 

[Greenjeens]

Backing up Ext HD iTunes Library to DVD?

Being a newb I liked the 200GB (Seagate) from OWC Other World Computing which was basically plug and play. I got the version that allows USB and Fire Wire 400/800 for maximum future proofing.

Apparently Seagate made some bad 300GB hardrives and I've read a number of negative user reviews which strongly recommend staying away from certain 300GB Seagate drives. They were selling for $99... for a reason.

Perhaps the next drive I get will be a kit, using a Seagate drive seperately to get the 5 year warranty instead of only 2 years when pre assembled from OWC.

Given the fact that a HD can fail at anytime, no matter what kind of reputation or warranty it has, I'm also looking for the correct format and procedure to burn my 100+ GB's worth of iTunes (Apple Lossless) files to discs.

So far it appears DVD-R is an appropriate media, which I have plenty of. Perhaps i'll use Toast Titanium 7 software which has very useful CD text function, which iTunes burn seem to lack. Not sure if CD text makes a difference in archiving a large Apple Losslessly written music library to disc though?

I'm not sure which is the best format to write the 20 or so DVD's in, since my music files are 95% Apple Lossless. I'd hate to lose my entire music collection in the event of a HD failure or have to reconvert the files to some intermediate format to repopulate my HD collection losslessly.

Several users mentioned writing the iTunes library to DVD Data format, but I'm not sure how the Apple Lossless to DVD data, back to AL would actually work out? Any tips?

-
David

 

[plinkoman]

With all due respect I beg to differ from this newbie.

ok... so because they have a few fewer posts then you, they are incapable of offering advice on something they mentioned they had several of??

ok, well i'm not a newb, and i have several lacie drives, so here's my critique of them: they are NOT noisy, and, cost per gigabyte, are among the least expensive i've found. none that i have (porsche 160GB fw400 & bigger disk extreme 500GB triple interface) run very hot, and none have had any errors on them ever.

i would HIGHLY recommend lacie drives, i have had nothing but good experience with them, nor have the several freinds of mine who also have them. and check newegg if your interested in buying one, they usually have them around 10% less then what lacie charge

 

[thedude110]

With all due respect I beg to differ from this newbie. LaCie HD's are NOISY and expensive. Try the search feature, should throw up past threads on those nasty things. Stay away from LaCie HDs! I was lucky enough to flog mine, I wont be going back there! Grab something like a Samsung Spin point and buy a case for it. Cheaper and silent too.

Choose your words carefully -- I'm not sure a newbie would feel all of your "due respect"!

I have had no noise problems with my LaCies, and more importantly, they haven't thrown any of my data. If the Samsung is cheaper and as reliable, then fine. But I stand by my LaCie to the same degree that I stand by my Toyota Corolla!

Here's the LaCie I'm using at the moment. Maybe there are faster externals. Maybe there are quieter externals. But I have zero complaints about my LaCie HD.

 

[IanF0729]

Although I am still a newbie, I must say that I stand by LaCie 100%. I have used them for years dealing with multi-page *.tiff files for my company and have never lost any data from them. Gives the number of Terabytes that I have transferred from various servers onto them and off of them I couldn't have asked for a better brand.

They're easy to manange and easy to back up with the software (SilverKeeper) accompanied with them.

I even have one at home now, which I've had no problems with.

 

[Keebler]

maybe a newbie to these boards...

With all due respect I beg to differ from this newbie. LaCie HD's are NOISY and expensive. Try the search feature, should throw up past threads on those nasty things. Stay away from LaCie HDs! I was lucky enough to flog mine, I wont be going back there! Grab something like a Samsung Spin point and buy a case for it. Cheaper and silent too.

i don't find my lacie's that noisy. and definitely not expensive. i can get one for under $200 USD for a 250 GBr. The g-techs are the most expensive i've seen, but they also have a 2 year warranty.

I would not personally buy an enclosure and then an internal HD for backing up.
if you buy an external, at least it comes with a warranty.