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Bus Powered External HD?

micvog

micvog

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 10, 2003
422
0
I am looking to get an external HD to backup my system before upgrading to Tiger - backing 20GB of data to DVD is too much hassle.

I have been leaning towards a "portable" external HD. Is there any down-side to a bus-powered HD? I like the idea of fewer cables, but I seem to recall that connecting the iSight and the iPod to the computer at the same time was causing issues which many felt were bus-power related.

I have a strong preference for a FW drive as I am running out of USB ports.

FWIW, I have a 1.8GHz SuperDrive iMac G5 w/1GB RAM and the following devices connected:

* 3G 20GB iPod (thinking of selling for a 2G iPod Mini)
* USB Bluetooth Dongle
* Apple Keyboard/Mouse
* HP DJ 5740
* DSL Modem via Ethernet

Thanks.
 
The biggest drawback is price, but if you're willing to spend some money you'll have a nice little bus powered drive.

And you're right about iSight. If I just plug it in I immediately lose all my other FW devices--iPod, drives, EyeTV.
 
I don't have any actual statistics but it seems like FW powered drives are slower than the beefier A/C powered external drives.
 
Thanks. At this point I will assume it is an iSight-specific issue and not applicable to all bus-powered devices.

Sedulous said:
I don't have any actual statistics but it seems like FW powered drives are slower than the beefier A/C powered external drives.
Click to expand...

Probably true. All of the bus-powered FW drives I have found are 2.5" 4200RPM/5400RPM laptop drives. The externally powered drives tend to be 3.5" 7200RPM drives, although there are externally powered 2.5" drives as well.
 
FWIW, I love my LaCie Mobile Drive. Its only 40 GB, but that is enough for my needs. I haven't noticed any problems while using it, but I don't have an iSight or anything else bus powered. If you need to carry a drive around on a daily basis, I highly reccomend this drive.

I got mine from LA Computer (found on dealmac.com) for $100. May be too much for a back up drive, but highly worth it if you need to carry the drive around a lot.
 
kgarner said:
FWIW, I love my LaCie Mobile Drive. Its only 40 GB, but that is enough for my needs. I haven't noticed any problems while using it, but I don't have an iSight or anything else bus powered. If you need to carry a drive around on a daily basis, I highly reccomend this drive.

I got mine from LA Computer (found on dealmac.com) for $100. May be too much for a back up drive, but highly worth it if you need to carry the drive around a lot.
Click to expand...

Thanks kgarner. I did not know about dealmac - that is exactly the kind of setup I am looking for.
 
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