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Buying a bigger Internal HDD or an External HDD?

K

Khryz

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 7, 2007
940
1
I have a Macbook with 120GB of storage and I really want more space to fit more music and movies and whatnot onto it without feeling like I'm pushing my computer to it's limits.

The obvious solution is an external hard-drive but I've research Iomega, Western Digital, Seagate, etc and it seems every product/manufacturer has it's people who love them and had no problems along with people who hate them and had their drives not work, break in a couple weeks, or within a few months and just stop working, etc. External is definitely cheaper but with the low reliability rates it's putting me off. Not to mention it seems they slow people's computers down.

Then I read about Western Digital's 320GB internal HDD which is almost triple of what I have now. With this I wouldn't have to worry about slow transfer speeds and my MB not recognizing the external, but then the trade-off is much lower HDD space options as well as them being more expensive. However internals are more reliable correct?

I suppose this is a pointless question as if I ask for people's opinions I'm going to receive what I just said - some people who loved their externals and other's who hated it.

Basically I really want to know what people think of upgrading your internal hard-drive as opposed to going the external route?
 
External hard drives won't have any effect on your system performance or "slow it down". Depending on the connection you use (USB, Firewire, etc.) you may have faster or slower transfer times between your computer and the external drive. Some externals are faster than others. There are many reliable, well-made brands. If you search the MacRumors Guides, you'll find a lot of information on drives. Also, if you search the forums you'll find dozens of existing threads on this subject.
 
iknowyourider said:
Get a WD Passport 250 for $99 on sale. Open it up and put the 250 in your MB. Put the 120 in the passport for an xtra drive.
Click to expand...

Wow. Never would have thought of this. Have you done this before? When you "open it up", it's the same HDD that you would buy specifically to be an internal replacement for your laptop - nothing different?

Also, is the process of opening it up difficult?
 
I'm hearing good things about the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500GB for $129.99 on their website.

So far it's the best rated company for externals. Hmm.
 
I would suggest getting both a bigger internal HDD and an external HDD if you can. You can never have enough drive space. If you can get both, then get an enclosure for the 120 GB drive.

If I were you, and could afford it, I would get a 500 GB external HDD, an enclosure for the 120 GB, and a 320 GB internal drive. I would use 320 GB on the external drive to clone my 320 GB internal drive, and the remaining space to backup the 120 GB external drive.

Always think about backing up your files. You never know when a HDD will beat the dust. A huge internal HDD won't be of any help if it crashes and you lose all your files.

--
Patrick
 
I'd recommend WD Scorpio 320 GB internal, goes for around $110-$120 on newegg.com and macsales.com. That's what I have in my 2.2 Ghz Blackbook. Be careful about the WD Passport suggestion, something about the cache being smaller or something. It may not be a big deal though. Those Seagate FreeAgents; aren't they big? And you'd have to plug it into a power outlet. Aren't you going for portability? Any major HD manufacturer should be okay, like WD, Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi. Samsung has a new 500GB 9.5mm SATA that I'm eyeing, but it's too expensive for now. macsales.com has a pretty good website for choosing the right hard drive (or any part for that matter) for your Mac. Good luck and enjoy!
 
Khryz said:
I'm hearing good things about the Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500GB for $129.99 on their website.

So far it's the best rated company for externals. Hmm.
Click to expand...

May i see a link, and they came out with 500gb 2.5 satas now actually i forget the company but its kinda pricey seeing its new and its a 2.5
 
patrickmacrumor said:
I would suggest getting both a bigger internal HDD and an external HDD if you can. You can never have enough drive space. If you can get both, then get an enclosure for the 120 GB drive.

If I were you, and could afford it, I would get a 500 GB external HDD, an enclosure for the 120 GB, and a 320 GB internal drive. I would use 320 GB on the external drive to clone my 320 GB internal drive, and the remaining space to backup the 120 GB external drive.

Always think about backing up your files. You never know when a HDD will beat the dust. A huge internal HDD won't be of any help if it crashes and you lose all your files.

--
Patrick
Click to expand...

I completely agree and that is actually a very smart solution. However I do not have the money right now to do both. Maybe in a few months. But this is definitely something I am going to be doing when I can afford it.

Thanks Patrick.

vultureboy70 said:
I'd recommend WD Scorpio 320 GB internal, goes for around $110-$120 on newegg.com and macsales.com. That's what I have in my 2.2 Ghz Blackbook. Be careful about the WD Passport suggestion, something about the cache being smaller or something. It may not be a big deal though. Those Seagate FreeAgents; aren't they big? And you'd have to plug it into a power outlet. Aren't you going for portability? Any major HD manufacturer should be okay, like WD, Seagate, Samsung, Hitachi. Samsung has a new 500GB 9.5mm SATA that I'm eyeing, but it's too expensive for now. macsales.com has a pretty good website for choosing the right hard drive (or any part for that matter) for your Mac. Good luck and enjoy!
Click to expand...

I saw the Scorpio from WD but I didn't read too many reviews about it since I was under the impression the 320GB internal drives are relatively new to laptops?

Yeah the FreeAgents are big but despite the fact that I do have a laptop Macbook 95% of the time my computer is on my desk, and 100% of the time it stays at my house because I don't have any need to transport it.

I just want something that I can transfer lots of my files too and not have to worry about bogging down my internal drive. Thanks for the Macsales.com recommendation too!

MacHappytjg said:
May i see a link, and they came out with 500gb 2.5 satas now actually i forget the company but its kinda pricey seeing its new and its a 2.5
Click to expand...

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...7f70110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&reqPage=Model
 
Khryz said:
I completely agree and that is actually a very smart solution. However I do not have the money right now to do both. Maybe in a few months. But this is definitely something I am going to be doing when I can afford it.

Thanks Patrick.
Click to expand...

You're welcome. I certainly know the feeling about finance being a problem. I did not get AppleCare for my MacBook until about 9 months of my purchase. I had to save for it.

In the meantine, if you go ahead with a bigger internal HDD, you can always backup your critical files to DVDs. I'm a big backup freak :) In 2004 my PC HDD died just after I submitted my last assignment. Needless to say, that I started to think seriously about backup after that.

Good luck !

--
Patrick
 
MacHappytjg said:
if u buy it do u plan on putting it in ur macbook cause im not sure if esatas are the same as satas are they?
Click to expand...

Nah if I buy that I'll use it as an external HDD. As far as an internal HDD there seems to be a lot of 320GB internal HDD that are good, and even I saw a thread before of a Samsung 500GB internal HDD for around $320.
 
Khryz said:
Nah if I buy that I'll use it as an external HDD. As far as an internal HDD there seems to be a lot of 320GB internal HDD that are good, and even I saw a thread before of a Samsung 500GB internal HDD for around $320.
Click to expand...

Yea sounds good i just use one for music movies games and programs oviously.. im actually not sure what mine is its a 3.5 but not an ide.
 
Khryz said:
I have a Macbook with 120GB of storage and I really want more space to fit more music and movies and whatnot onto it without feeling like I'm pushing my computer to it's limits.

Basically I really want to know what people think of upgrading your internal hard-drive as opposed to going the external route?
Click to expand...

Internal will be faster. If you want capacity, then get either WD or Samsung's (my favorite) 2.5" 320 gig 2-platter drives. (Or if you can swing it, Samsung's 500 gig 2.5" drive.) The Samsung goes for about $120 and I'm sure the WD is close to that. You could then get a FW enclosure for your old drive (make sure it has an internal SATA interface) and then you'd have an external portable drive that is powered off of the FW cable. Most USB enclosures require an external power supply or two USB ports to power them. A pain in the @$$ if you ask me.

A 500 gig external 3.5" USB drive would be handy for Time Machine backups or media storage.
 
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