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Ext. HD suggestions/recommendations

jxyama

jxyama

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Apr 3, 2003
3,735
1
hey guys,

i'm in a market for an ext. HD would love any suggestions or recommendations...

what i have:
12" PB with 40 GB HD. it's got about 10 GB left in free space.

biggest collections are:
iPhoto collection - 2 GB (constantly increasing...)
iTunes collection - 15 GB (pretty stable...)
iMovie collection - 2 GB thus far, soon to increase (i don't have a dig. camcorder but i like to make movies from photos.)

i realize it's not much, but i'd like to back them up or move them off the int. HD.


what i'm considering:
i can get either a large HD (~100 GB) that runs on AC adapter or a smaller HD (~40 GB) that's fanless and can be powered by firewire cable for about the same price. (around $200) i do not need the very fast rpm or a big buffer. (4200 rpm and 2 MB buffer is enough.) i'm personally leaning toward the micro HD since i don't think i need much more than 40 GB, if that much.

questions:
1) what manufacturer is good? i've seen wiebetech and lacie. i've seen lacie d2 HD and it's nice. wiebetech combo+ drive is also pretty nice, quiet and bus powered. i've also seen some ads for Other World Computing's Mercury on-the-go HD. that one looks really cool. anyone with experience? any brands to avoid?

2) what vendor would you recommend?

3) my gf has a dell with usb. if i get a dual connector HD, she'll be able to back up her files, albeit at usb 1 speed. how painful is this? she won't have much to back up, probably a few GBs...

4) any other comments or suggestions are welcome!

EDIT: other option i could consider... if i can use it well, a DVD burner wouldn't be out of the question. i don't think i can run iDVD because i don't have a superdrive, but how else would a DVD burner work? would it be a viable backup option?
 
Man, you have too many songs in that computer. All my CD collection is in just one DVD disc.

I sugest you to start using the iTunes radio stations a bit more, since then I do not use my CDs any more.

Your problem is that you are not managing your files well, I have 2 powerbooks, one with 9 GB and another one with 30 GB. I have an external 60 GB IB Hard Drive (do not get IBM) and I use it to storage video. What I do not need I burn it in a external super drive.

Any way, I would sugest you to get a super drive and star backing up all your data in DVDs. That is your best choice, if you need it in the future just drop it back in.
 
Originally posted by mymemory
Man, you have too many songs in that computer. All my CD collection is in just one DVD disc.

I sugest you to start using the iTunes radio stations a bit more, since then I do not use my CDs any more.

Your problem is that you are not managing your files well, I have 2 powerbooks, one with 9 GB and another one with 30 GB. I have an external 60 GB IB Hard Drive (do not get IBM) and I use it to storage video. What I do not need I burn it in a external super drive.

Any way, I would sugest you to get a super drive and star backing up all your data in DVDs. That is your best choice, if you need it in the future just drop it back in.
Click to expand...

really..? it's about 2500 songs, ripped at AAC 160 kbps... i didn't think it was that much music...

anyway, i'd rather not tinker with replacing my ComboDrive with a SuperDrive, so i will strongly consider getting an external DVD-R (presumably..., not DVD+R) drive...

any rec's?
 
Originally posted by jxyama
really..? it's about 2500 songs, ripped at AAC 160 kbps... i didn't think it was that much music...

anyway, i'd rather not tinker with replacing my ComboDrive with a SuperDrive, so i will strongly consider getting an external DVD-R (presumably..., not DVD+R) drive...

any rec's?
Click to expand...

It's not that much - Apple wouldn't be selling 30GB iPods if it was unusual to have 15GB of tunes!

In answer to your question though - got for an empty FireWire enclosure, then buy an internal hard disk to put in it. This has the advantage of being upgradable later. For example, you may buy a 40GB hard disk and fill it in a year, then you can just swap it for a 250GB, in the same case etc.

You might like to consider a FireWire 800 combo case too. These have FW800, FW400 and USB2 - that way in the next couple of years if you upgrade your mac, it's most likely it will have either USB2 or FW800 do you'd be prepared for maximum performance through the years.
 
Originally posted by mymemory
(do not get IBM)
Click to expand...

First off, IBM sold there drive sector to Hitachi (except NFS and stuff like that).

I have:
2x Hitachi 120 gigs (dual case)
One 120 gig Maxtor
One 80 gig Maxtor (had to get it replaced once)
And one 20 gig Western Digital (That one crashes disk utility, think it is the case's bridge set)
60 gig Maxtor (internal)

IMO "IBM" hasn't had a problem yet, but I heard the old ones did.

Also I leave my drives on 24/7 for my "file server" :p
 
Originally posted by gotohamish
In answer to your question though - got for an empty FireWire enclosure, then buy an internal hard disk to put in it. This has the advantage of being upgradable later. For example, you may buy a 40GB hard disk and fill it in a year, then you can just swap it for a 250GB, in the same case etc.

You might like to consider a FireWire 800 combo case too. These have FW800, FW400 and USB2 - that way in the next couple of years if you upgrade your mac, it's most likely it will have either USB2 or FW800 do you'd be prepared for maximum performance through the years.
Click to expand...

ah, thanks for the info! i was wondering what those are for... this might be a very good idea. i think 40GB is enough for me now, but who knows in a year or two. i'm already tempted to get a camcorder... :p

thanks! i think i will go along this line...
 
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