External Hard Drive Choices...

[JeffHong21]

What's is a good external hard drive that is easy on the money. I'm looking for at least 1TB. What do you guys suggest?

 

[KingYaba]

Depends on the interface you're looking for. Personally I'd like to have fw800 but that gets pricey.

 

[richard.mac]

External hard drive easy on the money = external hard drive case + hard drive + building yourself.

i recommend the OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro case kit which has Firewire 400/800 + USB and also eSATA if you want. has no fan so its accoustics depend on the hard drive and it still keeps the drive cool.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW912UAL1K/ triple interface
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW924AL1K/ quad interface

and then for the hard drive i recommend the Samsung Spinpoint F1 1 TB. fast, quiet, cool.

 

[nutmac]

I've had good experiences using WD's popular My Book series. My recent addition is their 1 TB USB drive (Essential), which is only $165 at Amazon. Very quiet and sufficiently fast. For video editing, I use their FireWire equipped Studio edition.

 

[azharc]

G-Technology Drives have been getting pretty solid reviews (the ones I've read at least). A little overpriced but they're definitely high performance and reliability if that's what you're looking for.

Personally I like Seagate when it comes down to overall drive quality. But their enclosures don't look as pretty compared to most other brands.

 

[mgridgaway]

I give my nods to OWC's mercury elite line of products, but my next big purchase is a newertech maximus with hardware Raid 1. I would think about looking into that if you're looking for security, even though it comes with a pretty hefty price tag.

 

[chrono1081]

Why not buy an external enclosure and a harddrive separate? This usually yields better results for cheaper. Not to mention if something happens its easy to diagnose if it is the drive or the enclosure.

I recommend the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148274

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198006

Ok fluctuating prices are making a liar out of me. I have 4 of these setups and I paid $150 each (harddrive and enclosure combined) just a few weeks ago.

 

[JeffHong21]

I was initially going to buy it to put my dvd collection in there cause my macbook is runnign out of room and I considered that anyways when i first started. But reading through the posts, I also thought since i 'm being an animaiton/media arts major, would that make a difference in my choices for a good external hard drive?

 

[jampat]

I went with USB 2.0 to save $30 and am regretting it every day. It keeps reverting to 1.1 (this is a separate issue, but I don't thing firewire can revert, I think it is full speed all the time). The next drive will definitely have FW.