Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

External Hard Drive for 17" MacBook Pro

John Doe 57

John Doe 57

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jan 26, 2008
1,333
3
Los Angeles, CA
I have this computer model:
17-inch MacBook Pro
2.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB of RAM
200GB HD @ 7200-rpm

What I need is a cheap External Hard Drive for now. I have found these 2 links:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...tails.asp?EdpNo=3617642&body=MAIN#detailspecs
SOLD OUT

http://www.nowdirect.com/exec/partInfo/part_detail.tsb?prcpart=HMRHU1100-250

These 2 hard drives would be great for me. I only have 6GB left on my HD, and 12GB on my External HD. What I really need to know is if I can format these hard drives to Leopard. The main reason is because I have Final Cut Studio 2 and Logic Studio Pro. Thats about 100GB of Application data. If I could get Applications on an External HD, that would be great!

I don't know if I just said everything correctly but I just need a External HD that can run Leopard.
 
Well, if you max out the space available in 2 hard drives, I suggest buying something a little bigger than 250GB as a solution...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822101025

something like this could probably allow you to have all of it on one and have space for more, on top of the two you already have...

Personally I'm not a big fan of external hard drives...but that's me.
 
LaCie

LaCie make excellent externals that have FireWire 800, which is a must since you've got a MacBook Pro!
 
MarcBook said:
LaCie make excellent externals that have FireWire 800, which is a must since you've got a MacBook Pro!
Click to expand...

Yes, that is a good point, make sure that it has a Firewire 800 port for the fastest transfer rates possible on a MBP.

USB 2.0 is a dinosaur compared to firewire 800

And like I said, try and find something bigger than 250GB so that you don't run out so fast!:D
 
Well basically I want a $70 cheap but powerful hard drive. Eventually I will buy a 1TB hard drive or maybe I will move into SAS Hard Drives which can rotate at speeds of 10,000 to 15,000 rpm!
 
Warning!!!

A word of wisdom...one should always have at least 10GB (or 10% of capacity) of the drive free.

Honestly, for the kind of work you do (FCP, etc)...*I* would get an OWC RAID external.

http://dealmac.com/OWC-Mercury-Elit...ernal-RAID-Hard-Drive-price-drops/240884.html

320GB with 16MB cache for $199.99 ($20 drop)
500GB with 32MB cache for $229.99 ($10 drop)
640GB with 32MB cache for $249.99 ($18 drop)
800GB with 32MB cache for $287.99 ($12 drop)
1TB with 32MB cache now $299.99
1.5TB with 32MB cache now $339.99 after $40 rebate ($80 drop)

As an former AVID post production tech and assistant editor, your approach is asking for disaster. I sincerely hope you don't give me an opportunity to say "I told you so" in the very near future.
 
Would you recommend this for long term music production back up as well?

Would this be a good solution for backing up data related directly to Logic files on my imac? I cannot afford to lose any of it and I am perplexed by the amount of choices and disasters out there relating to external drives...

jaduffy108 said:
A word of wisdom...one should always have at least 10GB (or 10% of capacity) of the drive free.

Honestly, for the kind of work you do (FCP, etc)...*I* would get an OWC RAID external.

http://dealmac.com/OWC-Mercury-Elit...ernal-RAID-Hard-Drive-price-drops/240884.html

320GB with 16MB cache for $199.99 ($20 drop)
500GB with 32MB cache for $229.99 ($10 drop)
640GB with 32MB cache for $249.99 ($18 drop)
800GB with 32MB cache for $287.99 ($12 drop)
1TB with 32MB cache now $299.99
1.5TB with 32MB cache now $339.99 after $40 rebate ($80 drop)

As an former AVID post production tech and assistant editor, your approach is asking for disaster. I sincerely hope you don't give me an opportunity to say "I told you so" in the very near future.
Click to expand...
 
You might want a Firewire 800 Drive. The enclosure alone without drive would cost around $70 or more.

All external HD can be used with Leopard. Well all HD, with proper adapter, an be used with a Mac.

Speed wise:
eSATA > Firewire 800 > Firewire 400 > USB 2
 
Consultant said:
You might want a Firewire 800 Drive. The enclosure alone without drive would cost around $70 or more.

All external HD can be used with Leopard. Well all HD, with proper adapter, an be used with a Mac.

Speed wise:
eSATA > Firewire 800 > Firewire 400 > USB 2
Click to expand...

I heard that eSATA was just as good as FireWire 800. But if I were to get eSATA, I would spend $50 on the card and then $100+ on the drive. This drive I want is just a midterm solution. i just want something small for now. I can only imagine what it must be like having a SAS hard drive. I have been seriously looking at LaCie FireWire 800 drives for about a month now, but they are expensive. I see what happens.
 
I have the Maxtor OneTouch mini 250GB for a week. It is quite good except that you need to use two usb ports to avoid problems caused by low power.
 

Attachments

  • hd_lbd_5.jpg
    hd_lbd_5.jpg
    10.9 KB · Views: 486
I highly recommend taking a look at the LaCie Rugged Harddisks... they dont need an additional power source -- run on computer...Very sterdy -- this is what all the senior management team in our company use with their MacBook Pros (about 7 of us) and not a single complaint yet..

May be a bit pricey but worth it.. No point buying a crap harddisk which will fail on you in 2 yrs time.. 250 bucks for 320gb.. think about it..
 
zainjetha said:
I highly recommend taking a look at the LaCie Rugged Harddisks... they dont need an additional power source -- run on computer...Very sterdy -- this is what all the senior management team in our company use with their MacBook Pros (about 7 of us) and not a single complaint yet..

May be a bit pricey but worth it.. No point buying a crap harddisk which will fail on you in 2 yrs time.. 250 bucks for 320gb.. think about it..
Click to expand...

Yeah, thats a good point. Maybe I'll spend more. Thanks for the help everyone!
 
Thats what we're here for.. We don't you buying a cheap piece of s*it and then it crashing down after three months, what work do you do for a profession? whatever you do the stuff/data must be pretty valuable considering the amount of space you have used so far ./\. :)/\:(
 
zainjetha said:
Thats what we're here for.. We don't you buying a cheap piece of s*it and then it crashing down after three months, what work do you do for a profession? whatever you do the stuff/data must be pretty valuable considering the amount of space you have used so far ./\. :)/\:(
Click to expand...

Well I make movies and I edit and create music. So I use such programs as iMovie and Final Cut Pro for movies and GarageBand and Logic Studio 8 for music editing. After switching over to Final Cut Pro, I have since realized that projects take up large portions of space. So with only 5.04GB left on by MBP and 12.98GB left on my WD External HD, a new bigger HD is a must.

Lets forget about that $70 thing I said and I will buy a $150 or above HD. Preferably LaCie, but not directly from their website. (Retail is for suckers!)
 
a different option is a larger internal hard drive. It's more expensive, but less hassle than an external. So, it depends on what you value.

You can put the Hitachi 500GB drive (5K500) in a MBP17.
 
devman said:
a different option is a larger internal hard drive. It's more expensive, but less hassle than an external. So, it depends on what you value.

You can put the Hitachi 500GB drive (5K500) in a MBP17.
Click to expand...

I have looked at those too, but it won't work. I will be using both HDs (Internal and External) at the same time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back