External Hard drive - new macbooks - advice

[Clayne]

I'm leaving for college in less than a month, and I don't really want to bring my desktop PC. I thought the new Macbooks would be out by now, but since they aren't, I'm still going to wait.

In the meantime, should I get an external harddrive and put all my data (mostly music) in it until I get the notebook? I could use it on other people's computers in the meantime, also.

What's the difference between different brands of hard drive? Which would you choose?

My current HD is 80 GB and all but 5 GBs is being used. What size external should I get? 100, just enough to fit it? or something bigger for when I have more stuff?

Thanks,
Clayne

 

[Drumjim85]

i would get as large as you can (for the price you're willing to spend)... when you finally do get your computer you can use that large drive for backing stuff up, and the bigger the drive, the further back your backups can go.

 

[techound1]

The price diff between 100 and 250 is so small relative to the amount you get, I would agree with drum.

I just went though buying an external HD for my spouse's iTunes library, which is around 250gb. I scoured fora and buying sites and mfg's sites. There didn't seem to be any one recommended drive and there was always a contingent of those who despised product X. I punted and went with a refurb lacie (from their website) - it was cheap and I figured somebody else found whatever problems it was going to have. So far, it's been great. Hope that helps.

 

[archesdevil]

I bought a western digital external hard drive years ago to do exactly what you're wanting to do. The HD is still working and I have preserved all my files for over 5 years and several Macs. I now have a 1TB western digital backing up my MacBook with Time Machine.

So, I highly recommend getting a western digital.

 

[7on]

You could always just get an external enclosure and just use the 80GB as is.

I got my cable for hooking up IDE and SATA for $15

 

[Clayne]

Thanks for the replies! I'll look into those!

As for the WD drives - are these the ones?

http://westerndigital.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=9&language=en

Is it true that the smaller ones (2.5") die quickly?

Thanks,
Clayne

 

[binaryskies]

I've used both WD MyBook External Hard Drives (for personal use) and laCie external drives (for my work) and haven't had any problems with either one. If you are looking for something that won't break the bank but allow tons of storage I would either go with the WD MyBook 320GB USB 2.0 External Drive, which needs a power source (http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Essential-External-WDH1U3200N/dp/B000XRMAOE) or the laCie Mobile Disk 250GB USB 2.0 External Drive, which is plug and play so you don't need a power source (http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-250GB-M...3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1206380436&sr=1-3). Both are under $100 dollars and would allow you to transfer your files and still have plenty of room for more.

-binaryskies