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External hard drive

I

iPegboy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jan 13, 2003
212
0
Detroit
Hey everyone, I have a G3 20BG iBook and I’m looking to get an external hard drive. I’m running Panther and have read a little bit about problems with Firewire stuff. I’m curious if anyone has success stories about certain products? I’m looking for 80+ GB and hope to keep the price under $150.

These are two from mac mall that are possibilities.

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=134488

http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=241751

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
dunno why people are having problems with external HDD on a Mac... I have a Maxtor 160GB plugged in through FireWire400, and a LaCie 250GB plugged in through FireWire800... havnt had a single problem.

Those drives you choose seem to be good, but I dont know much about those brands. I would look into LaCie drives, ive worked with many of them, and I have yet to have a real problem with them.
 
I've had good results with an internal Maxtor hard drive, but I don't know about the externals. (yes yes they are the same I know, but the abuse an external takes might be different than an internal)

I second the LaCie drives-- they have a pretty good reputation around here.

And who has had a problem? Very few people I suspect.
 
jackieonasses said:
If Maxtor makes an external hard drive.... Avoid them. I don't think they are very reliable. Go with a LaCie, I have had wonderful results with them. (just make sure it's not usb)
Click to expand...

The maxtor externals are good. They have oxford chipsets and all have 8 mb cache.

My LaCie has a Maxtor 6Y250P0 drive inside (LaCie extreme 250GB)
 
iPegboy said:
Hey everyone, I have a G3 20BG iBook and I’m looking to get an external hard drive. I’m running Panther and have read a little bit about problems with Firewire stuff. I’m curious if anyone has success stories about certain products? I’m looking for 80+ GB and hope to keep the price under $150.
Click to expand...
The problem was with some Oxford Chipsets. They just needed updated firmware. The best thing to do is to always remember to unplug your firewire drive before updating to 10.3.xxx whatever. Same thing for when you upgrade to Tiger.

For that price though, forget MacMall. Go to Newegg.com and buy a nice, big drive with a 3-5 year warranty. Seagate has some good ones with a 5 year warranty now. Then just get an external case. FW and USB2, preferrably. Make sure it has support for large drives too. Some older ones you can only go up to 127GB.

If you are interested, I have an black external FireWire/USB2 200GB Seagate I was going to be selling in a few weeks on eBay. I'm upgrading the case and drive (dual drives, 250GB Hitachi!). Cheaper than anything you'd buy anywhere else and still under warranty.
 
thanks for the tips. i think i'm being dumb here, is there any difference between firewire400 and firewire800 besides the speed of transfer? like, i know i have a firewire400 on my iBook, but is the firewire800's connection any different?

this LaCie: http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=267261 doesn't say if it's a 400 or an 800. if it was an 800, would i be screwed?

If you are interested, I have an black external FireWire/USB2 200GB Seagate I was going to be selling in a few weeks on eBay.
Click to expand...

do you take credit cards? the reason i'm making the purchase is i have one of those visa pre-paid gift cards that can be used just like a debit card or whatever.
 
iPegboy said:
thanks for the tips. i think i'm being dumb here, is there any difference between firewire400 and firewire800 besides the speed of transfer? like, i know i have a firewire400 on my iBook, but is the firewire800's connection any different?

this LaCie: http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=267261 doesn't say if it's a 400 or an 800. if it was an 800, would i be screwed?



do you take credit cards? the reason i'm making the purchase is i have one of those visa pre-paid gift cards that can be used just like a debit card or whatever.
Click to expand...

Well, I don't think not knowing something is dumb and it's always wise to ask when you don't know. But to answer your question: Firewire 800 (9-pin connection) wouldn't fit on a Firewire 400 port (6-pin). So you might be screwed, if it wasn't for the fact LaCie sells a range of triple connection drives (USB 2, Fierwire 400 and 800) and if your choice were one of those, you wuldn't have a problem (apart from a slightly higher price).
 
iPegboy said:
thanks for the tips. i think i'm being dumb here, is there any difference between firewire400 and firewire800 besides the speed of transfer? like, i know i have a firewire400 on my iBook, but is the firewire800's connection any different?
Click to expand...
FW800 is more expensive because it is theoretically faster, but it is backward compatible with an adapter. Most FW800 drives nowadays have a 400 connector anyway. But it would be a waste of money, since you only have FW400.

do you take credit cards? the reason i'm making the purchase is i have one of those visa pre-paid gift cards that can be used just like a debit card or whatever.
Click to expand...
I don't, sorry. I do take Paypal, and you can pay with a credit/debit card through them. But at this point, I'd have to recommend Newegg.com again. I have always been happy with them and you would get much more for your money.

If you do have a Paypal account, and are interested, we can work something out. I don't sell much, but I have never had a complaint, and have been around here for a couple of years.
 
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