External Harddrive Help!

[-JoeyB-]

Ok, so im going to get a mac mini next week. And im only getting 80gb. I was wondering if you guys know much about this one, the one I have :
http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObj...e/shop_mac/mac_accessories/storage&nplm=TL883

Mines only 250 gb but thats beside the point.

What im wondering is.

Im a huge music freak, so I'll have all my music backed up on this from my PC for when I switch. Now i would like to save the harddrive built into the mac for homework and stuff. So the ext would be my media drive.

Does anyone know if its possible to leave this drive turned on along side my mini so its always ready for use?

I have my PC and probley will have my mini on around 10 hours a day, around 10-12 hours.

Or am I better getting one of them stacks thats always connected?
Thanks,
Joe.

 

[veteq]

I got two of them and they work great; they are quiet, quick for USB drives but fast enough for me to store and work on my RAW camera files.

I use one for my photos, the second one for timeMachine and the internal drive for everything else. Go for it, you won't be sorry.

 

[Wayne s]

Cheaper on Amazon with free P&P. I was thinking of getting one as well but think I will hold on until I can afford a firewire drive.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

Cheaper on Amazon with free P&P. I was thinking of getting one as well but think I will hold on until I can afford a firewire drive.

Is firewire 400 any faster than USB 2.0? I seem to remember reading that it's only worth it if you get a firewire 800 drive. Or maybe I'm crazy.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Is firewire 400 any faster than USB 2.0? I seem to remember reading that it's only worth it if you get a firewire 800 drive. Or maybe I'm crazy.

Yes, F/W 400 is better than USB 2.0. Refer to the latter part of this thread.

 

[DoFoT9]

Is firewire 400 any faster than USB 2.0? I seem to remember reading that it's only worth it if you get a firewire 800 drive. Or maybe I'm crazy.

much MUCH faster...


yea you could go that, although something FW would be preferable. i leave my HD's on for weeks at a time, they are hard drives afterall the same as any other laptop/desktop computer and can be left on. so yea...your choice really.

p.s. just be careful about the formatting.

 

[tersono]

Is firewire 400 any faster than USB 2.0? I seem to remember reading that it's only worth it if you get a firewire 800 drive. Or maybe I'm crazy.

On paper, the USB2 and FW400 specs are similar, but USB can't sustain consistently high throughput the way that FW400 can. Firewire all the way, baby

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

On paper, the USB2 and FW400 specs are similar, but USB can't sustain consistently high throughput the way that FW400 can. Firewire all the way, baby

Wow. I'm really gonna have to switch out my cables when I get home. I have an external formatted as FAT32 for transfers back and forth between Mac and PC land, and it has support for USB 2.0, and both Firewire 400 and 800. My MBP of course has all 3, but the PC only has USB and 400. Guess I'll be pulling the USB cable and searching for the 400 cable somewhere! Thanks for the advice.

 

[DoFoT9]

Wow. I'm really gonna have to switch out my cables when I get home. I have an external formatted as FAT32 for transfers back and forth between Mac and PC land, and it has support for USB 2.0, and both Firewire 400 and 800. My MBP of course has all 3, but the PC only has USB and 400. Guess I'll be pulling the USB cable and searching for the 400 cable somewhere! Thanks for the advice.

yeap just use USB when transferring from PC, then chop to FW for Mac.. simple

 

[-JoeyB-]

Cool, I already have one downstairs with old files which I dont need on it, so im going to clear it out.

Is it safe to use it turned on for most of the day as it will basicly be a 2nd harddrive.

 

[DarkHeraldMage]

yeap just use USB when transferring from PC, then chop to FW for Mac.. simple

Question then - is it possible to have it hooked up to both computers at the same time? Can I have it hooked up to the PC using USB 2.0 and to the Mac using firewire 800? Can both see it at the same time and make changes, as long as the data being changed isn't the same?

 

[DoFoT9]

Cool, I already have one downstairs with old files which I dont need on it, so im going to clear it out.

Is it safe to use it turned on for most of the day as it will basicly be a 2nd harddrive.

yup it would be safe to use as a 2nd hard drive. if i were you id format it only for mac (HFS+) and enable journeling so that the computer can use the SMART status on it, just to always check whether its going to fail or not. if its fairly new (within 2-3 years) then id say that it will still last for a long time.

Question then - is it possible to have it hooked up to both computers at the same time? Can I have it hooked up to the PC using USB 2.0 and to the Mac using firewire 800? Can both see it at the same time and make changes, as long as the data being changed isn't the same?

hhmm now that is a good question. i have never actually tried that. but i am going to have to say no, basically because no matter what there are always going to be files that need to be read at the same time by both computers, which may cause corruption of somesort.