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External HD?

topgun072003

topgun072003

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2006
309
0
Los Angeles, CA
Hello, I have a powerbook G4 and I'm planning on getting an external HD because I'm running out of space on my internal HD. At first I was looking at getting a mobile HD, but I don't travel that much to really need it. Now I'm looking at the LaCie external desktop drives and I'm wondering what the difference is from the LaCie d2 Hard Drive Extreme with Triple Interface and the LaCie Big Disk Extreme with Triple interface? The only thing I see is that the Big Disk comes with a Built-in RAID 0...can someone explain what this means? So what are the differences, which would you get, and are there other brands that I should consider? Lastly are there any new technology HDs about to come out that I should wait for? I know the WD internal raptor spins at 10rpm, should I wait for an external to do that and then buy...or it that not in the near future? Is it even that beneficial? Thanks for the help, I'm trying to learn a lot and become an informed buyer.
 
depending on how long you plan to keep your powerbook, you could buy a new bigger internal drive and an enclosure. replace you current drive with the new one, put the old one into the enclosure.

otherwise, if you want a big drive to sit on your desktop, there are many many to choose from. use a site like dealmac to find a good price. look for 7200rpm and 16mbcache. or an internal of same spec from seagate or hitachi and an enclosure (recommended).

cheers
 
I would definitely stay away from "mobile" HD unless you will be traveling with it b/c they are more expensive per GIG.

Triple interface means that it has FW800, 400 and USB.

The obvious difference in the "Hard Drive" and the "Disk" are size options.

"HD" = 160-500GB
"D" = 500-1500GB

The Raid 0 option involves the way the info is stored on the drive.

The "Disk" actually has two drives in it. So setting up a Raid 0 would make them show up as one drive on your computer. The advantage is speed, it splits up your info into stripes and writes to both discs. The disadvantage is that if one drive goes bad, you lose your all your info.

I have the Lacie d2 HD Triple interface and love it. FW800 is super quick.
 
If I were to get 500Gb, which would be better. The 500gb d2 or the 500gb Big Disk? What are the main advantages and disadvantages of each?
 
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