External HDD questions.

[klymr]

First off, I know there have been plenty of discussions about this. I have been watching the WD MyBook Pro II, 1TB edition and the price has dropped to $335 in the last few weeks. I would consider it, but it has got a lot of less than desirable reviews from users on Newegg due to noisy fans, etc.

Basically, I am looking for a lot of storage for around $300-350 or so. What drives would you suggest? Oh, I guess I should also mention that I am a graphic design student, do some video editing, and need to move a bunch of files off my MacBook Pro so I can put (forgive me) Windows on it for work. I'm not an expert on drives, so I was looking for any suggestions you may have. Let me know if you need any more info. Thanks everyone.

 

[dpaanlka]

Whatever it is, you definitely want FireWire.

 

[klymr]

Whatever it is, you definitely want FireWire.

Oh, yes, thanks. I had that in my requirement list, but forgot to type it. Any suggestions?

 

[dpaanlka]

You'll find lots of great stuff here:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/

 

[Leon Kowalski]

Basically, I am looking for a lot of storage for around $300-350 or so.

I'm leaning heavily toward the IcyDock MB559UEB external enclosure ($100 at newegg.com), plus whatever SATA drives offer the best price/performance match to my needs.

http://www.icydock.com/product/mb559ueb-1s.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198006

Very highly rated in the newegg customer comments. Also, the USB/eSATA version of this enclosure (MB559US) did very well in drive performance shootouts on tomshardware.com -- but unfortunately, they didn't test the USB/FW800 model. (The second link below might be helpful in selecting a raw HD mechanism.)

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storageexternal.html

http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html


One huge attraction, for me, is the snap-in/snap-out tray-loading feature -- making it easy to keep several drives handy. Extra drive trays are $16 from newegg.

As an added bonus, the aluminum/white enclosure would look right at home on the foot of the iMac pedestal. There's also a sleek mirror black model -- for a stylish $25 extra.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198013


...anyone have first hand experience with IcyDock/FW800?

LK

 

[klymr]

Some good replies, but those are all a lot more than I was wanting to pay for the amount of storage they have. I thought about even getting 2 of the WD MyBook Pro 500gb drives and daisy chaining them together. I don't know. Anyone else have their ideas?

This drive at OWC might be a good option. 1TB striped RAID 0 for $349. What do you think?
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/hard-drives/EliteAL/StripedRAID

 

[klymr]

So, I take it no one uses external hard drives? Jk. Does anyone have any opinions?

 

[dops7107]

I'm happy with Lacie d2 drives, quite good value here in UK. Not sure about their portables.

 

[fishkorp]

Best Buy has an internal 1TB SATA drive on sale for $259 this week. Why not buy that and get a good firewire enclosure to go with it? Should fit in your budget.

 

[klymr]

Best Buy has an internal 1TB SATA drive on sale for $259 this week. Why not buy that and get a good firewire enclosure to go with it? Should fit in your budget.

Know of any decent enclosures by chance?

 

[fishkorp]

Know of any decent enclosures by chance?

unfortunately no, sorry. i'd just check OWC (macsales.com) and see what they have, lots of people really like their stuff.

 

[9Charms]

eSata all the way!

Hey I used to have a MBP and moved a lot of files back and forth. I am a bit of a tech geek and have tried many a drive enclosure.

From personal experience I have found that an eSata drive is the fastest connection you can get. Grab a Sonnet Tempo Sata 34 Express card and hook up an external enclosure that via esata.

You'll probably have to build your own, since most "consumer" branded stuff doesn't have it. You'll usually find a USB/eSata enclosure from your local PC shop for about $30 and a 500 GB hard drive for about $120. The eSata card should cost you about $150.

Plus your hardware will be compatible with VISTA as well. Install MacDrivehttp://www.mediafour.com/products/macdrive/bootcamp/ and Vista can read the enclsoure.

The PC world is moving towards eSata, so you'll be a bit more "future proof" and compatible. Windows users haven't really adopted Firewire 400 or 800.

That's my two cents from personal experience.