Good inexpensive FW400 small hard drive?

[cube]

I was thinking about setting up an inexpensive rescue drive for my Cube.

Usually I buy separate cases, but I don't want to spend much for this.

- I want it to be bus powered, so that means it should be FW400, as it seems no power is supplied between FW400 and FW800 connectors.

- It should not be junk, this is my main concern.

- Platter size should be at most 2.5"

- It should not use proprietary connectors

- Hopefully, it can be opened and the disk replaced (so, getting basically a free case).

- 120GB is enough

 

[emiljan]

Searching through the net i found two:

1. Iomega eGo Mac Edition 320 GB
2. LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 500 GB

both will work for what you need.

 

[cube]

I can buy an OWC 2.5" aluminium quad-interface drive (with disk) for that kind of money. I already have one of those enclosures.

 

[kuebby]

If you don't need it immediately I'd watch the Lacie Outlet store. They often have closeouts and refurbished drives, especially the "Rugged" line.

 

[cube]

The problem is the quality. The "consumer" brands have bad reviews in Amazon and I stay clear of Western Digital because of the proprietary internal connectors and hard to open cases.

 

[kuebby]

The problem is the quality. The "consumer" brands have bad reviews in Amazon and I stay clear of Western Digital because of the proprietary internal connectors and hard to open cases.

It's going to be almost impossible to get professional quality for a consumer price. The "professional" brands I know are G-Drive and OWC and both are definitely more expensive than a comparably sized WD or Seagate.

 

[cube]

It's going to be almost impossible to get professional quality for a consumer price. The "professional" brands I know are G-Drive and OWC and both are definitely more expensive than a comparably sized WD or Seagate.

I am not looking for professional quality, just good.

 

[monokakata]

Say again why you don't want to pick up a high-quality case and put the drive of your choice in it?

I have a FW800/FW400/USB2 case that, with a 2.5" drive, is bus-powered.

It's been superceded by a newer model:

http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/CB2-M.html

I've been running the earlier version (with a Seagate 500 gb 7200 drive) for a couple of years, without the least problem.

[edit] -- now I see you're needing power via a FW400-->FW800 cable.

 

[cube]

Because a Verbatim 120GB FW400 drive costs less than $40.

 

[cube]

I am thinking of buying an iPod 4G if I can find one in good condition for a nice price.

 

[cube]

Well, I ordered the Verbatim 120GB. We'll see.

I'll partition it as APM and split it into two equal partitions.

Then I'll do the dance to get both Snow Leopard and Leopard installed onto it.

Why does Apple need to make it hard to install OSX from an Intel machine onto an external APM drive? Sigh.