Hard drive: External vs. Internal+enclosure

[memphismac]

I've got a G5 iMac with an 80GB HD, a nice videocamera and a 10-month old son. So I need more space. Mostly for video storage/editing and backing up my 45GB iTunes library.

The nice lady at the Apple store has about talked me into a LaCie drive, and the 300GB d2 triple interface drive looks quite nice.

However, I've been reading some threads around here about buying an internal+enclosure instead of an external.

What are the pros/cons of that setup? I'm all about saving a few bucks, but if there's not a BIG difference...

The simpler the better - I could spend all day researching internal vs. external, LaCie vs. Seagate vs. Maxtor vs. Iomega. I just want to find a solution and get cracking.

 

[iPhil]

I've got a G5 iMac with an 80GB HD, a nice videocamera and a 10-month old son. So I need more space. Mostly for video storage/editing and backing up my 45GB iTunes library.

The nice lady at the Apple store has about talked me into a LaCie drive, and the 300GB d2 triple interface drive looks quite nice.

However, I've been reading some threads around here about buying an internal+enclosure instead of an external.

What are the pros/cons of that setup? I'm all about saving a few bucks, but if there's not a BIG difference...

The simpler the better - I could spend all day researching internal vs. external, LaCie vs. Seagate vs. Maxtor vs. Iomega. I just want to find a solution and get cracking.

these cases are good and many members have them:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MacAlly/PHR100AC/

and if you want quiet drive then look into seagate IDE drive not 7200.9 .. 7200.8 will work with Macs ..

Pop open the external case,connect the powercable/IDE cable to drive, insert drive close case tight screws or snap case back together .. Power the case/plug the firewire into case/computer then format it using Disk Utility

 

[Timepass]

well the 3 big names in hard drives is seagate, Western digital and Maxtor. All 3 are good drives to buy.

there are others but for 3.5 drives I would say go with one of those 3. One hard drive maker to say away from is IBM. They are still paying the price for there now call Death stars. and no one trust them. but meh.

 

[adk]

I'd recommend buying and internal and an enclosure due to warranty issues. Seagate's internal drives come with either a 3 or 5 year warranty, while their external ones (a seagate internal drive in their own enclosure) only come with a one year warranty. It will probably end up being about the same price as an external, but you'll have a better warranty.

 

[SeRgIo_42]

Hi,

I have an iMac and a few weeks back I had the same questions.
After getting one internal HD (a sweet deal of US$ 99,00 for
Seagate Barracuda 300Gb at Circuit City) and one external
enclosure (Venus DS3, quiet, cool and cheap), I wonder why
someone would still get external HDs. Then, I remembered that
these external HDs have one advantage : you do not need to think
about setting up the HD as a master/slave and usually there is only
one button to have all backup done. If you do not want
to think a bit, this is the way to go.

On the other hand, you do not need to be a genius to setup an
external enclosures and even better you can upgrade them later,
probably keeping the same external enclosure. It is the cheapest
way to go.

I must say that for the long, long run you might get stuck with two or
three external enclosures but the same is valid for the external HDs.
Therefore, the best way to solve this problem for good is to buy a cheap case,
cheap motherboard with a network card, put all HD's there and use it as
a (linux ?) server. Since I did not have the space to put this server,
I decided to get the external enclosure which was every penny worth it.

S.

 

[memphismac]

I'd recommend buying and internal and an enclosure due to warranty issues. Seagate's internal drives come with either a 3 or 5 year warranty, while their external ones (a seagate internal drive in their own enclosure) only come with a one year warranty. It will probably end up being about the same price as an external, but you'll have a better warranty.

Does using it externally void the warranty?

 

[Counterfit]

Does using it externally void the warranty?

Not usually.

I wonder why
someone would still get external HDs. Then, I remembered that
these external HDs have one advantage : you do not need to think
about setting up the HD as a master/slave and usually there is only
one button to have all backup done. If you do not want
to think a bit, this is the way to go.

Not all pre-made external drives have one-button backup. Also, you won't have to worry about whether the drive won't work with the enclosure (or rather, the chipset inside it). That and some drives (like the DiamondMax 8) just don't fit perfectly inside some cases (OWC Mercury Pro).

 

[plinkoman]

i'd just go with the lacie, your really not going to save much of anything with an internal drive. just do a quick froogle of the lacie you want, you should be able to find it for a good deal less then the list price.

 

[memphismac]

Then, I remembered that
these external HDs have one advantage : you do not need to think
about setting up the HD as a master/slave and usually there is only
one button to have all backup done. If you do not want
to think a bit, this is the way to go.

I don't really want to think, but if I can save some $$$, I can think some.

One-button backup isn't that big a deal (although I don't back up as often as I should). But can you tell me more about the "master/slave" issue?

And just for argument's sake, I'm looking at this combination:
250GB (300 if I can find a similar price): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265028&Tab=5

enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MacAlly/PHR100AC/

 

[blackstone]

enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MacAlly/PHR100AC/

You can find the same enclosure for considerably cheaper at
newegg.com

 

[prostuff1]

I like this case.

Here is a search i did on newegg for firewire enclosures, IDE, 3.5in enclosure, and AC adapter. This will give you an idea of what is out there. Some of them are very nice and i suggest you read the comments on any you might consider buying.

I went the internal plus exteranl enclosure router and it was very simple. I ended up getting two internal 160GB drives on sale at circuit city and then putting them in enclosures. Works great to back up my purposes. I use one on my iMac for a complete backup and the other i have partitioned. I have it partitioned so that 40GB is for a complete backup for the iBook and the remaining part is for random files. Works great!!

 

[SeRgIo_42]

I don't really want to think, but if I can save some $$$, I can think some.

One-button backup isn't that big a deal (although I don't back up as often as I should). But can you tell me more about the "master/slave" issue?

And just for argument's sake, I'm looking at this combination:
250GB (300 if I can find a similar price): http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265028&Tab=5

enclosure: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MacAlly/PHR100AC/

Blackstone is right : newegg could be a best way to save some bucks.
Also, I add that newegg has an unbelievable good forum for these enclosures.
Since there are many different enclosures on the market, it is confusing to pick up one and this site helped a lot. I remember that I crossed to the chipset discussion that Conterfeit mentioned here but my experience has been 100% positive so far.

I mentioned that I have the AMS Venus model (you can give a look on its reviews :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?Item=N82E16817145656 ) but I also have a cheaper one from Bytecc. I forgot to mention this because AMS is much superior than Bytecc. Bytecc is a few bucks cheaper but its fan is horrible, the case is much bigger than AMS and the software that came along is a joke. You can check bytecc here :

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145314

About the settings, for both enclosures, I had to setup the jumper to Master even though "cable select" sounds to be a more reasonable choice. That was it.

Just a important note : if you have any intention on using the enclosure as a boot device, you must get one that offers firewire. USB2 is fine for me because it is just for backups.

 

[kugino]

master/slave issues are not a problem. for the most part, you don't even have to deal with it. just insert your HD into the enclosure and you're good to go.

and who really uses one-button backups anyway? (yes, i know a few do)...

 

[memphismac]

Alright then.

Barring any last minute objections, I'm off to buy the Seagate 250GB drive and the Macally PHR-100AC enclosure.

I read some things about some of the Macally power supplies not being strong enough to power larger drives, but that Macally will replace them. Here's hoping it goes off without a hitch.

Thanks for all the help,
Brian

 

[EMKoper]

You can find the same enclosure for considerably cheaper at
newegg.com

Use Newegg for this product... I had real issues with one of mine and Macally support was not helpful and were minimally responsive. Tech support answered e-mails with one word responses and refused to give me some sort of case tracking number. I talked with Newegg and they sent me a replacement in a few days, no questions, after it was used for some period of time. I have two of these enclosures and they seem to be working fine with 300G Maxtor in each.

 

[jefhatfield]

as a computer addict, who gets a machines from computer repair clients in my business or buys them new, and as a longtime computer student, there is one thing i have seen too many times...a person gets their ultimate computer, outgrows it, or the hard drive space, and then adds an internal hard drive, and then realizes that the whole getup is too obsolete and sells the whole thing super cheap

my advice, get an external hard drive so you can use it from machine to machine being that most users keep their main machines, as their main machines, for about 2 years now or in the case of many here, less than one year (i must be on my 15th new or used machine since 1999)

...and the only time that i would get an internal hard drive as an extra purchase is when i first buy the machine

 

[ender78]

Lets not forget the safety factor. Should you have an issue with a power supply, the external drive will likely be unaffected, any and all internal drives could be fried by the power supply.

 

[Maxwell Smart]

these cases are good and many members have them:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/MacAlly/PHR100AC/

and if you want quiet drive then look into seagate IDE drive not 7200.9 .. 7200.8 will work with Macs ..

Pop open the external case,connect the powercable/IDE cable to drive, insert drive close case tight screws or snap case back together .. Power the case/plug the firewire into case/computer then format it using Disk Utility

I have the exact same case (well the firewire version) and its great, installation is a snap, and it works equally as nice in my windows machine as in my mac machine (no drivers!)

 

[iPhil]

I have the exact same case (well the firewire version) and its great, installation is a snap, and it works equally as nice in my windows machine as in my mac machine (no drivers!)

I actually own an A-Power case fw/usb2.0 model AP35C, i bought it@ www.geeks.com but it's not showing in-stock there no more



EDIT: The case from Macsales.com i posted earlier is an recommendation of others on here.

 

[CanadaRAM]

well the 3 big names in hard drives is seagate, Western digital and Maxtor. All 3 are good drives to buy.

there are others but for 3.5 drives I would say go with one of those 3. One hard drive maker to say away from is IBM. They are still paying the price for there now call Death stars. and no one trust them. but meh.

Would it surprise you that the technology in today's drives is almost completely different from the ill-fated Deskstar 75GXP series of what? 4 years ago, 5 years ago? And that they are now made by a diffferent company, Hitachi, who bought the business from IBM?

The Hitachi Deskstar series today are well made and high performance drives with three year warranties.

 

[memphismac]

Lets not forget the safety factor. Should you have an issue with a power supply, the external drive will likely be unaffected, any and all internal drives could be fried by the power supply.

What do you mean?

 

[munckee]

I have a couple of questions along the same lines...

I have already put together my own external with an old drive I had laying around, but I need another/larger drive. I've been debating a few solutions:

1. Lacie Brick - costs a bit more than putting together your own (costs about the same as a DIY 300GB drive for the Lacie 250GB)...but it looks so damn good.

2. Newertech ministack - doesn't look so nice; allows DIY construction; adds a USB and Firewire hub into the mix (which I need); I don't have a mini

Can anyone recommend a direction and a reason?

 

[TBi]

Does using it externally void the warranty?

Well... you don't really have to tell them you are using it externally do you? What they don't know won't hurt them.

 

[memphismac]

The drive and enclosure have arrived!

Any advice/links on how to set it all up? I've read about booting from an external drive, mounting, sleeping, OS updates hosing external drives, etc.

I want to make sure I do everything nice and smooth.

 

[adk]

It's Basically just a few screws to attach the HD and a few screws to shut the enclosure. Other than that it's just plug it in and let it go. If you're only going to be using it with macs, I'd recommend opening disc utility and reformatting it into a mac format.