Help buying an EXTERNAL Harddrive

[pyune]

Hi,

When I ordered my macbook pro I was dumb in only requesting only 80 gigs because I have recently split my OS into Windows and Mac and of course I am limited with space now with all my multimedia files etc. I was wondering can anyone reccomend a portable, reliable, fast, and price efficient(nothing $200+) external harddrive that is run on firewire and is compatible with both windows and mac? I only need around 60-100 gigs ..any input is appreciated. thank you

 

[Mac Rules]

Well if ypou've ordered the MBP v. recently then I would suggest you call Apple very quickly and ask them to change it, otherwise I don't know.

Cheers

 

[miles01110]

You will save more money by buying an internal (3.5'', preferably SATA) hard drive and a separate enclosure for it. Assembly takes 10 minutes and a philips head screwdriver, and most enclosures come with instructions. If you can wait until labor day, I anticipate most major electronics resellers (CompUSA, Circuit City, etc) will be running specials where you can save even more $.

For example, here is a possibility I dug up on newegg just as an example:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145657

So, for $130 you are getting ~230 GB of useable space.

 

[pyune]

but i heard if you install anything yourself... you are out of the rebate or if anythign goes wrong installing something. .. i have the 3 year warranty with apple.. i think its risky no?

 

[miles01110]

but i heard if you install anything yourself... you are out of the rebate or if anythign goes wrong installing something. .. i have the 3 year warranty with apple.. i think its risky no?

Your Apple warranty will not cover whichever drive you decide to buy, since it's not an Apple product. All Seagate drives come with a separate 5-year warranty, and other manufacturers have something similar. I wouldn't buy anything with less than a 5-year warranty to be perfectly honest.

 

[kn-ig-ht]

Western Digital My Book Pro 500GB Triple Interface (USB 2.0 and Firewire 400/800) External Hard Drive
http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202712831&loc=101&sp=1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136047
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=242
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...ZaKfQ2Oxbz3bYzewIhL2/3.0.19.1.0.8.25.7.11.0.3

$274.95 on Buy.com (free shipping)
$269.99 on Newegg.com (plus shipping)
$349.99 on WesternDigital
$349.95 on Apple Store

I bought mine from buy.com and searched out a discount certificate number. Can't beat the deal, the warranty, or the quality of Western Digital products.

 

[FFTT]

Go for a SEAGATE!

Reliable, guaranteed and quiet.

 

[slackersonly]

see my post here at 9:27 this morning for a 500gb Seagate package for under $200.

Linky

 

[Queso]

I know they're more aimed at Mac mini owners rather than iMac owners like myself but I'm going to be buying a Iomega Minimax 320GB once I get the spare cash together. I like the idea of it having built in USB2.0 and Firewire 400 hub, so I can effectively replace my current powered USB1.1 hub and gain the hard disk space as a bonus.

£169 in the UK, but by the time I buy I think this will have come down to the £139 pricepoint currently occupied by the 250GB model.

 

[tristan]

One option that I'm looking at that might help you - I'm really not into using external HDs with a portable because I take it all over the house. I've been looking into NAS, Network Attached Storage. It plugs into your wireless router so you can use from anywhere you have wireless. Maybe there's even a way you could use it from the Internet.

Anyway, I'm still looking into products - they have wireless routers with USB ports where you can hang an external drive, and they also have hard drive enclosures with an ethernet port instead of USB. One downside is you only get wireless speed access to your data also, which of course isn't as fast as wire speeds - my estimate is 4x as slow with 11g. Its hard to find reviews, and I wonder if I'm looking at immature or nice products.

Also, part of me thinks I'm trying to solve a human problem with technology - maybe I'm too lazy (or to be charitable too busy) to do a better job organizing my data, utilizing my superdrive, and keeping my DVD-Rs within arms reach and that's the real issue. To paraphrase Bill Gates, 80 gigs plus a superdrive should be enough for anybody...

 

[Sulis]

Right, first post coming up. Just to say I have recently (as in last week) taken the plunge on a NAS drive and its fantastic. WD NetCenter 500GB (10/100) and it works like a dream - now have myself a network printer and easy access to all my files throughout the house. Its not as fast as a firewire external of course, but its perfectly good enough for current day file sizes - songs can be streamed off it as well as videos etc. For £200 it was a damn good deal!

It comes with software to "detect" it but you can (as I did) just set it up manually - no point in having software for something that takes five minutes and saves on bloating!