Need help on buying External HD...

[cujoca]

Right now i need an external HD for storage of digital video (my iMac 500 gb is filling up...lol). Right now the one i'm really liking the Western Digital My Book Premium 500 GB. Here's the link tell me what you think http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=224&language=en I also like that it has firewire 400, which will be faster that USB 2.0. If you guys could tell me your thoughts and opinions that would be great!

Thanks in advance!

 

[CanadaRAM]

The WD MyBook Premium or Pro drives are fine drives, and it is a popular choice, esp. if you are looking for a ready to use solution.

The alternative is to buy a good enclosure like a MacAlly PHR100AC and a hard drive of your choice, and assemble it yourself (takes 4 minutes, max.) This way you get the drive manufacturer's full warranty (usually 3 yr or 5 yr) on the drive, instead of one year or three years (check the warranty info carefully to see which MyBook warranty applies, it is 1 yr or 3 yr depending on the specific model number)

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[cujoca]

I read some reviews saying that even with the Firewire 400 port, transfers tend even to be slow...Does anyone else know or has experienced this?

Thanks again!

 

[zap2]

I have an 160GB external drive..LaCie, and I love it. It has FW 800, 400 and USB 2.0. It was 180 went I bought it a few years back, now the 320Gb model is 180 from Apple. Its a "LaCie 320GB d2 Hard Drive Extreme with Triple Interface"

Link for it.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=61EE4C85&nplm=TL006ZM/A


And yes FW 400 sometimes slows down, but its so much faster then USB 2.0 I don't think I could live with out it

 

[Rizvi1]

I have an 160GB external drive..LaCie, and I love it. It has FW 800, 400 and USB 2.0. It was 180 went I bought it a few years back, now the 320Gb model is 180 from Apple. Its a "LaCie 320GB d2 Hard Drive Extreme with Triple Interface"

Link for it.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=61EE4C85&nplm=TL006ZM/A


And yes FW 400 sometimes slows down, but its so much faster then USB 2.0 I don't think I could live with out it

If you're going to go with that drive, get it from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822154161

and pay with paypal and use promo code:
PAYPAL10

to get free shipping. That should save you at least $50.

I had my heart set on this drive when I first saw Topgunn's last post here in this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/257645/

But after seeing some more discussion on this drive in other threads in the Buying tips subforum as well as on other sites (For example, amazon's product page:
http://www.amazon.com/320GB-Lacie-E...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1174737103&sr=8-15) I'm having second thoughts...Plus, I myself had a tough time with my Lacie external lightscribe burner (ultimately, I learned that [with my mac mini at least] I had to use usb 2.0 instead of firewire otherwise I'd get errors in my disc burning).

I'm trying to inquire more on the options from OWC. You can follow along with me in this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/271153/

Hope this helps.

 

[cujoca]

the only problem is the 20" iMac c2d does not have a firewire 800 port...

 

[yg17]

the only problem is the 20" iMac c2d does not have a firewire 800 port...

Then go with Firewire 400.

I had a USB 2.0 hard drive that I filled up, so I bought a bigger drive, this time opting for FW400. The difference is night and day.

On paper, USB 2.0 may have the faster transfer rate, but all real-world usage tests show that FW400 is faster.

 

[cujoca]

I also love the Western Digital My Book Pro but I can't find any places that they sell them in stores in Canada (I prefer to buy it in store). Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[macOSX-tastic]

maxtor hard drives have never let me down, and i find that their build quality is superior; in my experience its very much a case of "you get what you pay for". but i also know people who have got WD HD's and love them to bits. i have gone from a maxtor onetouch 200gb firewire (original metal version, soon to be sold) onto their newer onetouch 3 500GB drive, as i filled the other one. havent let me down once.


s

 

[yg17]

Anyone else have opinions or experiences with the Western Digital My Book or Western Digital for that matter...

Thanks

I've yet to have a Western Digital hard drive fail on me. And I've owned a ton of WDs over time. Although I don't have experience with a MyBook, but the hard drive inside of it is what really matters.