recs for external HDD for use with Time Machine? FW400 or USB 2.0?

[beethovengirl]

Hi,

I'm planning to purchase a SR MacBook, and I would like to purchase an external hard drive for use with Time Machine. I'm not planning to have the HDD continuously connected to the MacBook -- I'll probably do weekly back-ups. Do you have any recommendations on an external HDD to use for this purpose? Which is better - FW400 or USB 2.0?

Any thoughts on this Iomega USB 2.0 500 GB HDD?
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...op_mac/mac_accessories/storage&nplm=TQ081LL/A

thanks

 

[beethovengirl]

Also, I forgot to mention: My husband has the first-generation MacBook; will we be able to "share" the external HDD for the purposes of backing up our respective hard drives with Time Machine? What if he doesn't upgrade to Leopard?

 

[admiraldennis]

I'd recommend FireWire over USB 2.0 because it's slightly faster and (more importantly) takes substantially less CPU cycles to utilize. The difference, however, will likely be very slight on a fast CPU like the Core Duo -- it's much more of an issue on older machines.