Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Should I get this External HD?

cbrain

cbrain

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Dec 9, 2006
1,049
0
North-East, UK
I got a sales booklet through the post today from an office supply store named "Staples" through the post today. There is a 250GB external hard drive made by Iomega for £59.99 listed that was £69.99. It doesn't say what sort of connections and that sort of stuff it has. Do you think this is a good offer? Should I get this HD?

I'm going to see if Apple have it on the online store so I can try and get more information.

EDIT: Apple don't have it on there website.
 
Well, I got my WD My Book 320GB for £100 at Amazon and thats a good deal...You get what you pay for.
 
I looked at the hardrive on Iomega's website, it's the lowest down model in there "value" series looking at that website. Plus it's only USB and not firewire. I've maxed out my USB ports, so i'd rather have firewire. I'm leaning towards the MyBook or the MiniMax, any recomendations for other HDs?
 
I have a Minimax which works great as both drive and hub although sometimes the fan gets noisy. Lacie do a similar all-in-one for the mini which is quieter, but theirs has the ports on the side, so I went with the iomega for the sake of aesthetics.

I'd say the Minimax is definitely worth the extra £30 or so over that Value model. It mounts over FireWire and acts as both FireWire and USB hub.
 
It really varies as to what you want to do with it. Oxford 911 or 912 chipsets for are a real boon on firewire drives, but I'd just get a cheap-o if its for media. Unless your watching HD-video theres not going to be many problems with using a cheapo drive for it...
 
I just need a External hard drive for my iMac to back my files up. Later in the year it may be reformatted and used for Time Machine.
 
cbrain said:
I just need a External hard drive for my iMac to back my files up. Later in the year it may be reformatted and used for Time Machine.
Click to expand...

Well I fully recommend Western Digital's My Book series. Mine is USB2/FireWire 400 (My Book Premium) with 298GB usable (320GB drive). Its really fast and looks good.
 
I think externals are a must. I use to burn my files on CDs/DVDs (still do) owning an external. Now that they are fairly cheap (I got mine at Black Friday) I should have gotten 2. Oh well, Black Friday is only 11 months away :p
 
ChrisG said:
Well I fully recommend Western Digital's My Book series. Mine is USB2/FireWire 400 (My Book Premium) with 298GB usable (320GB drive). Its really fast and looks good.
Click to expand...

I might get a MyBook Essential of Amazon UK or from the PC World shop near me if there have them (I have seen them there but I'm not sure there have the 250GB one...), but the only problem is...I've maxed out my USB sockets and I don't really want to use the low speed one on the back of my keyboard!
 
cbrain said:
I might get a MyBook Essential of Amazon UK or from the PC World shop near me if there have them (I have seen them there but I'm not sure there have the 250GB one...), but the only problem is...I've maxed out my USB sockets and I don't really want to use the low speed one on the back of my keyboard!
Click to expand...

So either get a hub, or buy a Firewire Drive, it's better anyway.
 
cbrain said:
What's better about a FireWire drive over a USB 2.0 drive?
Click to expand...
USB 2.0 is meant for smaller bursts of information. FireWire is meant for continual streams. So despite USB2.0 being able to achieve quicker peak speeds, for hard disks where large file transfers are common, FireWire is faster.
 
Here's a site that'll give you a good idea of pricing. The Lacie 250GB one looks a good deal, although that's not got the built-in hubs.
 
I would recommend the MyBook from WD also. I have the essentials version but would recommend the premium instead.
 
I just bought this 2 weeks ago. Fast and silent.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I bought the iOmega 250 gig external USB 2.0 drive, and for basic backups of music and photos, it works well. Maybe not as fast as Firewire for huge file transfers, but we're talking minimal difference practically speaking, unless transferring entire libraries at a single sitting. And, USB is downward compatible with USB 1.1, so is usable with my Mac Mini and my old Thinkpad running Win2k, (and my old B/W G3 tower.)

No driver software required, and comes formatted to work with both Mac and PCs. The drive spins at 7200 rpm, so it works fairly quickly. If you're mainly going to use it to store media files and transfer between machines, it works fine, and is definately cheaper than drives with Firewire equipped enclosures. I also am using a smaller partition (6 gig) to store a cloned image of my Win2k laptop system installation, in case I need to restore my laptop drive intact.

Philosophically, I have always believed Firewire to be better, but I wouldn't let that stand in the way of getting basic storage for that cheap price. I paid slightly over $110 US, after a $15 rebate. The only thing I'd prefer would be if for the same price it included Firewire AND USB 2.0, but those generally are a bit pricier per/gig. Cheers. -phil
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back