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Suggestions for External Hard Drive

I've been looking at a couple different HD's and it's kind of scary reading all the reviews. It seems as though I am destined to lose all my info. It seems as though no brand it safe from this fate either. Has got me kinda worried.
 
motownflip said:
I've been looking at a couple different HD's and it's kind of scary reading all the reviews. It seems as though I am destined to lose all my info. It seems as though no brand it safe from this fate either. Has got me kinda worried.
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Seagate at least offers 5-year warranty. That doesn't mean you still won't lose all your data should one of their drives fail, but it's better than nothing. :eek: In general, it's simply a risk you have to take. backing up is better than doing nothing though, and no piece of hardware, no matter what it is, lasts forever.

I think many people will (unfrotunately) find themselves in an interesting situation in a couple years when perhaps the external drive they have been using for back-up purposes via Time Machine ends up failing, while the HD in their Mac is still running fine. Many people view their back-up drive as a "safety blanket" which is more hardened and immune from crashes, and if anything it will be their Mac's primary drive that fails, but it could just as easily be the other way around... ;) :cool:
 
I have the exact same drive, and like it very much (only owned it for a few days though.)

I actually like the orange light, since it's not too bright and flashy. I also really like the case design and brushed surface.

devilot said:
Yup. That's the kind I have and I quite like it. BTW, if the orange light is a bit much for some of you, I was handed a nifty tip-- some black electrical tape does the job quite nicely. So now only a small portion of the light shines and it's subtle.

I chose one w/ FW400 as well because let's face it, FW is so nice to have. :eek:
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That's the great thing about having a backup system like Time Machine. The chances of 2 HD's both crapping out at the exact same time is very remote.

Your statement that you are 'destined' to lose all your info is somewhat true in that you will experience HD failure at some point or the other. I was lucky for a long time, then had 2 notebook HD's crap out in the last 2 years. I was very lucky to be able to recover my data though.

Next time I won't have to be lucky since I am using Time Machine.

motownflip said:
I've been looking at a couple different HD's and it's kind of scary reading all the reviews. It seems as though I am destined to lose all my info. It seems as though no brand it safe from this fate either. Has got me kinda worried.
Click to expand...
 
motownflip said:
I've been looking at a couple different HD's and it's kind of scary reading all the reviews. It seems as though I am destined to lose all my info. It seems as though no brand it safe from this fate either. Has got me kinda worried.
Click to expand...

As long as you get a good name brand external HD with FireWire400/800 or eSATA, and let TimeMachine to regular backups, you have nothing to fear. HD failure can happen to anyone, at any time. If you have your whole MBP backed up on the external, then you should not lose anything if one of them kicks the bucket.

If you really wanted some serious protection to eliminate any possibility of data loss, get a dual-drive RAID enclosure setup. They run a good bit more than a single driver external (around $300 and up) but you can set the RAID preferences on a 1TB dual drive setup to mirror each drive, so you would have only 500Gigs of total space, but you would have TWO copies of the data instead of just one.

I would only recomend doing the dual drive setup for sensitive and expensive data backups. If your just backing up pics from a few camping trips, some excel spreadsheets, and a home movie of giving the dog a bath, then a single drive will work fine for you.

Oh, another thing. Don't use the USB2 connection on the drive. Even though it is rated at 480Mbs compared to 400Mbs for FireWire 400, USB batches data across the stream, breaking up segments so it can read and write in smaller increments, which effect how fast the data transfer really is in real life. FW400 sends a more constant stream of data, allowing files to be transfered fast, and video runs effertlessly right off an external drive that has FW400. FW800 is even better as it really moves data fast without breaking it up near as much. It is lightning fast.

Think of a USB drive as a walkie talkie, where communication between handsets is only one way for brief moments during the conversation. FW400/800 is like a full-duplex phone conversation where you can talk and listen at the same time, with no hesitation in the data stream as it recieves and sends data simultaniously.

Anyway, for what its worth, get a drive that has FW or eSATA, you won't be disapointed.:D:apple:
 
great info guys! One more question.... My Book Pro edition II 1TB for $299 or Seagate Free agent Pro 500gb for around $180. Again, price is not important. I've heard good things about both drives. Looking to get a couple years of service from either one. If you have another suggestion, please feel free to list them. Thanks again guys.
 
The Seagate FreeAgent Pro comes with a 5-yr warranty. To me? That's worth a little extra for the security especially since HDs aren't impervious to failure. ;)
 
devilot said:
The Seagate FreeAgent Pro comes with a 5-yr warranty. To me? That's worth a little extra for the security especially since HDs aren't impervious to failure. ;)
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i'm actually thinking of getting the seagate from costco. it's a lot to pay at $189.99, but costco has that lifetime guarantee, and i'll be able to return the drive should it ever fail.
 
motownflip said:
great info guys! One more question.... My Book Pro edition II 1TH for $299 or Seagate Free agent Pro 500gb for around $180. Again, price is not important. I've heard good things about both drives. Looking to get a couple years of service from either one. If you have another suggestion, please feel free to list them. Thanks again guys.
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Still gotta go with the Seagate - just my recommendation though. :cool:
 
siurpeeman said:
i'm actually thinking of getting the seagate from costco. it's a lot to pay at $189.99, but costco has that lifetime guarantee, and i'll be able to return the drive should it ever fail.
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That is really not a good deal. Plus you are going to have to pay tax...

I got a WD My Book Studio for $180 shipped, and it has more interfaces than that... (Also IMO it looks much better). I believe WD also comes with a good warranty.

OdduWon said:
With two FW400 on the back of the WD MyBook, can i plug two FW cables in to copy 2X as fast?
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No, the 2nd port is for daisy chaining... (Hooking up additional drives in series)
 
siurpeeman: I have the exact Seagate model you linked to... the 320GB Firewire version of the FreeAgent Pro. I highly recommend it. No issues at all, Time Machine runs very well... and it's quiet. (Plus that great warranty!)
 
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