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

Time Machine external HDD suggestions

M

Marc4

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 14, 2008
54
0
Hi guys,

I've recently purchased a 15" MBP and I'm loving every minute with it.
Now, I'd like to buy an external drive to backup all my data using Time Machine.

Given that I have the 7200rpm 200GB drive, what would be a good drive for me?
I heard 2.5x your internal drive, so 500GB, but what brand/model/type would you recommend?

Also, I'm wondering if I should go FireWire or USB. FireWire might be quicker but USB is more universal (i.e. sharing with Windows users).
Does a FireWire 800 drive even exist?

Thanks in advance,
-Marc
 
Oh man, the options you have. Hah. You can get a pretty good deal on 500gb Hard Drives now. Just check for deals at Best Buy, MicroCenter, or your store of choice. If you are using it exclusively for backing up a 200gb HD, 500 for your external is plenty, and I personally back up my 200gb HD on a 250gb HD. Firewire 800 certainly exists (see Western Digital Studio Edition for one) but again if you are using it exclusively as a backup drive, I would say it's unnecessary. If price is a factor, USB only is typically a noticeable amount cheaper. Hope it helps!
 
Thanks for the reply Snowbound.
One thing I noticed is that the 500GB drives only come in 3.5" form factors, whereas you can get 320GB or lower in 2.5" drives... what a difference this makes in size & weight! :eek:
Also, do all 3.5" drives have to be powered externally, or can they spin using USB/FW power only?
 
In my experience, I've only seen bus powered 2.5" ones. I have a USB/Firewire 400 120GB 2.5" and love it for the portability. It can be powered either by 2 USB plugs (one cable with three heads, one into the HDD and 2 into laptop USB ports) or the Firewire 400 port. Needless to say, I use it almost exclusively as firewire. However the USB option is nice for hooking it to friends computers if I want to share something with them.
 
Marc4 said:
Thanks for the reply Snowbound.
One thing I noticed is that the 500GB drives only come in 3.5" form factors, whereas you can get 320GB or lower in 2.5" drives... what a difference this makes in size & weight! :eek:
Also, do all 3.5" drives have to be powered externally, or can they spin using USB/FW power only?
Click to expand...

Time Machine hogs up a lot of space (well, as much space as you have)! You might need those extra GBs that the 500GB offers.
 
how does time machine work if say you leave your external in one set place, and unplug it, do a bunch of work and save it, and then re plug in the external? does it automatically check for updates to the system?
 
TtimeWithTy said:
how does time machine work if say you leave your external in one set place, and unplug it, do a bunch of work and save it, and then re plug in the external? does it automatically check for updates to the system?
Click to expand...

yup! time machine really is awesome, i just dont have an external at the moment :(

i think it does a backup every hour or something? correct me if im wrong
 
TtimeWithTy said:
how does time machine work if say you leave your external in one set place, and unplug it, do a bunch of work and save it, and then re plug in the external? does it automatically check for updates to the system?
Click to expand...

It doesn't periodic backups and it uses your Spotlight index to see if there are any changes

bc008 said:
yup! time machine really is awesome, i just dont have an external at the moment :(

i think it does a backup every hour or something? correct me if im wrong
Click to expand...

It does it hourly in the beginning but after a while it switches to daily (or when you plug it in).

Marc4 said:
Does anyone have any experience with the Western Digital 2.5" external USB drives?
I'm currently looking at buying this 320GB one:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=408
Click to expand...

Yes the WD portable drives are very nice.
 
Don't buy WD.

I've been buying them forever and still haven't learned my lesson. They crash like always. Every year i think i replace a drive hehe.

I have an external that is giving me errors now. It's really frustrating.
 
dissdnt said:
Don't buy WD.

I've been buying them forever and still haven't learned my lesson. They crash like always. Every year i think i replace a drive hehe.

I have an external that is giving me errors now. It's really frustrating.
Click to expand...

Well my WD from 6 years ago is still working without a hiccup.
 
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