Undecided On External Hard Drives: Portable VS. Desktop

[MissMandy]

I have the time capsule and i've been trying to get it to work for over a year, and I've just given up on it. (That's for another post)

Which is better to have, a portable hard drive or a desktop hard drive? And which is the best brand for a Macbook Pro?

I recently just bought the Seagate 2TB GoFlex Desktop External HD as well as the Western Digital 1TB My Passport Essential Portable HD for my Macbook Pro and I just don't know which one to keep.

Heres my dilemma:

Portable:
I can travel with it, no wires, and take it anywhere, but I heard they overheat and if you drop it, you're basically screwed

Desktop:
Plugged in via AC adapter, No risks of losing it, but cant really take it anywhere even though I don't really travel much with my laptop

I don't know, I'm just soo undecided on which one to keep and which HD would benefit me more.

Just wondering if anyone was ever in this situation or have any opinions/recommendations?

 

[iBookG4user]

How often do you travel? Are you only going to be using it for backups? Are you creating important files whilst you travel that you need to backup on the spot?

 

[MissMandy]

How often do you travel? Are you only going to be using it for backups? Are you creating important files whilst you travel that you need to backup on the spot?

I dont really travel much, so I don't necessarily need to back up on the spot, it would just be at home. I don't really need important files on the go with me. If I do, I'll usually just put them on a usb flash drive.

I'm mainly just using this to back up all my photos, music, and documents. A few years ago I lost all of my pictures, music and documents so my concern is to just have everything backed up in a safe place. I just don't know which route to go?

 

[shyam09]

I dont really travel much, so I don't necessarily need to back up on the spot, it would just be at home. I don't really need important files on the go with me. If I do, I'll usually just put them on a usb flash drive.

I'm mainly just using this to back up all my photos, music, and documents. A few years ago I lost all of my pictures, music and documents so my concern is to just have everything backed up in a safe place. I just don't know which route to go?

for your purposes i would say desktop because you dont travel much, but maybe think about getting a portable one later on (much smaller perhaps)

 

[flynz4]

The TC is dead simple to use... so I do not know what kind of trouble you are having. If it is broken, then just bring it back to the Apple Store. Are you trying to connect it directly to your computer, or do you have it connected via ethernet to your network. Network is better.

If you don't get your TC working, then either type will be fine.

More important... you should consider what you are going to do for off-site backup. I personally use Crashplan+ but other good options might be Mozy, Carbonite, etc.

/Jim

 

[Tomorrow]

If you're looking for something to replace your TC - which is not portable itself - I'd get a desktop drive. I like having an external power source, just in case the iMac craps out while the drive is plugged in - without an external power source, the drive could become corrupted with a power loss (and yes, I'm using a UPS with it).

 

[MissMandy]

The TC is dead simple to use... so I do not know what kind of trouble you are having. If it is broken, then just bring it back to the Apple Store. Are you trying to connect it directly to your computer, or do you have it connected via ethernet to your network. Network is better.

If you don't get your TC working, then either type will be fine.

More important... you should consider what you are going to do for off-site backup. I personally use Crashplan+ but other good options might be Mozy, Carbonite, etc.

/Jim

When I initially set it up it yeah it was very easy. Then all of a sudden it stopped working, and I reset it a bunch of times and the few times it did actually start working it would give me an error in the middle of backing up. There were many different kinds of errors but one in one in particular was "back up disk could not be mounted".

I've tried every possible way: connecting it to my modem via ethernet, connecting it directly to my computer, as well as wirelessly. And now, after the initial set-up when time capsule restarts, airport cant find it anymore.

I just think its corrupted?

 

[v66jack]

For backup's I use a desktop, because you can't take it anywhere and then loose it. For me I have no need to carry a portable hard drive around with me, as everything fits on my MPB or a memory stick.

I'm still not really sure of the point of a portable hard drive considering how big you can get a USB flash drive these days.

 

[gnasher729]

For backup's I use a desktop, because you can't take it anywhere and then loose it. For me I have no need to carry a portable hard drive around with me, as everything fits on my MPB or a memory stick.

Desktop drive has more advantages: It is either cheaper or bigger (one TB is really cheap, two TB is still quite affordable). You can buy one that will hold all your Time Machine backups for eternity and never delete any old backups. It has its own power, so you can use it through a USB hub if you have lots of devices.