what is the best external hard drive suitable for Mac

[Baras]

Hi everyone
I would like to buy an external hard disk or hard drive for my MacBook Pro, mostly I will use this drive for time machine Backup but I might boot about %25 for my personal use.

now I had an external drive before about 5 years ago and suddenly it stopped working I don't know why, some of my friends said you might unplugged the dive with out eject it from the Mac.

but that was along time ago I think now they don't have the same problem.

could you please advice me what is the best suitable drive for Mac, and do you also thin I will need 1T?? or 500 GB is enough because my storage in the Mac is only 500 GB

Regards

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Any HDD will work with your Mac and any HDD will fail sometime, thus get the best HDD you can afford which also has the best warranty.
You can format any HDD with the correct file system via Disk Utility.

This is how I backup, despite that I clone my internal SSD to an external HDD daily:

I have one 500 GB HDD for my photographs (digital and analog) libraries and editing documents, one 500 GB HDD with my personal video footage in an editing friendly format.
Both 500 GB HDDs get backed up to one 1 TB HDD via CarbonCopyCloner.
And that 1 TB HDD gets backed up to another 1 TB HDD via CarbonCopyCloner.
Therefore I have three copies of my important data.

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Links to guides on how to use Disk Utility, the application Mac OS X provides for managing internal and external HDD/SSDs and its formats.

Guide on how to use Disk Utility from the restore / installation DVD.

Using Disk Utility - Formatting, Partitioning, Verifying, and Repairing Disks

which includes:

• Format, Erase, or Reformat a Drive
• Erase or Reformat a Partition
• Add a Partition
• Deleting and Resizing Partitions
• Disk Formats

and some more guides
​

DiskWiping – One Pass is Enough​

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Overview of the four major file systems (called "Formats" in Mac OS X) used on Windows and Mac OS X, compiled by GGJstudios. You can use Disk Utility to format any HDD to your liking.

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.) It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like. Formatting can be done with the Mac OS X Disk Utility, found in the /Applications/Utilities folder. Here are your formatting options:

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

• Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
  [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
• Maximum volume size: 2TB
• You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

• Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
• Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
  [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
  • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
  • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
  • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
  • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
  • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
• Maximum file size: 16 TB
• Maximum volume size: 256TB
• You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

• Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
• Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
  [*]To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
  [*]To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
• Maximum file size: 8EiB
• Maximum volume size: 8EiB
• You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)

exFAT (FAT64)

• Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
• Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
• exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
• AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
• Maximum file size: 16 EiB
• Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
• You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

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[tarponbeach]

I use the Lacie 500gb Firewire drive for Time Machine Backups. So far, so good, and it is much faster than USB. Also comes with all cables (Firewire, USB, etc.)

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-All-Ter...5CA8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1332874068&sr=8-1

 

[heisenberg123]

i use the Western Digital My Studio

 

[Baras]

WD My Passport for mac

thanx everyone
what do you think about
WD My Passport for mac maybe 500 GB

 

[GGJstudios]

I've been very pleased with both of these models in various capacities, from Other World Computing (OWC):

OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro..........................OWC Mercury Elite-AL Pro™

 

[Baras]

or

or wd my passport studio 1tb

 

[heisenberg123]

or wd my passport studio 1tb

sure that would work too

every hard drive will work as long as its formatted properlly


i suggest one with firewire 800 as its slightly faster for backups than usb 2.0 but drives with firewire 800 are slightly more money than ones without.


you can list drives all day the answer will always be yes that will work