Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
What is the best external hard drive?
- Thread starter gothamm
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Sure looks like a rip-off of the OWC/Newer Technology MiniStack v2 -- maybe they made a version for them, or vice-versa:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/FWU2MSV2/
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer Technology/FWU2MSV2/
The Azio one really needs a cooling fan, IMHO. Nice price though. Too bad no FW 800 on it... eSATA is ok if you bought a bootable eSATA PCI Card... USB 2 sucks for hard drives!
Anyone had any experience with the new LaCie External Raid.
How do you rate LaCie Externals ? Worth it / Over Priced / ???
LaCie 2big Triple (2-disk RAID)
FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0
1TB
o Triple interface professional 2-disk RAID
o Ideal for audio/video & creative pros
o 4 RAID modes for high security or speed
o Automatically back up your data in one push
3 Year Limited Warranty 3 Year Optional Advance Replacement Warranty
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10967
How do you rate LaCie Externals ? Worth it / Over Priced / ???
LaCie 2big Triple (2-disk RAID)
FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0
1TB
o Triple interface professional 2-disk RAID
o Ideal for audio/video & creative pros
o 4 RAID modes for high security or speed
o Automatically back up your data in one push
3 Year Limited Warranty 3 Year Optional Advance Replacement Warranty
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10967
I just bought the Guardian MAXimus and a couple of hard drives for it. I like that it's RAID 1 and firewire. I'll use this until Drobo comes out with a firewire unit and then I may get one of those too.
Checkout iomegas eGo drives, small, light weight, and very portable. Good pricing and coming in many HD sizes!
Some companies buy from the same manufacturers and put their stickers / packaging on the product.
I have a 4 year old 80 GB western digital external drive.
Still works pretty well... occasionally has troubles mounting but I think thats more of a USB issue. Will probably upgrade to a larger drive soon and will definitely go for a WD if the price is right.
Still works pretty well... occasionally has troubles mounting but I think thats more of a USB issue. Will probably upgrade to a larger drive soon and will definitely go for a WD if the price is right.
Don't buy the Ministacks v2. They suck.
I bought two v2 ministacks last year. Had to send back both to get their fans replaced. Even then, they're still pretty damn annoying. Plus, if you stack them under your MacMini, they'll heat-up quite nicely.
Needless to say, I regret getting them. I should have gotten one of those Maxtors or Fantom ones. I went for aesthetics and I paid the price.
Up close, the LaCie look better too (with those matching white LEDs)--but I heard they're also LOUD as HELL!
I bought two v2 ministacks last year. Had to send back both to get their fans replaced. Even then, they're still pretty damn annoying. Plus, if you stack them under your MacMini, they'll heat-up quite nicely.
Needless to say, I regret getting them. I should have gotten one of those Maxtors or Fantom ones. I went for aesthetics and I paid the price.
Up close, the LaCie look better too (with those matching white LEDs)--but I heard they're also LOUD as HELL!
something similar to the WD drives is Toughdrive by Freecom. It has the usb cable attached to the drive so no external cable needed. I saw one on newegg for $160 (250GB) as opposed to $140 for a WD 250GB
WD has a portable FW400 drive in white, but it's expensive compared to the usb2.0 drives.
Lacie have a 320GB portable drive with usb 2, fw400 and fw800. I've heard though that the speeds at which the HD can write can not make use of the fw800, so it's pointless! Maybe someone has different knowledge here?
WD has a portable FW400 drive in white, but it's expensive compared to the usb2.0 drives.
Lacie have a 320GB portable drive with usb 2, fw400 and fw800. I've heard though that the speeds at which the HD can write can not make use of the fw800, so it's pointless! Maybe someone has different knowledge here?
My experience is limited, but here it is:
WD- circa 1998 - still running
Maxtor- circa 2002 - dead
Seagate circa 2004- dead
WD- circa 2005 - still running.
The last WD I bought because of my previous experience. All drives are run-of-the-mill, nothing fancy. To me it doesnt matter that a drive comes with a 5 or 10 year warranty becuase if it fails, you lost everything. So what if you get a brand new drive. Well, that is unless you back up your stuff. Which i think 70-80% of us do not. To that point, I will be buying a TC and a MBP when ever i get tired of waiting for the update.
WD- circa 1998 - still running
Maxtor- circa 2002 - dead
Seagate circa 2004- dead
WD- circa 2005 - still running.
The last WD I bought because of my previous experience. All drives are run-of-the-mill, nothing fancy. To me it doesnt matter that a drive comes with a 5 or 10 year warranty becuase if it fails, you lost everything. So what if you get a brand new drive. Well, that is unless you back up your stuff. Which i think 70-80% of us do not. To that point, I will be buying a TC and a MBP when ever i get tired of waiting for the update.
^^^Agreed.
I don't care about the warranty. I care about my data.
Based on experiences and knowledge, which brand offers the most reliability? If it's reasonably fast, speed isn't as important. FW400 or FW800 would be nice, but not a necessity.
I know that Seagate Barracudas were the most recommended drives around 3 years ago, but that was 3 years ago! I don't even think WD drives were seen as an option back then, and now they have a better rep than before.
So which brand is best? Also, what brand of HD is contained inside the Time Capsule? It seems amazing that they can fit an HDD inside the enclosure of an Airport. I thought that thing was already packed, but I guess not packed tight enough.
I don't care about the warranty. I care about my data.
Based on experiences and knowledge, which brand offers the most reliability? If it's reasonably fast, speed isn't as important. FW400 or FW800 would be nice, but not a necessity.
I know that Seagate Barracudas were the most recommended drives around 3 years ago, but that was 3 years ago! I don't even think WD drives were seen as an option back then, and now they have a better rep than before.
So which brand is best? Also, what brand of HD is contained inside the Time Capsule? It seems amazing that they can fit an HDD inside the enclosure of an Airport. I thought that thing was already packed, but I guess not packed tight enough.
I really like the Cooldrives.com drives. I think their cases are awesome, I have the RAID case with 2 FW 800, 1 FW 400 and 1 USB 2.0 port. They also may some really nice single drive cases with square or rounded edges that complement the Apple look very well. I have the RAID case with 2 Seagate 750GB 7200.11 drives, each running a 32MB Cache, as opposed to the 16MB Cache of the 7200.10 drives and most of the other Maxtor, WD, and other drives. They run $120 each for the 500s and $195 for the 750s. I set mine up as independent, not a RAID, I just like the case for two drives. That way I have one Time Machine drive and one video/other data drive.
Something that nobody has recommended is the Icydock Aluminium enclosure. It comes in pearl white/alu, glossy piano black, or matte black. I got the pearl white/alu one - the alu is a dead match for the Apple color, and the white LED matches the sleep light, as well.
The neat thing is that it allows you to install/remove a drive from the front. Let's say you're Time Machine-ing onto two drives for redundancy's sake. You can buy an extra tray and plug and unplug a drive and just use one enclosure. Extra drive trays are around $15.
It uses the same Oxford chipset as the OWC Elite Aluminums, and is quite a bit cheaper. Comes in eSATA, FW400, or FW400/800 varieties. I can vouch that it is built pretty tough, and the removable-rail system isn't too cumbersome. If you are daisy-chaining the FW, you have to use a downloadable tool to change the device ID so they don't conflict.
The neat thing is that it allows you to install/remove a drive from the front. Let's say you're Time Machine-ing onto two drives for redundancy's sake. You can buy an extra tray and plug and unplug a drive and just use one enclosure. Extra drive trays are around $15.
It uses the same Oxford chipset as the OWC Elite Aluminums, and is quite a bit cheaper. Comes in eSATA, FW400, or FW400/800 varieties. I can vouch that it is built pretty tough, and the removable-rail system isn't too cumbersome. If you are daisy-chaining the FW, you have to use a downloadable tool to change the device ID so they don't conflict.
I bought two v2 ministacks last year. Had to send back both to get their fans replaced. Even then, they're still pretty damn annoying. Plus, if you stack them under your MacMini, they'll heat-up quite nicely.
Needless to say, I regret getting them. I should have gotten one of those Maxtors or Fantom ones. I went for aesthetics and I paid the price.
Completely agree....wish I did not buy mini stack as well. The fan is quite obnoxious, and it still gets extremely hot.
I'm looking at G-technology or OWC Mercury Elite Pro. As much as I like the G-technology, I just can't justify the prices they asking for vs. OWC enclosure + HDD.