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MacBook-Gal

macrumors regular
Original poster
I am trying to decide which external HD to go with for my MacBook Pro. I am wanting one that has a fast enough connection for me to install Windows and Leopard and use them on it, so I am thinking that it will need to be firewire. Can anyone recommend a good one that is not too overly expensive?
 
I am trying to decide which external HD to go with for my MacBook Pro. I am wanting one that has a fast enough connection for me to install Windows and Leopard and use them on it, so I am thinking that it will need to be firewire. Can anyone recommend a good one that is not too overly expensive?

You'll be able to boot Leopard over Firewire, but not windows. I'm not sure about what would happen over USB though.
 
I know that it is not possible to do that with BootCamp.......Sure do wish that it was! Am I correct that it is possible to use Windows from the external HD if it is with parallels instead of Boot Camp?

Also, How fast does Leopard run when it is on an external instead of the main computer? Is there a big difference in the speeds?
 
I know that it is not possible to do that with BootCamp.......Sure do wish that it was! Am I correct that it is possible to use Windows from the external HD if it is with parallels instead of Boot Camp?

Also, How fast does Leopard run when it is on an external instead of the main computer? Is there a big difference in the speeds?

You don't need boot camp to install windows. You just need to hold down option and select the Windows CD at startup then run it that way. I suggest using a FW800 connection so you don't notice it slowing down as much

Btw, I'd go with one of the LACie drives. They aren't that portable but they look nice next to a MBP.
 
If it were me, I'd buy one with USB/FW400/FW800/eSATA. The cheapest route would likely be to buy the enclosure and drive separately so that you know you'd be getting a SATA drive. You can use it with your MBP FW800 port, or drop the additional money on an eSATA card.
 
i have a western digital mybook studio 500GB for ~$180. it's fast and quiet and has USB, FW400/800 and esata. and costco has the 1TB version for $249 right now. i think that is a good enough deal to not bother with buying HD and enclosure separately.

don't know if you can boot windows from an external HD in general.
 
Are the My Books still suffering from a high failure rate? I'm 0/2 on the things and I've heard of many others having issues with them. I'm pretty much a Seagate user, although the Samsung 160 I put in my Apple TV has done a great job, too.

i haven't heard more negatives about the WD than any other HD. Coincidently the WD replaces a Seagate that died on me after about 3 month of use.

I had in the last 5 years about 7 HD's from all different manufacturers die. I think it's pretty much a wash whatever you buy. Buy a cheap second external and store the most important data on it off site.
 
Most of the ones over at Other World Computing have FW400/800/USB/eSATA or some combination. I'd suggest one of these because you can jack it into anything and OWC has great products and great support. When you need support you get it from a real person over in Illinois. It might cost a few bucks more from them but it's probably worth it. I've bought a number of things from them over the years, drives, CPU upgrades, the latest is one of their USB universal drive adapters, that thing is indispensable at work. I see most of the portable ones are available in the triple play FW400/800/USB. A good bet. FW800 is going to be fastest, followed by 400, followed by USB. You'll be able to use it via high speed firewire on your mac and USB if you have to.


http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go
 
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