Which External Hard Drive Next?

[Sirmausalot]

I'm struggling with knowing what to do for the best. I have a 21.5" iMac mid 2010. I know I need 3.0 USB, more space and a faster mac. I mainly use the computer for photography and photo editing.

I'm glad you pointed out about the spec. for the Samsung M3. I intially thought that buying an external HD will solve some if my issues, but it seems I'm wrong.

I'm also considering getting a mac upgrade with a replacement internal SSD with an 3.0 adapter and some RAM. But, at the same time I know my SATA 300 is limiting and is it worth having done as my Max Operating System Version is 10.11 El Capitan.

Whatever I decide either an upgrade or totally new computer, I will need an external to back up with and to store all my images and files because everthing will be wiped off during the upgrade. I've been considering the OWC mercury elite pro 4TB, it does firewire 800 but, it will cut my budget in half for the upgrade though. (I suspect the OWC will be good once i've got 3.0).


I also am wondering if I would I be able to sell any of my iMacs internal parts then which would help me buy a new one? (My internal HD is still whole, its not been partitioned).

Ultimately, upgrading the iMacs through own is not cost effective. Your best bet, in that case, is to sell the entire iMac for whatever you can get for it and get a new one you can afford (perhaps refurbished). But if you want to get by for another year or so, get the harddrive I recommended. Otherwise, get a refurbished iMac, transfer the data over, and then sell the old iMac for whatever you can get. Give me a budget and I can point you to he right iMac. Your parts aren't worth anything by themselves.

 

[Lensclare]

Hi,
Thanks for replying to my thread. This iMac mid 2010 is my first Computer since the 1980's, I used to have an Amstrad PC464, it used to load by tape cassette built in with the keyboard. I've used pC's in the 90's but not had my own.
So, I guess i'm learning about Macs now that mines on a bit. I should've upgraded it before now, but I didn't notice it was getting out of date, because it still seemed far superior to my Amstrad or any pC in the 1990's!

I think I'll buy 8GB of Ram and get a samsung 850 EVO 500GB SATA 600. I know I won't get the full speed, but I need the space. i was considering getting the 1TB, but it puts the cost up too much.

There is a company in Cambridge that will do the installation for £84, including any fans. Like you I've watched the youtube videos on DIY, I don't fancy it. Its worth £84 for not having the stress of it all.

I think I'll have a look at buying a LaCie 800FW Quadra then like yours, as i've found that there is not much choice for us anymore with externals due to no 3.0 USB. I was considering a OWC Mercury elite pro 4TB, but at US prices £168 will cut my upgrade buget in half. I can't do my upgrade without an external, I don't know much about them either.

I might take a look at the upgrade place in warwickshire and see what they're offering too.

If you can think of any other possibilities please let me know. My friends don't know what I'm talking about, as most of them own Windows laptops.

 

[JackRoch]

Hi,
Thanks for replying to my thread. This iMac mid 2010 is my first Computer since the 1980's, I used to have an Amstrad PC464, it used to load by tape cassette built in with the keyboard. I've used pC's in the 90's but not had my own.
So, I guess i'm learning about Macs now that mines on a bit. I should've upgraded it before now, but I didn't notice it was getting out of date, because it still seemed far superior to my Amstrad or any pC in the 1990's!

I think I'll buy 8GB of Ram and get a samsung 850 EVO 500GB SATA 600. I know I won't get the full speed, but I need the space. i was considering getting the 1TB, but it puts the cost up too much.

There is a company in Cambridge that will do the installation for £84, including any fans. Like you I've watched the youtube videos on DIY, I don't fancy it. Its worth £84 for not having the stress of it all.

I think I'll have a look at buying a LaCie 800FW Quadra then like yours, as i've found that there is not much choice for us anymore with externals due to no 3.0 USB. I was considering a OWC Mercury elite pro 4TB, but at US prices £168 will cut my upgrade buget in half. I can't do my upgrade without an external, I don't know much about them either.

I might take a look at the upgrade place in warwickshire and see what they're offering too.

If you can think of any other possibilities please let me know. My friends don't know what I'm talking about, as most of them own Windows laptops.

As Sirmusalot probably correctly says upgrading Macs is not cost effective – in the strictest sense, as in they’re depreciating from the moment one buys them. However, it’s not an absolute judgement…

When I got my iMac I got a build-to-order one with 3.6GHz i5 CPU so it’s still pretty speedy for actual processing. The spinny disc is the obvious bottleneck and (for me anyway) worth a couple of hundred quid to prolong its life. (Esp. as the internal disc has died anyway so probably zero resale value without putting some working solution in there)

The bit that I find irritating is not the creeping obsolescence of the computer so much as that of peripherals like harddiscs, etc. It’s frustrating when one finally upgrades to a faster computer only to find that one is still held back by peripherals that were only on a par with the previous set-up. I’ve got a whole stack of Zip drives, Jaz drives, even huge magneto-optical 20mb drives somewhere!

With your plan at least you’d have a bridge to a future machine via a TBolt/FW adapter (tho’ you might want to confirm that’ll work). Somewhere I’ve got a SCSI>FW adapter that still works to connect those ancient drives which has been an absolute blessing.

Having a small portable HD is no bad thing; in the past if I’ve ever had odd clicking noises or some slowdown that suggests a problem with a disc, I’ve bought one and simply copied everything while it’s still working. When one sees prices quoted for data recovery 50quid seems small beer for insurance. And if you buy any data recovery software (I have DiskWarrior and Data Rescue) it still needs a destination for file recovery anyway.

Sounds like you’re well on the way to a proper back-up system with your external disc scenario. I should be honest and admit I just haphazardly make loads of copies across a whole bunch of discs! You’d have thought after 30years of using them I’d have got round to a proper back-up regime.

Finally (phew!) you might want to try http://www.jigsaw24.com I’ve been buying stuff from them for over 15 years. They have an office in Nottingham and provide an upgrade service. Here's their external disc selection: http://bit.ly/1FVO1M5 Maybe the G-Tech 2TB USB3/FW800 for £136.80 is doable?

 

[Sirmausalot]

You will get a huge increase in performance by getting the SSD installed internally and it will feel like a new machine. It won't solve your space issues. Remember that your old harddrive can no longer be in the machine so you either need an external case for it or get the data off to the new drive -- which is half as big.

 

[Old Muley]

For what it's worth, I've had two OWC enclosures (Mercury Elite AL-Pro) fail in the past few years. Originally both presented as disk problems and wouldn't mount. When I removed the HD's and connected them directly via eSata, they worked fine. I then put them back into the OWC enclosures and again nothing.

 

[Lensclare]

You will get a huge increase in performance by getting the SSD installed internally and it will feel like a new machine. It won't solve your space issues. Remember that your old harddrive can no longer be in the machine so you either need an external case for it or get the data off to the new drive -- which is half as big.

I'm going to add 8GB of Ram when I get my SSD fitted. I will get the samsung 850 EVO SSD SATA 600. I would like 1TB but it pushes the cost up. I don't know if the 500MB will be enough to solve my space issues, as its just the same as before. Will the extra Ram make any difference?

I also know I've got to buy an external HD, as my Mac is not backed up and I need to save all my work as my old internal hd will be gone after the upgrade.

For the ext. I'm thinking about the LaCie 3TB Quadra which has FW800 (£152 amazon). I don't think i can get an older LaCie which was fW800 2.0 USB only. They've probably stopped producing them, this could of saved me some cash. There is a OWC mercury elite pro, £168 ebay shipped from US.

I was also wondering that once I've had the upgrade done, will my iMac start up with Snow Leopard again? If it does will I have to buy all the OS systems again, until I get back to Yosmite/El Captian?

 

[Sirmausalot]

I'm going to add 8GB of Ram when I get my SSD fitted. I will get the samsung 850 EVO SSD SATA 600. I would like 1TB but it pushes the cost up. I don't know if the 500MB will be enough to solve my space issues, as its just the same as before. Will the extra Ram make any difference?

I also know I've got to buy an external HD, as my Mac is not backed up and I need to save all my work as my old internal hd will be gone after the upgrade.

For the ext. I'm thinking about the LaCie 3TB Quadra which has FW800 (£152 amazon). I don't think i can get an older LaCie which was fW800 2.0 USB only. They've probably stopped producing them, this could of saved me some cash. There is a OWC mercury elite pro, £168 ebay shipped from US.

I was also wondering that once I've had the upgrade done, will my iMac start up with Snow Leopard again? If it does will I have to buy all the OS systems again, until I get back to Yosmite/El Captian?

So here's how it should happen

1. Buy a backup drive. Your best choice is a FW 800/USB3 so it will still be useful in the future and give you solid performance now. However, if you are really, really short on cash, you can just get a USB2 or USB3 drive and not worry about Firewire. Depending on what you are doing, it might not make a huge difference. Those of us who use video, transfer huge files, and edit always want the fastest transfer speed and fastest drives.
2. Use TimeMachine to back up your entire harddrive
3. Have them replace your system drive and restore with TimeMachine. This will restore all of your hardware, current operating system, and programs. The trouble comes if you are using more space on your current system drive than your replacement. That means all of the files won't fit on your new drive and that is a huge hassle! How much space are your current files taking up?

But you DO want an external enclosure (very inexpensive) for the drive they take out so you can still use it. Something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Ext...&sr=8-1&keywords=external+2.5+drive+enclosure

Finally, the 8GB RAM upgrade will help a bit with speed on your computer depending on the programs you are running (like Photoshop)

 

[Lensclare]

So here's how it should happen

1. Buy a backup drive. Your best choice is a FW 800/USB3 so it will still be useful in the future and give you solid performance now. However, if you are really, really short on cash, you can just get a USB2 or USB3 drive and not worry about Firewire. Depending on what you are doing, it might not make a huge difference. Those of us who use video, transfer huge files, and edit always want the fastest transfer speed and fastest drives.
2. Use TimeMachine to back up your entire harddrive
3. Have them replace your system drive and restore with TimeMachine. This will restore all of your hardware, current operating system, and programs. The trouble comes if you are using more space on your current system drive than your replacement. That means all of the files won't fit on your new drive and that is a huge hassle! How much space are your current files taking up?

But you DO want an external enclosure (very inexpensive) for the drive they take out so you can still use it. Something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inateck-Ext...&sr=8-1&keywords=external+2.5+drive+enclosure

Finally, the 8GB RAM upgrade will help a bit with speed on your computer depending on the programs you are running (like Photoshop)

I'm currently using 360GB on my 500MB internal hd. so I guess this will fit on my new SSD. But, my file sizes are starting to increase as I've upgraded my DSLR which uses larger files and I've started to shoot RAW sometimes. So, I think during the next year my rate of storage capacity will increase past the 500MB mark. I currently use elements 9 & 12, might want to upgrade it soon.

I like the idea of buying a good external with the USB 3.0 and Firewire 800. As this has been lacking and will be good for the future. Using my internal as an external concerns me, as i know it could end its product life cycle soon. I suppose I could use it as a spare, but still have an new ext. too.

I feel like trying to scrap the cash together for the samsung 1TB SSD. when I buy a new iMac in the future i could use this one as an external too.

actually, I've just found the same Samsung drives online a lot cheaper than the upgrade place. From the mac upgrade place the 1tB 600Sata are £333, is there anywhere that sells them cheaper?