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Which External HD to choose for MBP?

I

ikos

macrumors regular
Original poster
Have narrowed it down to two. G Tech G Drive Mini or Seagate Free agent Go , both have great reviews and are Mac and Time Machine ready. The G tech is a little pricier, but cost is not a factor.
 
Greetings, i purchased Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS - harddrive - 500 GB - SATA-300 and it works flawless. I haven't bothered to update the EFI to 1.7 though so i can't say anything about that. My impression is that the harddrive is very silient and very fast, go for it!
 
beasse said:
Greetings, i purchased Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS - harddrive - 500 GB - SATA-300 and it works flawless. I haven't bothered to update the EFI to 1.7 though so i can't say anything about that. My impression is that the harddrive is very silient and very fast, go for it!
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The OP is looking at external drives, and while the Momentus can be installed in an external enclosure, I don't think that is what the OP has in mind.

OP, both drives look like they would be good choices. I have no experience with either one, and I prefer to use Western Digital, but I am sure these will serve you well whichever choice you make.

Before you decide, check out the Western Digital drives on Amazon.

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
The seagate drive looks a little more compact and easier to put in a bag or case. I wonder if the bent metal legs on the G-Tech would catch on stuff in your case or bag? I love the look of the G-tech but it is a little more pricey.
 
Thanks for the replies, actually the G Tech is a little smaller. The G Tech 320GB costs $219 at the Apple Store, while the Seagate 320GB is on sale at a local computer store for $179.
 
I use G-Tech drives for my critical work. Very robust drives (especially the mini's which are outrageously cute). I beleive the mini ones come with a carry case but i'm not sure.

They come with a three year warranty. Keep that in mind when making your comparisons. They were bought out by hitatchi some time ago, so they use exclusively hitatchi drives.
 
Eddyisgreat said:
I use G-Tech drives for my critical work. Very robust drives (especially the mini's which are outrageously cute). I beleive the mini ones come with a carry case but i'm not sure.

They come with a three year warranty. Keep that in mind when making your comparisons. They were bought out by hitatchi some time ago, so they use exclusively hitatchi drives.
Click to expand...

I'm leaning toward the G Tech, but actually the Seagate has a 5 year warranty.
 
If price is not an issue, the G-Tech would be the drive I would go with. However, after owning a couple of drives, I have had no failure and so I'm somewhat disappointed that I purchased the G-Tech, but that doesn't make it any less of a drive. (I own a GRaid 2)
 
I always go with Western Digital drives so I don't have any experience with either of the drives you mentioned. I bought my WD 1TB My Book at best buy for $120, and my 500GB my passport for $150 (bus powered). I would check these two out but the two you mentioned also should be great external hd's. I love the casings on the WD hard drives because they are sleek and well designed and don't stick out like other external HD's do while they are sitting on your desk.
 
tibi08 said:
Two very ugly drives. What's wrong with the WD Passport? Screw firewire.
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Actually they both look great to me, especially the G Tech. WD are just not as reliable and are known to break. FireWire 800 is much faster then USB, and I will definately notice this, transfering alot of video work. Plus they both have great warranties.
 
I got a Seagate Free agent

I got it because of the five year warranty. I did not get one specified for MAC you can get the PC one for less and then just reformat it and save yourself $30-50.

When I plugged it in what is slick becomes beautiful with a lighted pattern. I couldn't be happier and its rating is high on amazon, best buy and elsewhere.

I got the 250GB for less than $80.
Good luck.
 
If you want a basic drive, 250GB Westernal Digital Passport Essentials are being closed out by Target retail stores at $69.99. It's 2.5" 5400rpm in usb 2.0 enclosure. I bought one for store video to use between my iMac and WDTV Adapter. Almost entirely silent.
 
I got the USB version of the silver Seagate Freeagent Go portable drive (500gig) for $119 at Staples on sale - noticed it was even cheaper last week at Newegg. I was comparing it to the WD Passport 500gig at the same price, and liked the form factor of the Freeagent better (the silver one matches my MBP.) I only use it for cloning/backup of my internal hd, so it's not connected that often - just for daily backups. It came with a nice case it slips into and is much more stylish than the WD, in my opinion. I do have a WD 500gig internal, so I'm not playing favorites.

The Freeagent Go 500gig drive is really quiet, and while it's not blazingly fast connected through the usb port, it does it's job very handily. Bus powered, only 1 usb port required.

Also... I forgot - when I bought mine (Seagate Freeagent Go) they included the optional usb dock for free. I tried it, but really don't think it is terribly useful. But, it was nice to have it for free.

Anyway, that's just some feedback from someone who had to consider the options myself a few months ago.
 
A couple of things to consider:

One, a Seagate or Western Digital external drive WILL contain a Seagate or Western Digital hard drive in the respective brands external case. Other brands, who knows?

Two, Western Digital external drives are NOT bootable on Macs. If booting from the external matters to you don't get a Western Digital.
 
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