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Which hard drive ?

N

nerdyiman

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 18, 2014
31
0
Hi i need some help to choose an external hard drive, i have the choice between a "Porshe Design 1To/USB3" and a "Lacie mini 1,5To/USB3/USB2" !
There is a difference between the prices and i wanna understand every HD specs and have some advices :)
I wanna use it to put some files and eventually use time machine, my actual mac's HD is a 500Gb
Oh and i have another question : what can i do with an old HD of a PC that i don't longer use ? Can i use it like and external one ?

Thanks :)
 
Last edited:
nerdyiman said:
Hi i need some help to choose an external hard drive, i have the choice between a "Porshe Design 1To/USB3" and a "Lacie mini 1,5To/USB3/USB2" !
There is a difference between the prices and i wanna understand every HD specs and have some advices :)
I wanna use it to put some files and eventually use time machine, my actual mac's HD is a 500Gb
Oh and i have another question : what can i do with an old HD of a PC that i don't longer use ? Can i use it like and external one ?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

I have a Lacie external drive and it has worked flawlessly for many years. I had a Lacie network drive and had problems with it almost right away. Both disks you are considering are made by Lacie so I'd say go for the one that is at the best price point unless you need the faster USB3 vs USB2 interface speed. All my Macs are older USB2 based machines so I never bother with USB3 if USB2 is cheaper. If you have a newer Mac that supports USB3, it's definitely worth it to consider USB3 because it can be a lot faster.

The best performance is Thunderbolt. Next is Firewire. Next is USB3 and USB2. The reason I've ranked USB below Firewire is because USB speeds can vary while TB and FW speeds are more consistent. Most of my external disks are FW disks but I do have a few USB disks.

As for that extra HDD you have lying around, you can purchase an enclosure for it and make yourself an external HDD. Enclosures can run as low as $15 so that's definitely the best deal. Just keep in mind the disk out of your old PC has been used a while so it's closer to its statistical failure point than a new disk would be.
 
r0k said:
I have a Lacie external drive and it has worked flawlessly for many years. I had a Lacie network drive and had problems with it almost right away. Both disks you are considering are made by Lacie so I'd say go for the one that is at the best price point unless you need the faster USB3 vs USB2 interface speed. All my Macs are older USB2 based machines so I never bother with USB3 if USB2 is cheaper. If you have a newer Mac that supports USB3, it's definitely worth it to consider USB3 because it can be a lot faster.

The best performance is Thunderbolt. Next is Firewire. Next is USB3 and USB2. The reason I've ranked USB below Firewire is because USB speeds can vary while TB and FW speeds are more consistent. Most of my external disks are FW disks but I do have a few USB disks.

As for that extra HDD you have lying around, you can purchase an enclosure for it and make yourself an external HDD. Enclosures can run as low as $15 so that's definitely the best deal. Just keep in mind the disk out of your old PC has been used a while so it's closer to its statistical failure point than a new disk would be.
Click to expand...

My mac is a USB 3.0 compatible so im going for a 3.0 for sure the question is wich one choose since the difference between both is around 50$ the Porsche design is less expensive then the other one

Some screenshot specs :
Porsche design :

wzAxUj5.png




Lacie mini :


KLizYxc.png
 
Last edited:
nerdyiman said:
Hi i need some help to choose an external hard drive, i have the choice between a "Porshe Design 1To/USB3" and a "Lacie mini 1,5To/USB3/USB2" !
There is a difference between the prices and i wanna understand every HD specs and have some advices :)
I wanna use it to put some files and eventually use time machine, my actual mac's HD is a 500Gb
Oh and i have another question : what can i do with an old HD of a PC that i don't longer use ? Can i use it like and external one ?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Is there some reason you are just limited to those two?

Western Digital and Seagate have purchased or merged with every drive manufacturer out there, so no matter what you buy the drive inside will be made by one of those two companies or a subsidiary. For example, in 2012 Seagate acquired Lacie. I noticed the "Porsche Design" drives are now called "Lacie Porsche Design." So my point is both those drives are very likely to have a Seagate drive inside, so you are paying for style and connection type. Sounds like you have decided you want a USB3 drive.

IMO just grab a WD or Seagate USB3 drive in the size you want and be done with it. The others you mentioned just cost more for the looks. Nothing wrong with that if that is important to you.

Look at 5400 vs. 7200RPM drive speed also. 7200 will be a bit faster.
 
Weaselboy said:
Is there some reason you are just limited to those two?

Western Digital and Seagate have purchased or merged with every drive manufacturer out there, so no matter what you buy the drive inside will be made by one of those two companies or a subsidiary. For example, in 2012 Seagate acquired Lacie. I noticed the "Porsche Design" drives are now called "Lacie Porsche Design." So my point is both those drives are very likely to have a Seagate drive inside, so you are paying for style and connection type. Sounds like you have decided you want a USB3 drive.

IMO just grab a WD or Seagate USB3 drive in the size you want and be done with it. The others you mentioned just cost more for the looks. Nothing wrong with that if that is important to you.

Look at 5400 vs. 7200RPM drive speed also. 7200 will be a bit faster.
Click to expand...

Well no not really but i didn't find something really interesting, there is only the porsche design and the lacie mini so
 
nerdyiman said:
Well no not really but i didn't find something really interesting, there is only the porsche design and the lacie mini so
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm clear what you mean. Are these the only two options available to you?

Otherwise I would just get a WD or Seagate USB3 drive in whatever size you want. Nothing wrong with the two you mentioned though.
 
nerdyiman said:
Hi i need some help to choose an external hard drive, i have the choice between a "Porshe Design 1To/USB3" and a "Lacie mini 1,5To/USB3/USB2" !
There is a difference between the prices and i wanna understand every HD specs and have some advices :)
I wanna use it to put some files and eventually use time machine, my actual mac's HD is a 500Gb
Oh and i have another question : what can i do with an old HD of a PC that i don't longer use ? Can i use it like and external one ?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

If your hard drive claims that it is Macintosh compatible, then you know that you are paying over the odds. If the name contains "Lacie" or "Porsche" then you pay well over the odds. Any USB hard drive will work just fine with your Mac. And drives having words like "Backup" in their name usually cause trouble, especially when you use them for backups :(

The only decision you have to make is whether you want a small 2.5" or a larger 3.5" hard drive. For large capacity (1.5TB and greater) the 3.5" will be cheaper; for smaller capacity the 2.5" may be cheaper and it's easier to carry, and you can just plug a 2.5" into your computer without plugging it into power. Any of the dozens of Toshiba / Seagate / Samsung drives will work just fine (these are the actual manufacturers, Lacie just buys their drives, puts them into a more or less pretty package, and adds their profit to the price tag).

Just went to amazon.com, they have other 1000 different external drives.
 
Weaselboy said:
I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm clear what you mean. Are these the only two options available to you?

Otherwise I would just get a WD or Seagate USB3 drive in whatever size you want. Nothing wrong with the two you mentioned though.
Click to expand...

Well yeah
2Xz38aL.png
 
gnasher729 said:
If your hard drive claims that it is Macintosh compatible, then you know that you are paying over the odds. If the name contains "Lacie" or "Porsche" then you pay well over the odds. Any USB hard drive will work just fine with your Mac. And drives having words like "Backup" in their name usually cause trouble, especially when you use them for backups :(

The only decision you have to make is whether you want a small 2.5" or a larger 3.5" hard drive. For large capacity (1.5TB and greater) the 3.5" will be cheaper; for smaller capacity the 2.5" may be cheaper and it's easier to carry, and you can just plug a 2.5" into your computer without plugging it into power. Any of the dozens of Toshiba / Seagate / Samsung drives will work just fine (these are the actual manufacturers, Lacie just buys their drives, puts them into a more or less pretty package, and adds their profit to the price tag).

Just went to amazon.com, they have other 1000 different external drives.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately i can't buy online right now, im traveling and i don't have a lot of options, but thanks for the answer.
 
Weaselboy said:
Ah... gotcha. Yeah just get the $50 cheaper one then. Only reason to pay more for the Lacie would be if you planned to use the FW800 interface, but it sounds like you don't.
Click to expand...

But the FW800 is slower than the USB 3.0, isn't it ?
 
nerdyiman said:
After all you think that the Porsche is better ?
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, I would bet money they both have a Seagate drive inside. And they are both using a standard USB interface. I think as far as performance they will be identical, so I see no reason to pay more money for the Lacie.
 
Weaselboy said:
Like I said earlier, I would bet money they both have a Seagate drive inside. And they are both using a standard USB interface. I think as far as performance they will be identical, so I see no reason to pay more money for the Lacie.
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "Standard USB interface" ?
 
That used to be the case....

gnasher729 said:
If your hard drive claims that it is Macintosh compatible, then you know that you are paying over the odds. If the name contains "Lacie" or "Porsche" then you pay well over the odds. Any USB hard drive will work just fine with your Mac. And drives having words like "Backup" in their name usually cause trouble, especially when you use them for backups :(

I bought , I think it was a seagate expansion drive, thinking like you, yeah no worries, quick reformat and we're good to go, turns out there was some power saving feature in there that meant it constantly bleeped on a mac and needed windows, can't remember if it was a chip or software lock, since then I've personally been a bit picky about what drives I go for!
Click to expand...
 
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