Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

External Hard Drive Recommendations?

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • External Hard Drive Recommendations?

    Hey guys. I was hoping to buy a 1TB external hard drive with my tax refund this year and I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions. I would like to use it with my Macbook that has both USB and Firewire connectors, plus would ideally like a price limit of approximately $200. I would also prefer buying online, since it's cheaper, but if you know of any of the big chain stores having sales, that would be cool too.

    Any suggestions?

  • #2
    NCIX has a lot of 1TB external drives for around your price point, not including shipping and taxes.

    http://ncix.com/search/?categoryid=2-1272&q=TB

    Personally, I'd toss in the extra few bucks to get this one:

    http://ncix.com/products/?sku=33543&...acture=Seagate
    Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

    http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

    Comment


    • #3
      No offense Broomjockey, but I cannot see any valid reason to spend that much extra money for a "Mac" external drive. The one I got was formatted FAT32 (for Windows) and I was able to convert it over to whatever the Mac uses and it works just fine.

      If you want to consider price, Give New Egg a try. Once you plug it in, you can have your Mac reformat the drive.



      Eric the Grey
      In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

      Comment


      • #4
        Actually, I was going on the fact it had Firewire 800, I didn't even notice it was Mac specific. Heh. Also, New Egg, unless they've changed recently, doesn't ship to Canada.
        Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

        http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

        Comment


        • #5
          Now that I didn't realize. You can specify the interface type too, and they do seem to be more expensive.

          Depending on the use it's being put to, personally, I wouldn't bother with firewire over USB, if it was just for backups, but then, I set my backups to run and go to bed. Speed isn't as important to me as to some. *shrug*



          Eric the Grey
          In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

          Comment


          • #6
            Oh, sorry, mine isn't for back-ups. It's mostly for video and music files. My Macbook has a small hard-drive, something around 80gb (I can't remember precisely) and there isn't enough space on it for half of the video collection I have. Although, I guess I could get a bigger hard-drive for my Macbook? Would it be cheaper and easier? I don't know much about hardware, so I'm kind of lost on it. What do you guys think?

            Comment


            • #7
              I cannot figure out Broomjockey's site, but New Egg has up to 500 gb drives for 139 (SATA). You'd have to find out what your machine actually handles before ordering one. (SATA vs IDE if they even use it, I don't know Mac's that well yet, but I'm learning... )

              Another option would be to purchase two things.

              First off, a 2.5" drive (typically the size you'd find in a laptop.

              Second, an external enclosure. They have some firewire capable ones here, but I've played video directly from a USB 2.0 connected drive with no lag.

              You'll want to match up the drive and enclosure (interface IDE vs SATA) and size (2.4: 3.5"), but the 2.5" size fits nicely in a pocket or laptop case for easy carrying around. The links above show 2.5" drives and SATA interface on both. I've got one 40gig that came from my old laptop and it has come in more handy than I ever would have believed.

              You have a lot of options available to you. It is for you to determine which way to jump.

              Note, the above site is the NewEgg Canada site, so they should ship to you.

              Edit: Oh, and don't feel bad about the video and music thing. My video collection takes up almost 500gb of disk space...

              Eric the Grey
              In memory of Dena - Don't Drink and Drive

              Comment


              • #8
                A while back I asked some people about this (although I decided if I get an additional one, it'll just be internal as I have room for 5 more) they said to get (what Eric the Grey said, with an addition):

                1) an external drive enclosure (it's just a box that you plug a purchased internal HD into) -- with a fan
                2) a normal internal HD that works with the external enclosure.

                The main reason for the #1 having a fan (not all do, and few pre-done external ones do), is if you actually use it frequently (as in, not more than a few minutes at a time).... they sometimes go out within a month. One person I know had a few external drives go out in a month because one was used for daily backups -- and the other for storing music files. It was too much for it to handle heat wise. If you get one with a fan it makes more noise, and normally needs external power -- but it shouldn't ever overheat and work as you'd expect.

                Comment


                • #9
                  If you go for a 2.5" external drive they can be powered from the usb cable. These are also easy to carry in a pocket if you need to take the data somewhere.

                  3.5" will usaly need a separate power-supply. (cheap ones usually buzz). but will be able to use usb2.0 or firewire and will be a bit faster if you regualy need to move large quantity's of data on and off the hard drive

                  Firewire vs usb

                  Firewire 800 is faster than usb 2.0 but if you are just going to store video and audio files to play back then even a slow 2.5" will be more than sufficient.

                  usb 2.0 will be on almost any pc you wish to use these days firewire will not.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Well, unfortunately I only have a Firewire 400 port.

                    I bought myself one of these bad boys. http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...acture=Seagate

                    Hopefully it works out!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Quoth the_std View Post
                      I bought myself one of these bad boys. http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s...acture=Seagate

                      Hopefully it works out!
                      That page does say "not compatible with mac"....

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Yeah, but really, what about it isn't compatable? I'm guessing it's just the file table. A reformat would fix that.
                        Ba'al: I'm a god. Gods are all-knowing.

                        http://unrelatedcaptions.com/45147

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Quoth Broomjockey View Post
                          Yeah, but really, what about it isn't compatable? I'm guessing it's just the file table. A reformat would fix that.
                          That's what threw me off too.... not compatible with a hard drive... I could see a mouse/printer/etc... But I'd think it could reformat it - at one time they came unformatted.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Yeah, it's only not compatible if I use the PC software that comes pre-loaded on the drive. but I don't plan on doing that.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Quoth JLRodgers View Post
                              But I'd think it could reformat it - at one time they came unformatted.
                              That was before computer use went mainstream. Now any moron who can plug something in and push a button thinks they're a "Good computer user".

                              But that's a separate rant.
                              I AM the evil bastard!
                              A+ Certified IT Technician

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X