i'm looking for a decent firewire external HD for me to backup my ipod videos onto. any recommendations for +20GB, <$100, external hard drive?
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Best external Hard Drive?
- Thread starter asherman13
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I have had a lot of luck with the D2 series from Lacie (http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10511). Currently I have 2 of them, a 160GB and a 200GB, and am looking at purchasing a 3rd, 250GB. The new ones have a triple interface, USB 2.0, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800, so they work great for daisy chaining too.
oops... I missed the whole part about <100. Honestly, you should buy buy a drive at least capable of backing up your entire primary drive, if that is what you will be using it for. You should be on the look out for a 5200 rpm set up, any faster and you will be putting out my cash.
oops... I missed the whole part about <100. Honestly, you should buy buy a drive at least capable of backing up your entire primary drive, if that is what you will be using it for. You should be on the look out for a 5200 rpm set up, any faster and you will be putting out my cash.
Under $100? You'll have a hard time finding a new one at the price.
Over 20 Gb -- the minimum size these days is 80 Gb.
You can look for sales on the Acomdata external hard drive -- if you have a local store that's advertising a sale on the "USB2" 160 Gb Acomdata, ask them to open the box for you. You'll probably see it has a Firewire connection as well as a USB2 connection.
Otherwise, buy an external Firewire case for US$40 - $50, and install the IDE (Parallel ATA) hard drive of your choice, new or used whatever you can find in your budget range.
Over 20 Gb -- the minimum size these days is 80 Gb.
You can look for sales on the Acomdata external hard drive -- if you have a local store that's advertising a sale on the "USB2" 160 Gb Acomdata, ask them to open the box for you. You'll probably see it has a Firewire connection as well as a USB2 connection.
Otherwise, buy an external Firewire case for US$40 - $50, and install the IDE (Parallel ATA) hard drive of your choice, new or used whatever you can find in your budget range.
CanadaRAM said:
a firewire case/enclosure? how does that work?
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would that (total) cost <100$?
Depends entirely on how good a sale you can find on a hard drive mechanism of sufficient size for your liking.asherman13 said:
Installing the drive is a matter of 2 minutes and a screwdriver.
I got a case like this one:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50137257&pfp=SEARCH
But, it wasn't that expensive. Got it from CompUSA.
And then, I bought a 200 GB drive.
Works like a charm and is VERY fast.
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50137257&pfp=SEARCH
But, it wasn't that expensive. Got it from CompUSA.
And then, I bought a 200 GB drive.
Works like a charm and is VERY fast.
I hear LaCie is good.
Here's one that fit your description (kinda).
This one is nice because it's small (tape cassette sized), lightweight, uses both USB & Firewire, and I think best of all it doesn't require a power adaptor.
Here's one that fit your description (kinda).
This one is nice because it's small (tape cassette sized), lightweight, uses both USB & Firewire, and I think best of all it doesn't require a power adaptor.
I also built my own drive. Check new egg for a FW/USB2.0 enclosure and wait for a good deal on a hard drive. I got a 200 gig external drive set up for just under 100 bucks. Works like a champ. Has OSX installed on it with discwarrior and some other Rescue stuff. It has saved my butt twice for repairing my interal drive.
Sorry, I'm too lazy right now to do it for you, but search for "enclosure", "HDD", "hard drive" and "external" in various combinations in the Forums and you'll find a myriad of threads which already discuss the pros and cons of external HDs versus HD enclosures, and so forth. Hopefully that will be some help to you as well. 
asherman13 said:
Macworld Dec 05 issue mentioned the Black Series Triple Interface as desktop hard drive while portable went to LaCie design by FA Porsche. The article was of interest as I also have been looking for an external hard drive.
Good luck in your search.
http://www.iomega.com/direct/produc...&ASSORTMENT<>ast_id=63191&bmUID=1131169296937
Yeah... but the smallest iOmega is almost double the OP's budget.Michael7k said:
Can't follow the Apple store link on the LaCie Pocket drive, but Apple sells the 40 Gb LaCie FW & USB 2.5" drive for US$119
One note that I like to make when people are discussing Lacie drives, is that Lacie does not actually manufacture their own hard drives. They put everything together, and come up with a great complete package for the most part, don't get me wrong, however many people have the misunderstanding that Lacie actually makes hard drives - they don't. Pop open a Lacie drive and you will most likely find a Maxtor or Seagate drive inside.
Just wanted to mention that for what it's worth.
Just wanted to mention that for what it's worth.
Sounds familiar, isn't that largely what Apple does in many areas too?~Shard~ said:
In this case though the main issue is thermal management and LaCie does a fairly decent job of keeping their external drives cool and functioning at their peak. This is harder to achieve with a cheap plastic enclosure.
B
balamw said:
Absolutely, that was my point. Apple themselves do not make any of the components inside their machines, but look at the final product.
balamw said:
Yes, they do indeed do a good job. And yes, it's harder to achieve with a "cheap plastic enclosure" - hence why it makes good sense not to buy something cheap like this, and buy a high quality one.
It is no different than buying a high quality external drive rather than a cheap one, it's just common sense. 
http://www.datakits.co.uk/store/index.php/cPath/90_168?osCsid=440eb8155b99add5a87bdb60b27c693f
I know it's not Firewire, but Freecom's 250GB USB2 drive rocks! I've got one and it's great. Cheap too - about £100 in the UK would translate into about $100 in US in my experience.
I know it's not Firewire, but Freecom's 250GB USB2 drive rocks! I've got one and it's great. Cheap too - about £100 in the UK would translate into about $100 in US in my experience.
I just used the converter widget, 100 UK would be $178.55 in the USA.Marky_Mark said:
(How can I make the pound symbol, that is the pound, right??)
I personaly own one of these, and I really like mines! http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/
EricNau said:
Yep, that's a Pound Sterling sign - dunno how you'd make the symbol on anything other than a Uk keyboard. Shift 3 for me.
You have to remember that prices of electrical goods isn't just a straight conversion at the prevailing exchange rate. Electrical goods are just cheaper in the US, and it's often (very unfairly) a there-or-thereabouts £ --> $ swap. That's why NYC is flooded with Brits at Christmas time. Shopping, man, shopping!
oh, I see. I had no idea, thanks Marky_Mark and sjpetryMarky_Mark said:
If you use Shift 3 to get the Pound sign? How did you get the "$" sign?
I didn't realize that keyboards were that different. I just assumed that the "$" on my keyboard would be replaced with the "£" on your keyboard.
(I used copy & paste to get it that time
)EDIT: I just looked online - wow, all of your symbols are in different places! I kinda like yours more.