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Best HD 1TB for iMac?

That drive would be fine and has the advantage of having a FireWire 800 connection option that late model iMacs have.

Realistically though, asking what is the "best" brand and model of external hard drive here is like asking what is the "best" brand of motor oil for your car... there will be some that swear by a lifetime of using Mobil One synthetic and others that are sure that Mobile One immediately caused their engines to seize up the first time they used it. :D Put another way, there is no "right" answer to your question and most info you will get here is anecdotal at best- but we try!;)

As long as the drive in question is from one of the major manufacturers and has the interface type, size and case style you prefer you should be fine- and if you search the threads for "external hard drive" there will be dozens of results as this gets asked about and discussed at length quite often. Good luck with whatever one you decide to get at any rate!
 
Hellhammer said:
what rpm is that drive? you need at least 7200 rpm
Click to expand...

When I ordered my WD MyBook essential it didn't say anywhere the RPM and it doesn't in the instructions or anything. It transfers (time machine backups) via USB 2.0 at about 1GB/min and it's annoying that it's so slow :mad: I even copied a load of DVD rips from the Time Machine folder on the drive to a separate folder on the drive (so it was just being moved but was on the same drive) and it took 2 hours to transfer 113GB. How can I get it to go faster. I don't know where to find out whether it's 5400 or 7200rpm. :/ Help would be appreciated. sorry to hijack OP.
 
Nick. said:
When I ordered my WD MyBook essential it didn't say anywhere the RPM and it doesn't in the instructions or anything. It transfers (time machine backups) via USB 2.0 at about 1GB/min and it's annoying that it's so slow :mad: I even copied a load of DVD rips from the Time Machine folder on the drive to a separate folder on the drive (so it was just being moved but was on the same drive) and it took 2 hours to transfer 113GB. How can I get it to go faster. I don't know where to find out whether it's 5400 or 7200rpm. :/ Help would be appreciated. sorry to hijack OP.
Click to expand...

Simply put, the rotational speed of the drive inside that is not significantly affecting that transfer rate-- the USB 2.0 is what is responsible for that. USB 2.0 is particularly troubled by large individual files (like the results of DVD rips), so I am afraid that you are stuck with that unless you either:
a- Get another drive with a faster interface type (even FireWire 400 will kick USB 2.0's teeth in with large file transfers)
b- remove the drive itself, scrap the enclosure and install it in another enclosure with a faster interface.

BTW- When you say that you transferred the stuff to another folder on the same drive, I am assuming that you mean to a folder in another partition on the same drive- correct? Copying from one folder to another on the a single partition would be almost instantaneous- but partition to partition acts like one physical drive to another, so involves the USB interface.
 
sickmacdoc said:
Simply put, the rotational speed of the drive inside that is not significantly affecting that transfer rate-- the USB 2.0 is what is responsible for that. USB 2.0 is particularly troubled by large individual files (like the results of DVD rips), so I am afraid that you are stuck with that unless you either:
a- Get another drive with a faster interface type (even FireWire 400 will kick USB 2.0's teeth in with large file transfers)
b- remove the drive itself, scrap the enclosure and install it in another enclosure with a faster interface.

BTW- When you say that you transferred the stuff to another folder on the same drive, I am assuming that you mean to a folder in another partition on the same drive- correct? Copying from one folder to another on the a single partition would be almost instantaneous- but partition to partition acts like one physical drive to another, so involves the USB interface.
Click to expand...

Oh right, I see. Well I just bought it anyway, I couldn't afford the Studio version or any for the Firewire drives so I just went for it.
 
Nick. said:
When I ordered my WD MyBook essential it didn't say anywhere the RPM and it doesn't in the instructions or anything. It transfers (time machine backups) via USB 2.0 at about 1GB/min and it's annoying that it's so slow :mad: I even copied a load of DVD rips from the Time Machine folder on the drive to a separate folder on the drive (so it was just being moved but was on the same drive) and it took 2 hours to transfer 113GB. How can I get it to go faster. I don't know where to find out whether it's 5400 or 7200rpm. :/ Help would be appreciated. sorry to hijack OP.
Click to expand...

that are for mac (WD Studio) http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=13&language=en with:

Powerful quad interface -
- USB 2.0 -- For convenience and compatibility among multiple computers.
- FireWire 400 and 800 – High-performance interfaces that are perfect for Macintosh® computers.
- eSATA 3 Gb/s -- The ultra-fast eSATA interface gives you speed comparable to a state-of-the-art internal hard drive.

I think that is a good option if work!
 
umbilical said:
that are for mac (WD Studio) http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=13&language=en with:

Powerful quad interface -
- USB 2.0 -- For convenience and compatibility among multiple computers.
- FireWire 400 and 800 – High-performance interfaces that are perfect for Macintosh® computers.
- eSATA 3 Gb/s -- The ultra-fast eSATA interface gives you speed comparable to a state-of-the-art internal hard drive.

I think that is a good option if work!
Click to expand...

As I said I wanted that one but it was too expensive :(
 
I'm about to buy an Icy Dock MB559UEB-1S for $100 and put in my own Seagate SATA 1TB drive ($75). Even all Firewire 800 enclosures are not created equal and the Icy Dock uses the latest Oxford 924DSB chipset.

The enclosure has a removable tray so it is simple to slide in a different HDD at any time.
 
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