New Mini and Windows convert. Have a lot of images and other large files that I need to access in Adobe. Was hoping for TBolt affordable drives but so far few items announced and don't need nor can't afford the Raid solutions. Can someone recommend best option for external hard disk?
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External Hard Drive Recommend
- Thread starter iugradmark
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Sorry, I'm going to be that guy...
There are dozens, if not more, of these types of threads here, including this recent one in the Apple TV forum, so I'd first give the forum's Search option a try. The advice you'll find on that thread pretty much mirrors what you'll find on most other threads on MacRumors.
I've had experience of LaCie, Maxtor, Western Digital and Seagate. Personally I would go with a Seagate GoFlex. They typically come with a USB 2.0 connection but this is removable and replaceable with an optional FireWire 800 connection. I would say that a FireWire connection would be your best bet.
Whatever you decide, make sure it is Firewire 800 ready and plan to use it that way. Far faster transfers than usb 2.0 and a usb 3.0 hdd won't do you any good on any Mac, not even a brand new one.
I settled on a G drive and paid extra for its good MacPro matching looks and eSATA potential use in the future. I am thinking that Thunderbolt will trump all these with affordable massive storage options within three years, so I bought enough storage to get me by for about that long. 2TB for me.
I settled on a G drive and paid extra for its good MacPro matching looks and eSATA potential use in the future. I am thinking that Thunderbolt will trump all these with affordable massive storage options within three years, so I bought enough storage to get me by for about that long. 2TB for me.
A Caddy
I use a caddy which supports all hdd types including esata, And all sizes. I have 10 hdd's with archived material on them.
In normal use it's connected to my iMac for backup purposes and has a 1 tb Sata 3 drive in it.
When I want to access any of the archived stuff I just remove the backup drive from the caddy and clip in the archive I need.
A simple and cost effective solution
I use a caddy which supports all hdd types including esata, And all sizes. I have 10 hdd's with archived material on them.
In normal use it's connected to my iMac for backup purposes and has a 1 tb Sata 3 drive in it.
When I want to access any of the archived stuff I just remove the backup drive from the caddy and clip in the archive I need.
A simple and cost effective solution
I will echo this recommendation. I have several G-Technology Firewire 800 Drives. I've had other brands, but G-Tech seems to out preform the others.
In the past NewerTech's MiniStack replicated the form factor of the Mini, giving you extra firewire and usb ports. Look at OWC, macsales.com and check out the current MiniStack.
Otherwise I would get an OWC Mercury FW/USB enclosure and buy a bare drive from NewEgg. Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi all make fine drives.
Otherwise I would get an OWC Mercury FW/USB enclosure and buy a bare drive from NewEgg. Seagate, Western Digital, and Hitachi all make fine drives.
I've had 5 Gtechs, both the mini and reg size, 2 failed after 2-3 years and one now is acting skittish, all with light to very moderate use. I don't trust any ext drive past 2 years now. I see ext drives as temporary holding places, that need routine replacement. This adds to my need for a DVD drive for archiving some important files.
That is unfortunate. I have 6 G-Tech Drives - 3 mini type drives and 3 2TB regular drives, and I have had no problems.
I travel with two of the minis (one is a backup that I keep with me, and the other is for downloading photos while traveling). The other mini that stays at home is for backup (I need to put it in the safe deposit box at the bank). I use one of the 2TB Regular G-Tech Drives for Time Capsule attached to my Airport Extreme. I use one of the 2 TB Regular G-Tech Drives attached to my Mac Mini to house my iTunes and Photos. I use the last 2TB Regular G-Tech Drive as a backup that sits at my desk.
I tend to agree that external drives are temporary holding places or backups that need routine replacement. Just like all hard drives they have the potential to fail, and that is why I keep multiple backups.
I use Western Digital Green & Black drives within MacPower (now InXtron) enclosures. Very fast and reliable.
I use two daisy chained SK-3500 Super-S for Time Machine and manual backups (disk images via Disk Utility). Be careful-only 2011 models support 3 TB drives! Older models with the same name support only 2 TB drives!
I did not test their newest offer (USB 3.0 support (Ivy Bridge 2012)), but i'm sure it has a similar high quality & reliability.
In less than a year, we will have Ivy Bridge based Macs, and they will support USB 3.0, because the Ivy Bridge chipset supports USB 3.0. FireWire 800 is good for backwards compatibility. Even Mac OS X 10.2 and Windows XP SP3 support it.