External HD

[Garcia]

I need an external HD for my eMac (soon to be upgraded to a powermac), I'm really struggling with the 40gb thats in the emac and need some recommendations.

As I'm currently on the eMac i have a FW400 and 3xUSB2.0 ports but wouldnt mind FW800 so when i get the quad it will slip in with no worries at all. I would like something pretty fast, very reliable and not below 160GB (also nothing to expensive)

thanks in advance for your recommendations.

 

[munkle]

Check out LaCie HD's, something like this.

I'm running the same one and certainly have no complaints.

 

[Eraserhead]

Check out LaCie HD's, something like this.

I'm running the same one and certainly have no complaints.

So am I, I got it in March for about £150 which isn't too bad, 250GB is a good size

 

[James Philp]

I can only recommend what I have experienced.
I have a Maxtor 300GB and it works very nicely (here). Maxtor also do a FW800 drive. I had a LaCie drive a few years back, and it caused no end of problems.

However, the fact that you are upgrading soon anyway makes me wonder if you really need this exHD, as the capacity of the drives in the PMs tend to be quite large. You may just wanna wait and then use the money to increase the storage in the PM (this internal storage is also faster).

 

[Garcia]

I can only recommend what I have experienced.
I have a Maxtor 300GB and it works very nicely (here). Maxtor also do a FW800 drive. I had a LaCie drive a few years back, and it caused no end of problems.

However, the fact that you are upgrading soon anyway makes me wonder if you really need this exHD, as the capacity of the drives in the PMs tend to be quite large. You may just wanna wait and then use the money to increase the storage in the PM (this internal storage is also faster).

the emac is a temporary measure, between pro purchases, i will be getting a quad with 36gb raptor and 250gb internal + an external 250 for backing up.

thanks

 

[ipacmm]

Check out LaCie HD's, something like this.

I'm running the same one and certainly have no complaints.

I also have a LaCie HD and they are really good external HD's, I haven't had any issues with them.

 

[Snapjack]

Realize that there is a bug in all the G5's with FW 800. Check BareFeats for details. I'm about to pull the trigger on an external SATA and recommend that over FW. I've had issues with FW drives in the past and simply don't trust them.

Also, I believe it was mentioned here, but it might have been another rumor site, that Apple has already developed FW speeds well beyond current 800 and are waiting for third parties to release the port. Maybe Intel units will have them, might change my thinking on SATA...

SJ

the emac is a temporary measure, between pro purchases, i will be getting a quad with 36gb raptor and 250gb internal + an external 250 for backing up.

thanks

 

[MRU]

Lacie actually use Maxtor Drives. Just the case thats different between the two.

Maxtor one touch drives are a tad quieter (the Lacie D2 cases make a some clicking noise which is caused by the light LED not the drive).

However conversly the Lacie switches its self on and off with your computer (unlike the Maxtor which you must physically turn on and off yourself).

So horses for courses. I prefer Lacie, however my uncle prefers the Maxtor cause the Lacie's clicking iritates him when editing video.

 

[alexstein]

I also have a LaCie HD and they are really good external HD's, I haven't had any issues with them.

Here is another vote for the external Lacie HDD. Great product and the d2 casing will blend in nicely with your PM.

 

[puckhead193]

Check out LaCie HD's, something like this.

I'm running the same one and certainly have no complaints.

i also have it, great hard drive

 

[dmachine]

I just got a Metal Gear Box and a Western Digital Caviar 200GB HD and it was cheaper than buying an external drive already put together. The Metal Gear Box has 2 FW400 ports, 1 USB2.0 ports. I like it very much and would reccomend getting something that you put together yourself, you can buy 3.5" internal drives and put them in a case for less than pre-configured one. I got my stuff at newegg.com.

 

[Laser47]

Since your are getting a G5 why not have you external drive match?
Firewire 400 & 800 + USB 2.0 for 99$ then just throw in a 300gb 7200rpm Western digital HD for 115$ and your'e all set

HDD Enclosure
Western Digital Caviar SE 300GB 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive

 

[crazydreaming]

Since your are getting a G5 why not have you external drive match?
Firewire 400 & 800 + USB 2.0 for 99$ then just throw in a 300gb 7200rpm Western digital HD for 115$ and your'e all set

HDD Enclosure
Western Digital Caviar SE 300GB 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive

mmmmmm... I like that idea

So long for my original idea of buying a d2 triple interface HD. More storge, better looking, similar in price.

 

[Garcia]

Thanks guys, you've all been very helpful. What do people make of the freecom? They are doing a cheap deal at my local store, although they don't look that good they are cheap.

Just wanted some feedback on them.

 

[crazydreaming]

Thanks guys, you've all been very helpful. What do people make of the freecom? They are doing a cheap deal at my local store, although they don't look that good they are cheap.

Just wanted some feedback on them.

No Firewire

 

[ddrueckhammer]

I'm not sure about FreeCom but I have a LaCie D2 triple interface and a Maxtor One-Touch model both 250 GB. Since neither has died I can't say anthing bad about either. The LaCie came formated in HFS + and the Maxtor was formated in Fat 32. I didn't reformat it though because I ocassionally use it to connect to PCs to transfer files. The only bad thing is that Disk Utility and Disk Warrior etc won't work on it and I have to use a PC to do maintenace on it. Does anyone know if there is a way to do maintenance on an external HD formated in Fat32 on a Mac? Finally, if I were going to get a new HD I would look into one from Other World Computing http://www.macsales.com their Mercury Elite line did really well in last month's MacWorld or I would just get a drive enclosure as previously suggested.

 

[Garcia]

Thanks for all your good advice guys, I think I will just order the LeCie 250gb.

Thanks