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External storage options

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DaveOZ

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 13, 2008
398
317
Hi all,

My main computer is a MPB17 with 256gb SSD and 750gb HD in an optibay. I have huge media libraries and like to have ready access to all my photos and videos. I have a Gen 1 Air that I use at home for mail and surfing and I have been using my iPad for mail and web when out.

I have a max spec 11" Air arriving this week. It weighs the same as my iPad with Vaja case so I'm going to take it everywhere and leave the iPad for a reader in bed.

Now I'm starting to think I might leave the 17" in my office and sync the 11" Air up and use if when I'm out. Problem is I want a fast, light USB drive to hold my media. Ideally with USB and FW so I can sync it fast with the MBPro.


Suggestions?
 
E

elwood58

macrumors member
Oct 26, 2010
92
0
California
DaveOZ said:
Hi all,

My main computer is a MPB17 with 256gb SSD and 750gb HD in an optibay. I have huge media libraries and like to have ready access to all my photos and videos. I have a Gen 1 Air that I use at home for mail and surfing and I have been using my iPad for mail and web when out.

I have a max spec 11" Air arriving this week. It weighs the same as my iPad with Vaja case so I'm going to take it everywhere and leave the iPad for a reader in bed.

Now I'm starting to think I might leave the 17" in my office and sync the 11" Air up and use if when I'm out. Problem is I want a fast, light USB drive to hold my media. Ideally with USB and FW so I can sync it fast with the MBPro.


Suggestions?
Click to expand...

Sync it fast will happen after your initial sync, whether you are using Firewire or USB. Most light, inexpensive drives these days are USB only, but they do have some pretty cool features. I bought a Seagate that has a dock for my office, and a small cable and case for traveling. Holds 500GB, and cost $70.

I did a quick analysis of how much data change I generate in a week of traveling, and figured out it wasn't all that much to transfer. Even my Time Machine backups for the MBA are sitting on my Airport Extreme USB Drive.
 
D

DaveOZ

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 13, 2008
398
317
Good point. Off to look for the smallest USB 2.0 drive then.
 
gianly1985

gianly1985

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2008
798
0
Seagate GoFlex 1500gb.
The biggest 2.5" drive and you can easily swap beetween usb2 and fw800.

Well not as easily as simply having all the ports on it at once like on some OWC and Lacie drives.

But 1500gb bus-powered is a win.

If you wanna go ultra-light/small, Lacie Rikiki.
 
Detlev_73

Detlev_73

macrumors 6502
Jul 20, 2004
279
0
Roswell, GA
WD My Passport 500 GB

I was debating external storage myself for about a week after I bought the 11.6" MacBook Air. Geez, I am totally in love with this machine.

After pondering whether to get a 128 GB flash drive, the 500 GB My Passport made more sense. I got it at Fry's today for $79. I would have preferred a flash drive that I can put in a small pocket, but the hard drive made more sense financially. Maybe there will be Black Friday deals on a decent 128 GB flash drive, but I couldn't see myself spending $300.
 
gianly1985

gianly1985

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2008
798
0
netdog said:
I don't think many will be faster than these.
Click to expand...

The whole point of having a separate drive beside your fast SSD boot drive is having a better $/Gb ratio and lots of gigs to store your media.
External SSDs are not made to store stuff, more to boot off them or as scratch disks.
 
spinnerlys

spinnerlys

Guest
Sep 7, 2008
14,328
7
forlod bygningen
netdog said:
I don't think many will be faster than these.
Click to expand...

But as the current MBA only has USB 2.0 as fastest I/O port, using an SSD is burning money, even if that enclosure has Firewire 800 (any high capacity 2.5" S-ATA HDD can satisfy that speed and more) and e-SATA (one needs a Mac Pro or 17" MBP to even use e-SATA).

One is better off with one of those enclosures Hellhammer linked to and buying ones' own HDD and saving lots and lots of money, as that enclosure (20 USD) + 500GB HDD will be less than a third of the price of the SSD you linked to and have almost four times the capacity.
 
barefeats

barefeats

macrumors 65816
Jul 6, 2000
1,058
19
A "fast USB2" drive is a oxymoron. The best you will see in sustained transfer with the MBA USB2 port is 38MB/s no matter what drive or enclosure you choose. Compare that to 209MB/s speed of the MBA's internal flash storage.

However, here's a thought: If you use an SSD in your USB enclosure, the small random speed is 50% faster than any HDD. And, if you want a bus powered flash storage that can back up everything on your MacBook Air (and matches the "look and feel"), the OCZ ENYO portable USB SSD deserves consideration.
http://www.ocztechnology.com/produc...-enyo-usb-3-0-portable-solid-state-drive.html

And since it is USB3, you are future proofed.
 
barefeats

barefeats

macrumors 65816
Jul 6, 2000
1,058
19
Have you ever wondered how File Sharing, AirPort Storage, and iDisk (MobileMe) compare to USB 2.0 storage in terms of transfer speed?

Did you know that, although an SSD does not do large sustained transfers any faster than an HDD (when both are on the MacBook Air's USB 2.0 port), the SSD can do 45 times as many small random write transactions per second?

Did you know you can install software on your MacBook Air just as quickly using a remote optical drive as with a local one?

Those topics and more are covered in an article entitled, "By Land and By Air: External Storage For 2010 MacBook Air"
http://barefeats.com/mbpp32.html
 
gianly1985

gianly1985

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2008
798
0
barefeats said:
Did you know that, although an SSD does not do large sustained transfers any faster than an HDD (when both are on the MacBook Air's USB 2.0 port), the SSD can do 45 times as many small random write transactions per second?
Click to expand...
Yep.
But it's not very useful for storage purposes.
Better have a bus-powered USB 1tb 2.5" drive to store my 4gb ISOs, 10gb MKVs, etc.
Who care about IOPS on a storage drive.
Of course that doesn't a apply to professionals using the external drive for video editing and stuff.
But they shouldn't buy an Air in the first place, and use a Pro with FW800.

Did you know you can install software on your MacBook Air just as quickly using a remote optical drive as with a local one?
Click to expand...
Yep, but using a 40$ Samsung/LG bus-powered USB DVD burner (without turning on another Mac) sounds like a good option too.

ps: this is plain wrong:

barefeats said:
Finally unlike USB notebook enclosures with HDDs, the USB flash drives are bus powered.
Click to expand...

A lot of USB 2.5" enclosures are bus-powered no matter if you put an HDD or an SSD in them. Only old/underpowered USB ports may have problems.
 
Last edited:
gianly1985

gianly1985

macrumors 6502a
May 30, 2008
798
0
barefeats said:
And since it is USB3, you are future proofed.
Click to expand...

So we should future-proof TODAY (USB3+SSD_capable_of_exploiting_it) for a port we don't have, knowing that if and when we will get that port (2012 or later 'cause not everybody will buy a new mac immediately), the same money will buy an SSD 4x times larger....makes sense...
 
dlpphoto

dlpphoto

macrumors newbie
Nov 6, 2010
8
0
Need guidance on setting MY Book drive to HFS

Hi:

I am new to this Forum and need help. I have an IMAC osx 10.4.11 (purchased in 2007) and tried copying an archive from iphoto and itunes.

I have read the posts on error code 1309 (can't copy to My Book) and followed the instructions given. When I checked the settings, it displays that the format is FAT32 on the bottom left, and indicates that I have the volume set to MAC OS Extended Journal.

The ERASE tab indicates that the volume format is MS-DOS.

I don't have much data on MY BOOK and still have it on my hard drive so I'm not concerned about losing it.

I created an archieve of images in iphoto (115 GB-took 4 hours) and want to copy it to the My Book (500GB) drive.

Please provide guidance so I can complete this task.

Also, any advice on how to cut down on the amount of time this took. I have 11,000 images on my HD.

Thanks very much:)
 
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