I Need Suggestion on Hard Drives

[hsilver]

What drive to buy -not LaCie

I work in television at a lot of different places and with a lot of different drives. For the demands of editing requiring fast and massive storage, LaCie rates the worst among my colleagues.

This summer I worked with several LaCIe 1tb drives. Had 2 of them fail and 2 of them had faulty power supplies that stopped our work until they could be replaced. When we ran out of drive space, we got an OWC 800gb Alu drive. It was cheaper, smaller and much quieter -even though the LaCie drive is fanless (It's basic problem, probably) and the OWC drive has a fan. Also there were a lot more drive hang-ups resulting in dropped frames with material stored on the LaCie drives.

I've been using OWC drives on my own system for 5 years and have had a much better experience with them. The other brand given consistently high marks in TV post are the G-Raids.

 

[rjphoto]

I've used them all

In order of puchase:

1. Western Digital 10gig. Still running and it is 6 years old. Cloned drive to iMac DV. (See No. 2.)
2. Western Digital 30gig. Still running however the power brick died. Now I share the power brick from the 10gig. Both are a little hard to boot sometimes though.
3. Maxtor 60gig. Hard drive crashed. Started making a clicking noise one day and wouldn't boot. Tried everything. Finally reformatted it and was able to use it to transfer some big files then it started clicking again. Put it on the shelf about a year ago. Lost a lot of archived projects.
4. ADS DIY box with a Western Digital 40gig and 80gig internal drives. I swap them out as needed. Not to mention, I've rescued several drives from PC's that our I/S department said was dead and needed to be replaced. (Cheers from the customers / Jeers from the I/S guys...).
5. LaCie 80gig. Great drive. It's always been my favorite. Fast, reliable and cool looking, too. Im about to buy a 250.

Hey SamIchi, as for the Refurb....Don't.

 

[EricNau]

Oh yeah, for sure, it's not for everyone. For those people who don't like DIY or who aren't as knowledgeable when it comes to computer hardware and so forth, it's probably best to keep it simple and avoid this.

That would be me. For sure I could figure out how to put one together, because I know a fair amount about Computers, but to me it just isn't worth the time, and possible trouble (ie: if drive and/or enclosure fails).

I hate DIY, but for those who think it is "fun", more power to ya.

 

[~Shard~]

That would be me. For sure I could figure out how to put one together, because I know a fair amount about Computers, but to me it just isn't worth the time, and possible trouble (ie: if drive and/or enclosure fails).

I hate DIY, but for those who think it is "fun", more power to ya.

Absolutely agree with you - everyone's different, and each have different needs, preferences, etc. when it comes to things like this - that's what keeps things interesting after all...

 

[SamIchi]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265028&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

How about that one guys? $70 ($78 after shipping) for 250 GB I think is pretty good. I just need a case. If this is a good deal, can someone reccomend me some cases? Triple interface preffered, I don't know anythin' else that i might consider about the cases though. Some knowledge on that would be nice too, thanks guys!

 

[aquajet]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265028&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

How about that one guys? $70 ($78 after shipping) for 250 GB I think is pretty good. I just need a case. If this is a good deal, can someone reccomend me some cases? Triple interface preffered, I don't know anythin' else that i might consider about the cases though. Some knowledge on that would be nice too, thanks guys!

Pretty good deal. I'm partial to Seagate, and they were the first to offer 5-year warranties.

For enclosures, here's two options from OWC:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW912UAL1K/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW912U2/

 

[~Shard~]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1265028&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

How about that one guys? $70 ($78 after shipping) for 250 GB I think is pretty good. I just need a case. If this is a good deal, can someone reccomend me some cases? Triple interface preffered, I don't know anythin' else that i might consider about the cases though. Some knowledge on that would be nice too, thanks guys!

Excellent choice from the looks of things. As I indicated earlier, I prefer Seagate drives as well, and their 5-year warranty is one of the industry's best. I think this drive would definitely perform well for ya.

 

[SamIchi]

Excellent choice from the looks of things. As I indicated earlier, I prefer Seagate drives as well, and their 5-year warranty is one of the industry's best. I think this drive would definitely perform well for ya.

Thanks I think I'll get this one. There's also a 300 GB one for $98 shipped, I dunno if I need that much, but that's a great price.

Could you guys give me some suggestions on enclosures? Those seem kinda of confusing. I just know I want a triple interface. Besides that I don't know much about them. Thanks guys!

 

[~Shard~]

Thanks I think I'll get this one. There's also a 300 GB one for $98 shipped, I dunno if I need that much, but that's a great price.

Just keep in mind, you can never have too much storage!

Could you guys give me some suggestions on enclosures? Those seem kinda of confusing. I just know I want a triple interface. Besides that I don't know much about them. Thanks guys!

aquajet recommended a couple above, but I haven't looked at them yet. In general, you want to ensure the enclosure has an Oxford 911 or 922 chipset - that's paramount. Also, don't be too set on a triple interface - dual is definitely good enough. Although a FW800 interface would be nice, you will pay more for it (obviously) and you may not get any extra noticeable performance to warrant it. Keep in mind that with those high speeds, although the interface itself is fast, your actual devices may not process data that fast themselves, resulting in inefficiencies!

 

[SamIchi]

Pretty good deal. I'm partial to Seagate, and they were the first to offer 5-year warranties.

For enclosures, here's two options from OWC:

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW912UAL1K/

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other World Computing/MEFW912U2/

That's ridiculous price for an enclosure, but the first one does look cool. $120 bucks? Jeez.

Anyone else got suggestions for enclosures?

 

[Laser47]

What about this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173004
Nice aluminum case, FW800+400+USB, Oxford 922 Chipset, Only 84$

 

[iMeowbot]

Then there are those who suggest makin your own, but how much does that actually save you? $20? I was searchin' for the compnents, and it got kinda confusing... Or maybe it's just me.

Right, it doesn't save much money unless you're buying a lot of drives. The real advantages are the flexibility and knowing what drive you are getting (the best drives for capacity, speed, energy and noise are all different).

 

[~Shard~]

Right, it doesn't save much money unless you're buying a lot of drives. The real advantages are the flexibility and knowing what drive you are getting (the best drives for capacity, speed, energy and noise are all different).

Yep - as you say, flexibility is a huge advantage. If you simply buy an external 250 GB HD, you'll always have, well, a 250 GB external HD. But, if you buy an internal drive with an enclosure, you can fill that drive up, put it away for archival purposes, pop in a new (possibly larger) drive, swap one of those internal drives with an internal drive in your actual machine, etc. etc.

 

[SamIchi]

What about this;
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817173004
Nice aluminum case, FW800+400+USB, Oxford 922 Chipset, Only 84$

How about a case that's under $50? Is that realistic for a dual int. set up? Although after lookin' at that one a second time, I'm kinda of tempted It does look very cool. Is that brand a good one?

OK Just ordered 2 of these babies (ones a gift);

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1388892&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

I just need an enclosure now.

I wasn't really leaning towards, goin' this route (making my own) but a 300 GB HD for less than $100, I can't resist.

 

[Laser47]

How about a case that's under $50? Is that realistic for a dual int. set up? Although after lookin' at that one a second time, I'm kinda of tempted It does look very cool. Is that brand a good one?

OK Just ordered 2 of these babies (ones a gift);

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1388892&Tab=0&NoMapp=0

I just need an enclosure now.

I wasn't really leaning towards, goin' this route (making my own) but a 300 GB HD for less than $100, I can't resist.

Reading the reviews, its seams like a very good enclosure, especially for the mac. Also I dont you will be able to find a FW800 enclosure around 50$.

 

[SamIchi]

Reading the reviews, its seams like a very good enclosure, especially for the mac. Also I dont you will be able to find a FW800 enclosure around 50$.

I see. I was expecting a little less, but this is still a good overall price for 300GB. This is the best looking one I've seen and seems to be good function wise. I'll wait and see if others give some suggestions.