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Portable Hard Drive for Macbook Pro

ive been eyeing that one too, ive never used one, but ive never been disapointed by any WD product, except the mybook world edition, stay away from that thing
 
Shorties said:
I've been looking at that one too, its small and compact and is the first and only USB powered 250GB Hard Drive I have ever seen, newegg has it for $165
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822136139
Click to expand...

Can someone tell me whether there is a size limit for partitions on a Mac?

I've been reading a few things and heard that FAT32 is used a lot, so the partitions are small and there is a 4gb file size limit. Is this just for making hard drives multi platform with windows?

I'm considering buying a 500gb mains powered or 250gb bus powered HD but I don't want issues with partition limits or file size limits.

I'm used to formatting drives to NTFS, which obviously won't be possible with a Mac if I want to write data. Also there are the concerns with FAT32, but how about the other mac file system? I assume that's what I'd need to format to.
 
Yeah, I was planning on getting it from NewEgg actually but was just hoping someone here had used one, since I've heard that not all usb ports give sufficient power to a drive so I was just worried I'd end up $160 in the hole.
 
Jamiephofe said:
Can someone tell me whether there is a size limit for partitions on a Mac?

I've been reading a few things and heard that FAT32 is used a lot, so the partitions are small and there is a 4gb file size limit. Is this just for making hard drives multi platform with windows?

I'm considering buying a 500gb mains powered or 250gb bus powered HD but I don't want issues with partition limits or file size limits.
Click to expand...

yeah you can partition it as a mac partition and have the much larger file size, i dont remember what it is though 32gb maybe? im most likly wrong
 
Knolly said:
Yeah, I was planning on getting it from NewEgg actually but was just hoping someone here had used one, since I've heard that not all usb ports give sufficient power to a drive so I was just worried I'd end up $160 in the hole.
Click to expand...

I am pretty confident that the Macbook Pro would give enough power but I don't know for sure, worst case scenario you would have to buy a Y cord (http://bixnet.net/images/Cab-USB-YBlack.jpg) which has 2 usb plugs on it to get the power from 2 ports instead of 1. But as I said I am pretty confident it will work with the Macbook Pro with just 1. If anyone has used one though i would love to have confirmation that it works.
 
squeeks said:
yeah you can partition it as a mac partition and have the much larger file size, i dont remember what it is though 32gb maybe? im most likly wrong
Click to expand...

The maximum volume size for HFS+ filesystems in Mac OS 10.4 is 16 Terabytes. The maximum file size for HFS+ filesystems is, theoetically, 8 Exabytes or EB(SI notation, binary notation is Exbibytes or EiB)...which is 1048576 Terabytes. Of course since the volume size limitation is 16TB in 10.4 then, practically, the maximum file size is the size of the volume.
 
Sbrocket said:
The maximum volume size for HFS+ filesystems in Mac OS 10.4 is 16 Terabytes. The maximum file size for HFS+ filesystems is, theoetically, 8 Exabytes or EB(SI notation, binary notation is Exbibytes or EiB)...which is 1048576 Terabytes. Of course since the volume size limitation is 16TB in 10.4 then, practically, the maximum file size is the size of the volume.
Click to expand...

So basically if I format a 500gb external drive (or any drive for that matter) to HFS+ then I'm good to go?

I'll only be using the external drive for storage. I assume HFS+ is the Mac equivalent of NTFS. (As far as I know HFS+ is needed for booting Mac OSX which I won't need to be doing)
 
I have a 320GB external drive formatted as FAT32. The 32GB limit was imposed by Microsoft - OSX can format drive partitions to much creater than 32GB.

I have my external drives formatted as FAT32 just incase I need to pop something on it and give it to a PC user.
 
I have a WD Mybook 500GB which has been running well for over 6 months now. (got it from dell for $130.). my custom made one worked with Windows but not with Mac.

Buy the WD 500GB, and format it (if required) with Fat32 on the Mac.
 
Kilamite said:
I have a 320GB external drive formatted as FAT32. The 32GB limit was imposed by Microsoft - OSX can format drive partitions to much creater than 32GB.

I have my external drives formatted as FAT32 just incase I need to pop something on it and give it to a PC user.
Click to expand...

The only problem I'd have with formatting to FAT32 is the 4gb file size limit. Also from what I've read FAT32 is prone to fragmentation issues. Does anyone know anything about that?

I have a 120gb external I think I'm going to try FAT32 with today.

By the way, I'm sorry for trying to take over the thread Knolly... I just didn't think it was worth starting a new thread for a related topic.
 
i have the 120GB WD Passport and its great. Small and almost silent. However, the glossy ipod-like plastic case grabs fingerprints. The USB cord is also only roughly 15 cm, so it only just reaches the ports on the back of my 20" iMac. It will be fine on laptop though. :)
 
Knolly said:
Yeah, I was planning on getting it from NewEgg actually but was just hoping someone here had used one, since I've heard that not all usb ports give sufficient power to a drive so I was just worried I'd end up $160 in the hole.
Click to expand...

Another reason why I believe it will work fine on the macbook pro is because of this press shot on the Western Digital Website: http://www.wdc.com/global/products/...ter=31796&currentimage=lifestyle1&Language=en

That's a Macbook Pro right there.
 
Knolly said:
Lately I've been shopping around for a portable (usb powered) hard drive for my MBP. I've been eying this from Western Digital:
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=317

Does anyone have any experience with that or any other portable hd that they could share?
Click to expand...

I have the older 160gb version of this drive. Bought it from Costco a year or two ago.

I originally used it with an IBM laptop and therefore it is partitioned in an NTFS format. My 2.4 MBP can pick it up fine, but obviously can't write to it.

I recommend looking at either costco.com or one of their warehouses as their prices and return policy (no limitations on this item) are second to none.

Cheers.

Edit: Just checked, this doesn't appear to be on Costco's website any longer, but they are usually stocked at the warehouse. Give a call ahead of time to check...
 
@Shorties
Well played, haha. Thanks!

@Martinmartin
I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation.
 
I recently bought a Seagate FreeAgent Go USB 2.0 160 GB and love it. It's very small and portable and most importantly looks really cool! :cool: The front part glows a soft yellow when its being used. Seagate really makes classy stuff.
It came with a USB 2.0 Y cable but works fine using just 1 usb on my MBP.
It also came with PC software that is not compatible with OS X, but I researched it and found nothing I really needed anyway.
 
Knolly said:
@Shorties
Well played, haha. Thanks!

@Martinmartin
I'll check it out, thanks for the recommendation.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you have gotten yours yet but I just picked it up from Circuit City for $180 (The website had it listed at $180 the store was $200, I had to get them to price match their own store, it was close enough to the newegg price for it to be worth getting instantly). Anyway I wanted to tell you it works perfectly on the Macbook Pro, no problems at all.
 
Yeah, I ended up getting the FreeAgent Go.

It runs find off of the MBP with one plus unless you need to do a lot (like for instance I was trying to run games off of it with boot camp), in which case it'd really be more beneficial to plug in both plugs. But all is well!
 
Knolly said:
Lately I've been shopping around for a portable (usb powered) hard drive for my MBP. I've been eying this from Western Digital:
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=317

Does anyone have any experience with that or any other portable hd that they could share?
Click to expand...

I have the 120 GB passport and have no problems with it. It's quiet, cool, and reliable. I also have the 320 GB MyBook and am happy with that unit as well. Take a look at Buy.com. I found them both on sale there.
 
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