Your thoughts on this external hard drive

[slackersonly]

This external drive looks to be very inexpensive after rebate, coupons, etc.

Desk Hammer Express 320GB External Hard Drive
$199.99 reg price - $40 instant saving - $40 rebate = $119.99
There are plenty of $20/$100, $20/150, etc coupons for Staples to bring this down to $99.99 for 320GB.

Basic Specs:
* 320GB
* USB 2.0
* Secure: Safe Data Storage
* 7200RPM
* Whisper-quiet operation
* Sleek and sturdy aluminum case


There are good reviews for the 400gb version of the desk hammer but very very little on the web about the 320gb model.

Any thoughts and/or experience on this model as a pure backup harddrive? I would be using it to backup music, photos, video, and docs.

 

[CanadaRAM]

It's not Firewire.
That's a dealbreaker for me.

Also, what mechanism are they using for 320 Gb ? It's an uncommon size. Unless they are overstating the capacity, I hate that.

 

[slackersonly]

Do you think the USB connection would be a drawback for using it as a pure backup drive? I would plan on doing it on a set 3am timeframe.

Side Question: Can I use 1 external drive to back up 2 computers (1 Mac, 1 PC)? Either move the cable each time or split via something like a hub?

 

[CanadaRAM]

Do you think the USB connection would be a drawback for using it as a pure backup drive? I would plan on doing it on a set 3am timeframe.

Side Question: Can I use 1 external drive to back up 2 computers (1 Mac, 1 PC)? Either move the cable each time or split via something like a hub?

Splitting --- BAD BAD idea!!! Drives are not meant to be hooked up to 2 machines simultaneously.

Apart from the cost, if you want to share a drive, look at getting a network-attachable drive (NAS drive) or a MacAlly Ethernet/USB case and putting in the mechanism of your choice.

USB MAY work for backing up, its slower, loads the CPU down, and is more prone to errors than Firewire -- and you can't boot most Macs from a USB drive, which is the other big reason to have Firewire - a bootable backup.

 

[VoodooDaddy]

Just throw in my .02 on a UBS 2.0 drive. I was looking for an external drive a week or so ago. Went back and forth, FW/USB. In the end I got a really good deal on a 250gb Acomdata USB drive, after rebate $90.
The FW versions were like 160gb for $179.

Now, 250gb is probably more than I'll ever, ever use. Heck, I had a 120gb internal drive in my last pc and I never used more than half of it.

But, back to my point. Concerning FW speed, I'd seen comments here and elsewhere ranging from "its MUCH faster" to "its marginally faster". And the sales guy even told me FW is "theoretically" faster."

Well I don't live in a theoretical world, and I don't know how fast you need things backed up, but I can transfer right at 1gb/minute on my drive. IMO that's pretty fast.

Does anyone know how fast 1gb would move over FW? I don't mean the mathematical formula (ie - it transfers 480mbit per second so that = 1gb in X time). I'm talking real life application.

 

[Acehigh]

This external drive looks to be very inexpensive after rebate, coupons, etc.

Desk Hammer Express 320GB External Hard Drive
$199.99 reg price - $40 instant saving - $40 rebate = $119.99
There are plenty of $20/$100, $20/150, etc coupons for Staples to bring this down to $99.99 for 320GB.

Basic Specs:
* 320GB
* USB 2.0
* Secure: Safe Data Storage
* 7200RPM
* Whisper-quiet operation
* Sleek and sturdy aluminum case


There are good reviews for the 400gb version of the desk hammer but very very little on the web about the 320gb model.

Any thoughts and/or experience on this model as a pure backup harddrive? I would be using it to backup music, photos, video, and docs.

For the price you cant go wrong...

 

[CanadaRAM]

But, back to my point. Concerning FW speed, I'd seen comments here and elsewhere ranging from "its MUCH faster" to "its marginally faster". And the sales guy even told me FW is "theoretically" faster."

Well I don't live in a theoretical world, and I don't know how fast you need things backed up, but I can transfer right at 1gb/minute on my drive. IMO that's pretty fast.

Does anyone know how fast 1gb would move over FW? I don't mean the mathematical formula (ie - it transfers 480mbit per second so that = 1gb in X time). I'm talking real life application.

I benchmarked it myself -- Same 7200 RPM 8 Mb cache hard drive, same Macs (Tested on both Dual 1.25 G4 and Mac Mini G4), USB 2.0 vs FW 400 in the same MacAlly enclosure, same set of files (the Garageband 1.3 Gb library) -- Firewire 400 was almost exactly 2 x as fast as USB 2.0 in copying the 1.3 Gb set of files.

 

[kgarner]

But, back to my point. Concerning FW speed, I'd seen comments here and elsewhere ranging from "its MUCH faster" to "its marginally faster". And the sales guy even told me FW is "theoretically" faster."

The salesman has that backward. The USB is a theoretical of 480 Mbps vs. 400 Mbps theoretical for Firewire. But Firewire is designed for highspeed, constant rate data transfers. That is why there are no USB digital camcorders. and as CanadaRAM said above, Firewire has won every test I have ever seen. Personally I only get Firewire Drives, but a USB for backup late at night will not be a huge issue.