Time Machine - Recommended HD brand?

lirand

Hey,



I'm planning to purchase a new external HD for usage with Time Machine. Could you recommend on a brand? (Western Digital? Maxtor? Lacie? Rocstor?)



Plus - If I would mostly use it with Time Machine, do you think it's important the drive would have FireWire 400/800? (or would I be ok with USB2 only?)



Thanks

bonsai1214

don't know much about brands, but try firewire 400, as it is widely supported and has a uber fast transfer speed.

1337_5l4xx0r

I'd stay away from USB2-only drives... their transfer speed is typically pitiful.

iharry

Quote:

Originally Posted by lirand


Hey,



I'm planning to purchase a new external HD for usage with Time Machine. Could you recommend on a brand? (Western Digital? Maxtor? Lacie? Rocstor?)



Plus - If I would mostly use it with Time Machine, do you think it's important the drive would have FireWire 400/800? (or would I be ok with USB2 only?)



Thanks

I picked up a Western Digital 1TB My Book at COSTCO and it works fine. You will have to partition it and format for Apple since it ships pre-formatted for windows.

daffy_duck

I'm using Time Machine with a 100GB USB2 drive and it works just fine. Sure, the initial backup takes longer but it doesn't interfere with your work and after that it's all in the background anyway. In other words, there's no reason not to use USB2 if that's what you've got but if you are buying a new drive go with Firewire because it has less overhead (it uses the main processor less when it is being used).

igrant

Quote:

Originally Posted by lirand


Hey,



I'm planning to purchase a new external HD for usage with Time Machine. Could you recommend on a brand? (Western Digital? Maxtor? Lacie? Rocstor?)



Plus - If I would mostly use it with Time Machine, do you think it's important the drive would have FireWire 400/800? (or would I be ok with USB2 only?)



Thanks

Lirand,



It really depends on the type of Mac you are running for the type of hard drive you should get. What I mean buy this is, if you are running a desktop, then yes, I would recommend a Firewire 400/800 drive, they work great and the transfer rate is excellent.



However if you are running a laptop, you are going to want a small portable hard drive that can be powered purely by the Usb 2 port on your laptop.



Now as for brands, I would highly recommend Seagate Portable and Maxtor OneTouch III for external drives, I have had both and both work without a hitch.



I would not recommend Lacie. I use to love their stuff, but in the last two years, at least in my personal opinion, the quality of their drives have gone down, I have had to return 7 drives to Lacie, and I still waiting on a refund on one of them. I am also not the biggest fan of Western Digital, some people love them, some people hate them, I have had about half of the drives I have ever bought from Western Digital die on me.



Hope this helps!



-iGrant

filburt

WD and Seagate are the most popular choices, and while being stylish and affordable. Both are fine options but avoid drives with multiple hard disks, as they are louder and more prone to failure. Also, some models come with 3- (WD) or 5-year (Seagate) warranty, instead of the usual 1-year.

ste

G-Tech!



Lookee here:



http://www.g-technology.com/



I've had my 500GB G-Drive Q for about six months now. It's solid, well-made, quiet, and reliable. When researching the purchase, G-Tech was the only external HD manufacturer that had stellar reviews -- both industry and customer -- across the board.



And if that isn't enough, you can see one in action in the new Leopard instructional video on Apple's website (during the Time Machine demonstration).



G-Tech are a little pricier than the Seagates and Western Digitals of this world, but ask yourself how much your data is worth and I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion that I did.

lotharsnl

The only thing I'd suggest you keep in mind is the potential to use whatever drive you purchase wirelessly. I picked up a Lacie drive that is currently connected via FW800, but whenever Apple gets the wireless support finalized, will be connected to my Airport base station via USB. The only purpose for the drive for me was to allow me to use Time Machine, so I don't particularly care about how fast it is. Hopefully Time Machine will do it's backing up late at night, or in some otherwise unnoticed way. If I had to restore everything, I'd probably just temporarily reconnect using the FW800.

royboy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ste


G-Tech!



Lookee here:



http://www.g-technology.com/



I've had my 500GB G-Drive Q for about six months now. It's solid, well-made, quiet, and reliable. When researching the purchase, G-Tech was the only external HD manufacturer that had stellar reviews -- both industry and customer -- across the board.



And if that isn't enough, you can see one in action in the new Leopard instructional video on Apple's website (during the Time Machine demonstration).



G-Tech are a little pricier than the Seagates and Western Digitals of this world, but ask yourself how much your data is worth and I'm sure you'll come to the same conclusion that I did.

Stellar: exceptionally good; outstanding



Not according to customers at Apple's website:



http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...D?find=g-drive

ste

Quote:

Originally Posted by Royboy


Stellar: exceptionally good; outstanding



Not according to customers at Apple's website:



http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...D?find=g-drive

Erm ... no. Most of those reviews are five-star. The only thing bringing down the average ratings is the odd dumb review from someone who can barely write coherently. And you'll always have a smattering of those. Witness the G-Drive Mini reviews. Of the three, two are five-star. The other is one-star because the guy doesn't think the unit is small enough. Please. Check the dimensions before you buy, if size is of primary concern.



I did a lot of research before I bought my HD. If it was crap, I'd say it was crap; it isn't an ego thing for me, defending my purchase. This company has fantastic reviews, and IMO they are fully justified.



Compare and contrast with the lukewarm reviews afforded the WD and LaCie drives by Apple Store customers.

rjs

Quote:

Originally Posted by lirand


Hey,



I'm planning to purchase a new external HD for usage with Time Machine. Could you recommend on a brand? (Western Digital? Maxtor? Lacie? Rocstor?)



Plus - If I would mostly use it with Time Machine, do you think it's important the drive would have FireWire 400/800? (or would I be ok with USB2 only?)



Thanks

I added a second hard drive to my mac pro quad core z. I then put both internal drives in a raid 0 striped configuration. Of course I had to erase everything on the main drive to do that... So I did it, and re-installed Leopard. Then with my brand new seagate go 160GB external hard drive USB2 with a time machine backup on it, I restored my system. It took a little over 10 hours. Amazingly, it worked! It even put back my cookies! The only glitch was with Itunes, I had to reauthorize my purchases. Nothing else wrong. But if I had it to do over again, I would get the cheaper/faster internal SATA drive for time machine. I'm sure I would have restored in 1 hour instead of 10!

gdog

LACIE i have had several. 400 and 800 firewires work very well

archstudent

try and make it firewire, and get 8mb cache minimum.

ibook911

I have a 500 GB My book the silver one, matches all my Mac stuff.



It is triple interface. I use Firewire 800 with my iMac (I have one of the aluminium ones now). It really works nicely. I need another one though!

lirand

Thanks for your replies. I've got a 320gb HD and I'm currently trying to decide between a 750GB usb2 drive and a 500GB USB2/FW drive. I plan to use the drive mostly (or only) for Time Machine. Do you have any recommendations which why I should go?



Would the usb2 put considerable load on my cpu while backups occur?

daffy_duck

Quote:

Originally Posted by lirand


Would the usb2 put considerable load on my cpu while backups occur?

No. I use a USB2 drive with time machine and notice no difference when it is backing up. In fact, I don't notice it at all when it's backing up. I can only tell it has done so by checking it in the time machine app.



Keep in mind that only the first backup is a true backup and each additional backup only copied the changed files so most of the time, a backup operation enails very little I/O.

tony1

I use Seagate exclusively. Other makers (Maxtor, WD) have died on me in the past. So far, for me anyway, I've had great luck with Seagate. I always buy internal drives, so that I have the choice of putting them in an enclosure or not, that way I'm not stuck. The only drive that I have wrapped in it's own package, so-to-speak, is a Lacie (Porche) 160 that's been alive and well for about 4 years. I also make sure that my drives have 16mb cache and spin at atleast 7200rpm.



Both drives and enclosures have dropped in price over the past year or so, so no reason to not set yourself up with something that will more than suit your needs. Check out Dealmac.com to see some pretty hot deals.



Tony

thegar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony1


I use Seagate exclusively. Other makers (Maxtor, WD) have died on me in the past. So far, for me anyway, I've had great luck with Seagate. I always buy internal drives, so that I have the choice of putting them in an enclosure or not, that way I'm not stuck. The only drive that I have wrapped in it's own package, so-to-speak, is a Lacie (Porche) 160 that's been alive and well for about 4 years. I also make sure that my drives have 16mb cache and spin at atleast 7200rpm.



Both drives and enclosures have dropped in price over the past year or so, so no reason to not set yourself up with something that will more than suit your needs. Check out Dealmac.com to see some pretty hot deals.



Tony

How come the internal HD's on the Apple Store are so expensive ? $329 for a 500 Gig drive, while on Dealmac you get a WD HD *1TB* for $269. What's the difference ? The brand ? They're both SATA and 3 Gb/s.

I need a new internal HD for my dual G5 PowerMac, so I can throw a fresh Leopard in it.



Tips and suggestions always welcome !

tony1

Quote:

Originally Posted by theGAR


How come the internal HD's on the Apple Store are so expensive ? $329 for a 500 Gig drive, while on Dealmac you get a WD HD *1TB* for $269. What's the difference ? The brand ? They're both SATA and 3 Gb/s.

I need a new internal HD for my dual G5 PowerMac, so I can throw a fresh Leopard in it.



Tips and suggestions always welcome !

Apple marks most everything up after they brand it. I rarely shop there. Spec-wise this would be about the same.



http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...aZTGUryO5gJ2QQ



Tony

lirand

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daffy_Duck


No. I use a USB2 drive with time machine and notice no difference when it is backing up. In fact, I don't notice it at all when it's backing up. I can only tell it has done so by checking it in the time machine app.



Keep in mind that only the first backup is a true backup and each additional backup only copied the changed files so most of the time, a backup operation enails very little I/O.

So if it's just for Time Machine - No reason to pay extra for Firewire?