I want to buy an external hard drive that has Firewire & USB ports and spins @ 7200rpm.
What do you recomend?
I will be using it for digital audio and video.
(I need the usb cause I will be also using it with my old iMac)
Price of course, is a factor
Thanks!
Comments
...than you save over 50%
I agree that it's cheaper to get an IDE drive and an enclosure than an external FW drive.
I cant decide between the Western Digital 120 vs the IBM deskstar 120. (both with 8mg buffer, if i can). Does anyone know anything to recommend one over the other?
Also, you can get external enclosures with or without a fan; do i need a fan?
And finally, does anyone know of a dual-bay enclosure that's cheap?
And finally, does anyone know of a dual-bay enclosure that's cheap?<hr></blockquote>
here's what i found in a previous thread on the same subject...
[quote]Originally posted by MrBillData:
I suggest getting a multiple bay Firewire enclosure that takes EIDE drives. I just recently purchased a 2 bay from <a href="http://www.caloptic.com/1394de.html"; target="_blank">http://www.caloptic.com/1394de.html</a>; for $115 (US) and for $119 (US) bought a 100 GB Western Digital drive. Most external 100 GB FW drives cost more than that and I still have an open bay. <hr></blockquote>
check out the whole thread <a href="http://forums.appleinsider.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=10&t=003085"; target="_blank">here.</a>
do i need a fan? seems there are many enclosures without a fan; is that an issue? any doubles sans fan?
<strong>yeah, i read that thread. that is a cheap dual bay enclosure, but it's huge and has a fan in it. kind of defeats the purpose (or at least one of the nicer purposes) of my SILENT TiBook.
do i need a fan? seems there are many enclosures without a fan; is that an issue? any doubles sans fan?</strong><hr></blockquote>
it's a bit on the ugly side too. the drive we got from <a href="http://eshop.macsales.com/Static_Pages/index.cfm"; target="_blank">OWC</a> doesn't have a fan. it's in use constantly and has never had any issues.
not sure about the doubles though.
[ 12-03-2002: Message edited by: running with scissors ]</p>
I have five external enclosures, a 2 and 4 bay SCSI plus a 2, 4 and 8 bay FW.
I have media devices and one harddrive in the 4 bay enclosures and only turn them on when I need them because of the fan noise.
I only have harddrives in both of the 2 bay enclosures with both fans disconnected. I have left them on for days at a time and have never had the cases even feel warm.
The 8 bay only has harddrives in it too but it really needs the fan on so I keep it in a nearby closet. 2 Terabytes spinning around seems to generate a little bit of heat.
As for what they look like, thats a personal thing. [[ That's where me an a lot of the Apple community differ. I think computers are utilitarian devices and not works of art. ]]
[ 12-04-2002: Message edited by: MrBillData ]</p>
<strong>As for what they look like, thats a personal thing. [[ That's where me an a lot of the Apple community differ. I think computers are utilitarian devices and not works of art. ]]</strong><hr></blockquote>
if given a choice, especially regarding my personal equipment, i'll usually go with looks as long as i'm not giving up any on performance. even if it means spending a few extra bucks, visual appeal of a product is almost as important to me as it's function.
One other question, though. Do you think it's worth the extra $ for an 8mb cache on either the WD or IBM 120 GB drives? I plan to use the drive for MP3 storage which i'll stream via airport to my stereo.
Got it here: <a href="http://www.firewiremax.com/35ulclearfir.html"; target="_blank">http://www.firewiremax.com/35ulclearfir.html</a>; for only $88. Not USB though....
Here it is sitting on my desk next to my powerbook..silent as the powerbook
<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/rougeuxj/.Pictures/Photo Album Pictures/2002-12-03 18.16.49 -0800/ImageIMG_2366.jpg" target="_blank">Setup here</a>