Looking for a good Hard Drive for Time Machine

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Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I am looking for a good External Hard Drive to use with my MBP running Time Machine. I have looked at the MyBook Studio Edition since it is quad interface. I know the Mac doesn't support eSATA but I think it will before long. I most likely will use the Firewire 400 or Firewire 800 port on my MBP and am looking for something that holds 750GB since my MBP has a 250GB HD.

I have looked at the various Western Digital My Book's such as the Pro Edition with the 3 interfaces but also am wondering if something from Seagate, Maxtor, Lacie, or OWC would be better.

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  • Reply 1 of 10
    For Time Machine, the folks at the local Apple store advised getting an external hard drive at least 1/3 larger than your machine's internal drive. I am (finally!) getting an iMac this month after MWSF. Looks like I'll be going with the G-Tech Quad. Here's the link:



    http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVEQ.cfm



    Unfortunately, I'm not the first person to stumble across these, so they're a bit hard to find. Love the reviews I've read on them.

    Morod
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  • Reply 2 of 10
    I am running a USB 2.0 LaCie 250GB HD with my MacBook and it works just fine for the Time Machine drive.



    I am getting a Mac Pro after MWSF and I will be looking at OWC quad interface 500 GB HDs. They are cheaper than the G-Tech and I have always had good experiences with OWC.



    Nothing against G-Tech, I have heard good things about them as well, but OWC's lower prices and good reputation, plus my personal experiences with them add up to OWC being my primary supplier.
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  • Reply 3 of 10
    mysticmystic Posts: 514member
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  • Reply 4 of 10
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Is that article really true Mystic? I have one of these MyBook 500 GB in the advanced format hooked up to my iMac 24". No troubles yet, but I don't know. I have not tried copying everything over there or running movies from it. I've had not QT problems, but I am sure that is not what he's getting at.



    What about the LaCie 1T?
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  • Reply 5 of 10
    I have a 1 TB MyBook Studio connected via FW800 to my 24" iMac... purchased it specifically for use with Time Machine... works great... even came pre-formatted for Mac OS X...
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  • Reply 6 of 10
    irelandireland Posts: 17,801member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by markw10 View Post


    I am looking for a good External Hard Drive to use with my MBP running Time Machine. I have looked at the MyBook Studio Edition since it is quad interface. I know the Mac doesn't support eSATA but I think it will before long. I most likely will use the Firewire 400 or Firewire 800 port on my MBP and am looking for something that holds 750GB since my MBP has a 250GB HD.

    I have looked at the various Western Digital My Book's such as the Pro Edition with the 3 interfaces but also am wondering if something from Seagate, Maxtor, Lacie, or OWC would be better.



    When 750GB? You said yourself your MacBook Pro is only 250GB.
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  • Reply 7 of 10
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by heaven or las vegas View Post


    I have a 1 TB MyBook Studio connected via FW800 to my 24" iMac... purchased it specifically for use with Time Machine... works great... even came pre-formatted for Mac OS X...



    Thank you HorLV. That's what I wanted to know. I'd like to move a lot of my material off the other backup drives I have to give me access.



    Did you partition the drive for use with Time Machine?
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  • Reply 8 of 10
    Quote:

    Did you partition the drive for use with Time Machine?



    No. It didn't seem necessary. Time Machine doesn't exclusively take over the external drive. I still use it to hold stuff that doesn't reside on the internal iMac hard drive.
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  • Reply 9 of 10
    cubitcubit Posts: 846member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by heaven or las vegas View Post


    No. It didn't seem necessary. Time Machine doesn't exclusively take over the external drive. I still use it to hold stuff that doesn't reside on the internal iMac hard drive.



    Thank you! Most helpful.
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  • Reply 10 of 10
    Just had no experience with that.
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