Best external harddrive?

newnew
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
I'm looking to buy an external harddrive, so I can finally collect and sort all the files I've run up on different macs during the years.



I'm looking for something that is not too loud. Fanless would be perfect. Price is ofcourse also an issue.



Any experiences? Good or bad, all comments are welcome...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    I've been happy with LaCie. I have an old pcoket HD and a recent Alu external HD (those sexy, blu eyed alumninun HDs). Silent, fast, and never had a problem
  • Reply 2 of 11
    danielctulldanielctull Posts: 586member
    I've got a Maxtor OneTouch drive. Nice ally case with blue glowing light. It has a tiny fan at the back, but I hardly notice it. I'll be getting a 300GB OneTouch II drive in the new year. Very happy with it
  • Reply 3 of 11
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    I'm going to go for the 300 D2 LaCie I think... my visa is burning in my pocket...
  • Reply 4 of 11
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by danielctull

    I've got a Maxtor OneTouch drive. Nice ally case with blue glowing light. It has a tiny fan at the back, but I hardly notice it. I'll be getting a 300GB OneTouch II drive in the new year. Very happy with it



    Hows the backup features? Customizable? I like the idea of a one button auto backup feature
  • Reply 5 of 11
    mattyjmattyj Posts: 898member
    I've got a LaCie 320GB Big Disk Extreme, loads of space, pretty fast, firewire 800 interface is great, if you can use it. I'd recommend it, but if you've got it next to a Powerbook, it'll make more noise than the laptop. It's from the vibrations it makes, my advice, put a loosely folded piece of paper under it, makes it virtually silent.
  • Reply 6 of 11
    newnew Posts: 3,244member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by mattyj

    I've got a LaCie 320GB Big Disk Extreme, loads of space, pretty fast, firewire 800 interface is great, if you can use it. I'd recommend it, but if you've got it next to a Powerbook, it'll make more noise than the laptop. It's from the vibrations it makes, my advice, put a loosely folded piece of paper under it, makes it virtually silent.



    I'm not going for the Big Disk... The normal D2 now goes up to 320GB.

    Hopefully it's all cozy and quiet...
  • Reply 7 of 11
    your_ad_hereyour_ad_here Posts: 112member
    Thought it best to reopen an old topic rather than starting a new one...



    I'm in the market for an external harddrive and having noticed a steep decrease in prices since i last checked, feel now is as good a time as any to buy one. I've been researching and am set on getting a lacie drive. I've read a lot of positive reviews about them and i have to admit they are the best looking of the bunch.



    However, with that decided, i'm unsure where to go from there. To be honest I'm not in the market for an extremely large hard drive, and so am looking at probably 160gb max. I still have a few options though. Do I go with a d2 drive or the porsche designed one? I do prefer the porsche drive in looks but can't understand why it may be cheaper. Everything looks similar. Are there any differences between the two?



    Secondly, if I were to go with the Porsche drive, would I be better going with the firewire (400) drive or the usb 2 drive? I have a pb 12inch and so have no need for firewire 800. I'm inclined to go for the usb 2.0, not because its cheaper but because my firewire port is usually occupied my my ipod dock cable, however I am unsure if there are any advantages to firewire (i.e. does it charge through firewire? Do any of their drives? That would be a huge plus for me).



    Any advice/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.



    Thanks!
  • Reply 8 of 11
    siennabuyersiennabuyer Posts: 3member
    I have the 300GB OneTouch II and its pretty good. Fast enough and no problems yet.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    indecisive pc userindecisive pc user Posts: 73member
    I have had two Lacie Big Disks (the ones with the triple interface), the firewire chip burnt out on both of them within a few months of heavy video use (this was on completely seperate systems too so not due to a specific computer). Saying that though, the USB2 still works fine

    -indy
  • Reply 10 of 11
    mimacmimac Posts: 872member
    I've got a LaCie D2 250GB triple interface external and it's damn fine and not so noisy that it's distracting. Nice alu enclosure too
  • Reply 11 of 11
    genesurgeongenesurgeon Posts: 29member
    Depends on what capacity and portability you want. I have the LaCie 40Gb Databank, USB2 and FW, use it to transfer files from work (PC) to home Mac to PowerBook. Silent & USB/FW powered. Perfect.
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