Portable Hard Drive?

eggman90eggman90
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
hi. im gonna need a portable hard drive for my upcoming powerbook. which hard drive should i get? im looking for over 80gb for a decent price. any ideas?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    Well, I recommend buying a 2.5" notebook drive enclosure, along with a notebook hard drive. While it costs more, it will be worth it, IMO. The enclosure is very small compared to 3.5" enclosures, and notebook drive enclosures use USB 2.0 to power the device, which means no AC adapter. It won't be as fast as a 3.5" model, but it will be much more convenient. The enclosure itself is only about $15, while the 80gb drive is $105. As always, I recommend buying from newegg.com.
  • Reply 2 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    hmm would i be able to fit that in my pocket? lol
  • Reply 3 of 13
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    actually, yes. It's about as thin as a checkbook but only 2/3s the length. It certainly doesn't weigh much either.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    nuttynutty Posts: 50member
    I suggest a 40gig 2.5 Hdd, I got one of those and it cost me only $55, $15 for the enclosure and $40 for the HDD, check the local computer stores, you may be supprised but newegg does not always have the best deals
  • Reply 5 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    hmm ok thanks.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    yeah, 80GB is near the ceiling on notebook HDs. If you step down to a 60gb or 40gb, you end up paying considerably less.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    yea but the thing is im gonna need as much space as i can get... so im looking for over 80gb.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    wingnutwingnut Posts: 197member
    They do make 100gb models now, too.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    skatmanskatman Posts: 609member
    One word of caution.

    All of the USB2 enclusures ship and are designed to be used with 2 USB ports. 1 USB port is not enough to provide power needed. I find this annoying.



    However, I did a bit of experimentation and found that, on most high-end PC notebooks (have not tried Apple) 1 USB port is enough to reliably power the enclosure if you pick the parts right. I don't see why it would not work on Apple.



    I use Nexstar USB2 enclosure with a Fujitsu 4200 RPM (MHT series) drive. Fujitsus are the most power efficient, as far as I can tell by the specs. The newer series of 4200 RPM drives are even more efficient than my MHT drive and you can get upto 120 GB.



    I found that Toshiba AH series also works. According to spec sheet this drive consumes similar amount of power to 5400 RPM Seagate 100 GB drives as well as the new 5400 RPM Fujitsu series. So I believe that those can also be used with 1 USB port.



    I have not been able to make Hitachi drives work, even the 4200 RPM ones.



    I hope this helps.
  • Reply 10 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    yea that helped alot

    im gonna go with a 120gb 2.5" with an enclosure. even if it takes 2 usb ports its ok. my ports are gonna be free most of the time.

    thanks
  • Reply 11 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    hmm now i gotta find a store with a good enclosure/hard drive combo. im not sure about ordering it online.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    formerlurkerformerlurker Posts: 2,686member
    you really, really, want a combo enclosure with both USB and FireWire. The FireWire port on all Macs will power the drive, so you only need one cord.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    eggman90eggman90 Posts: 24member
    yea thats what my friend just told me. ill be sure to get a firewire enclosure. but first i need to find a place that sells the fujitsu MHV2120AT in 120gb.
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