I have a powerbook. I saw the Best Buy circular and it showed a Seagate HD for $180. Any one know if they are any good? What would people recommend I get? I need large firewire(preferably) HD for backup.
I bought a 250GB external Seagate HD about 6 months ago (USB and FW). No probs so far. At $AU205 with a box, a bargain. So no complaints here. I think their reputation is pretty good.
OTOH, Maxtors were supposed to be somewhat on the crappy side. Whether this still applies, I'm not sure. Hope that helps.
i got the iomega 250fw, there is another thread about this, i used super duper and it was a snap, slower on the g3 then my g4 but i was amazed at how easy back up with this thing was. truly easy. and i created 3 sections one for each of my computers hey it worked very well. but no question GET the FW not the usb. believe me FW is way faster and you can boot up from the drive.
Typically Firewire sees real world transfer rates of close to 40MB/s while USB2 is low 30s. Firewire is just better for streaming data, it's what it was designed for.
Quote:
Originally posted by PBRules
what's your opinion on maxtor?
I'd buy something else if I had the choice. Maxtor never made the greatest drives. They are ok but they tend to lag a bit in performance. Western Digital makes great drives but for some reason their external ones aren't quite as good. I'd probably go Seagate.
Seagate get a good name but I got a Seagate shipped in my Mac Mini and it broke within 3 months. I then purchased a generic FW enclosure from a PC shop with a 60GB Maxtor quickly to rescue my data and what a POS. I think it was the enclosure but it kept unmounting itself and clicked a lot. That was even after I had it replaced.
I got so fed up with it, especially since it cost £100 that I just ordered a Lacie FW drive online for £75 including delivery and it has been great so far. I absoluately love Lacie products. One big plus is they come with two FW ports that lets you daisy chain devices. I only have one FW port on my Mac Mini so it was essential.
I now have the 80GB 7200 HD hooked into my LG DVD burner, which is in a Lacie enclosure and that goes into my Mini. I'm very pleased with the setup and I would recommend Lacie to anyone. Superb quality and very good prices.
I use two 250gig Lacie FW?USB externals hooked up through each other to my iMac, and they simply work amazing. I've had both for about half a year so far, and Lacie is pro-quality and made for professional use. I definetly reccommend it Lacie. Oh, and the cost was around 200 for each.
So it looks like it's coming down to Seagate and LaCie. Pick which ever one is cheaper? It looks like people like them both. Also, when you say firewire, you mean firewire 400 right and not 800. It's hard to find the 800 ones. I read the Macworld review too. LaCie sounds good to me. But between Seagate and LaCie, flip a coin to pick which one?
The LaCie d2 line of drives are awesome. Solid construction, very quiet, and flat out workhorses. They also look nice sitting next to a Powerbook, MacBook Pro, or Power Mac G5!
The LaCie d2 line of drives are awesome. Solid construction, very quiet, and flat out workhorses. They also look nice sitting next to a Powerbook, MacBook Pro, or Power Mac G5!
Except for the fact that I had a d2 that all of a sudden decided that it didn't like me anymore and crapped out...
Right in the middle of a well paying very important project...
I had to spend $300 to get it working again. The repair place said that the bridge was bad and they had to replace the case with a new one that only supported FireWire400. So I spent extra money for a nice 250 gig lacie FireWire800... and a year later I am left with a generic looking FireWire400 Drive that I don't even trust to use with everyday use and only use for backup. I also got a nice d2 case that is pretty much useless now with a broken bridge inside.
After having this be my second lacie and also being the second lacie that decided to crap out a year after I bought it... I am done with them. What's the point in over-paying for hard-drives if they are just as reliable if not less than some cheap generic drive I can get on tiger direct for about $100 cheaper.
Except for the fact that I had a d2 that all of a sudden decided that it didn't like me anymore and crapped out...
Right in the middle of a well paying very important project...
Just as aside because this seems to be a common mistake in a lot of businesses, if it is important enough that you don't want to lose it, invest in regular backups. The cost of a data loss can often massively outweigh the cost of keeping proper backups.
Comments
Originally posted by techound1
I've never had trouble with a Seagate HD. Just be sure to get firewire, though - USB is dreadfully slow!
sure... in 2001.
USB 2.0 = 480 Mbit/s
IEEE 1394a = 393.216 Mbit/s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus
Originally posted by JohnnySmith
sure... in 2001.
USB 2.0 = 480 Mbit/s
IEEE 1394a = 393.216 Mbit/s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus
Theoretical bandwidth != effective throughput.
Originally posted by PBRules
what's your opinion on maxtor?
I bought a 250GB external Seagate HD about 6 months ago (USB and FW). No probs so far. At $AU205 with a box, a bargain. So no complaints here. I think their reputation is pretty good.
OTOH, Maxtors were supposed to be somewhat on the crappy side. Whether this still applies, I'm not sure. Hope that helps.
Originally posted by Chucker
Theoretical bandwidth != effective throughput.
On the other posts:
The maxtor one touch I got el cheapo with a rebate was pretty crummy.
I have an iomega 250 triple interface and it's been a doll!
2. My Maxtors have been performing okay so far
3. FireWire is VERY important over USB
4. FireWire is significantly faster than USB 2.0
5. You can boot OSX from an external drive via FireWire but NOT USB 2.0/1.1/whatever
Originally posted by JohnnySmith
sure... in 2001.
USB 2.0 = 480 Mbit/s
IEEE 1394a = 393.216 Mbit/s
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus
Typically Firewire sees real world transfer rates of close to 40MB/s while USB2 is low 30s. Firewire is just better for streaming data, it's what it was designed for.
Originally posted by PBRules
what's your opinion on maxtor?
I'd buy something else if I had the choice. Maxtor never made the greatest drives. They are ok but they tend to lag a bit in performance. Western Digital makes great drives but for some reason their external ones aren't quite as good. I'd probably go Seagate.
I got so fed up with it, especially since it cost £100 that I just ordered a Lacie FW drive online for £75 including delivery and it has been great so far. I absoluately love Lacie products. One big plus is they come with two FW ports that lets you daisy chain devices. I only have one FW port on my Mac Mini so it was essential.
I now have the 80GB 7200 HD hooked into my LG DVD burner, which is in a Lacie enclosure and that goes into my Mini. I'm very pleased with the setup and I would recommend Lacie to anyone. Superb quality and very good prices.
-PBRules
here's a link:
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....8.25.7.11.2.3
Originally posted by CosmoNut
The LaCie d2 line of drives are awesome. Solid construction, very quiet, and flat out workhorses. They also look nice sitting next to a Powerbook, MacBook Pro, or Power Mac G5!
Except for the fact that I had a d2 that all of a sudden decided that it didn't like me anymore and crapped out...
Right in the middle of a well paying very important project...
I had to spend $300 to get it working again. The repair place said that the bridge was bad and they had to replace the case with a new one that only supported FireWire400. So I spent extra money for a nice 250 gig lacie FireWire800... and a year later I am left with a generic looking FireWire400 Drive that I don't even trust to use with everyday use and only use for backup. I also got a nice d2 case that is pretty much useless now with a broken bridge inside.
After having this be my second lacie and also being the second lacie that decided to crap out a year after I bought it... I am done with them. What's the point in over-paying for hard-drives if they are just as reliable if not less than some cheap generic drive I can get on tiger direct for about $100 cheaper.
Originally posted by JohnnySmith
Except for the fact that I had a d2 that all of a sudden decided that it didn't like me anymore and crapped out...
Right in the middle of a well paying very important project...
Just as aside because this seems to be a common mistake in a lot of businesses, if it is important enough that you don't want to lose it, invest in regular backups. The cost of a data loss can often massively outweigh the cost of keeping proper backups.