The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Cheap FW800 + USB 3.0 portable hard drive

    Discussion in 'Accessories' started by guillaumeiii, Aug 14, 2013.

  1. guillaumeiii

    guillaumeiii Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    75
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Hi !

    I'm looking for a 1To portable hard drive (so no additional power supply) with Firewire 800 and USB 3.0 ports.

    I know sole USB 3.0 1To drives cost ~ 70 euros (so that's ~90$).
    After a bit of research, I found myself a bit surprised seeing that I found 2 drives like the one I wish, but costing respectively 156 euros for a LaCie Rugged Triple 1To, and 130 euros for Freecom Mobile Drive Mg FW800 + USB 3.0 ... WD also makes a FW800 1 To with USB but it's only 2.0. and I really wish a 3.0 ... and it's still 126 euros !

    That's still ~ 2 times more expensive for the same drive with only additional FW800 port :(. Have I not searched enough ? I may have forgotten some brands, as I checked WD, Freecom, LaCie and Seagate ...

    So the real question is : does anyone know a less expensive drive that would suit me ? :confused:

    Thanks in advance for answers, and for reading.

    PS : I am French native so pardon my English if I make mistakes.
     
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

    Reputations:
    7,588
    Messages:
    10,023
    Likes Received:
    1,077
    Trophy Points:
    581
    FW800 is a rarity these days, I highly doubt that you would find any for a low price. It's the same thing for 3.5" drives, my d2 quadra wasn't exactly cheap either and its one of the few 3.5" that I know of that supports Firewire 800. Your english is pretty good by the way.

    I have found some enclosures and drives, but they are pretty expensive too. Sorry for the North American links by the way, but you'll probably be able to find those in Europe as well. They are all on the expensive side though.
    Newegg.ca - BYTECC HD7-U3FW800 2.5" Black USB 3.0 & Firewire 800 Mobile External Enclosure has a power adapter, don't think you'll need it, but couldn't find solid info on whether or not you'll need the adapter for firewire.
    Newegg.ca - G-Technology G-DRIVE 500GB 2.5" USB 3.0 / IEEE 1394b x 2 Mobile Hard Drive Model 0G02383
    http://www.amazon.ca/MiniPro-FireWire-External-Enclosure-12-5mm/dp/B00684WPW8
    OWC Mercury On-The-Go Pro USB 3.0 & 2.0 / FireWire 800, and 2.5" SATA Portable External Hard Drive & SSD
     
  3. guillaumeiii

    guillaumeiii Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    6
    Messages:
    75
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Thanks a lot for that information. And thanks for the links !
    The OWC Mercury looks interesting... It's not available here, but with international shipping I can get a 7200 rpm one for 175$ ... so that's 130 euros, same as the ones I said before, but 7200 RPM which should be faster.