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    suggestions for external harddrive???

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by robertosee, Aug 2, 2007.

  1. robertosee

    robertosee Notebook Consultant

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    I need a reliable and not too expensive external harddrive for my MBP? any suggestions??? pref 250-500gb 7200rpm
     
    robertosee, Aug 2, 2007
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  2. sheanhs

    sheanhs Notebook Consultant

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    I just got the white 250 GB Western Digital My Book or whatever it is, for 135$ from Dell..
     
    sheanhs, Aug 2, 2007
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  3. panteedropper

    panteedropper Notebook Deity

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    I would get a 500gb hitachi drive. They run around 150 bucks and are extremely quiet. They rate better than the WD counterpart. Only problem is that its USB 2.0 only
     
    panteedropper, Aug 2, 2007
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  4. heiman5

    heiman5 Notebook Consultant

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    What is a good option for external that uses firewire 400 or 800? does this give a much high transfer rate than usb 2.0?
     
    heiman5, Aug 2, 2007
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  5. cjtinkle

    cjtinkle Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just picked up a Maxtor One touch, 7200 rpm, 1 terrabyte, with both USb 2.0 and firewire 400. It's awesome, totally quiet, doesn't heat up at all, and I've had it running none stop ripping our CD's over to it.

    It comes pre-formatted for the Mac, but only took a few minutes to reformat it to NTFS. It was $327 at Staples.
     
    cjtinkle, Aug 2, 2007
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  6. cashmonee

    cashmonee Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I would try to go with FireWire if you can, I like the My Books from WD. Seagate is also a good brand. I wouldn't worry too much about brand since it is really a crap shoot as to when a drive will fail, and you should always be sure to have a backup in case the worst happens.
     
    cashmonee, Aug 2, 2007
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  7. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

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    Are there any external HD's around that can be powered by USB 2.0 or Firewire only? Or are all external drives required to be plugged in with an AC adapter?
     
    dbam987, Aug 2, 2007
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  8. Geek94

    Geek94 Notebook Consultant

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    Western Digital Passport is one but I think it only goes up to 250GB
     
    Geek94, Aug 2, 2007
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  9. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    western digital and Lacie both make some very nice bus powered 2.5" external HDD's, I have a Lacie Mobile Porsche Design 60gb usb 2.0 drive that works perfectly, some older computers, like powerbook G4's and earlier laptops have issues with a single usb powered HDD it seems, but the Lacie drives can use two usb connections for more power if needed, works extremely well.

    I highly recommend getting one large HDD that will basically always be sitting on your desk, plugged into a desktop computer, or you plug it into your laptop when you need it and turn it on only when you need it.

    then, when you can, buy another bus powered drive like the western digital or Lacie and just always keep it in your back, that way you never have to mess with unplugging the larger external and lugging it and its powerbrick around, I have been doing this for atleast a year and it saves so much hassle, put whatever you think you will need on the smaller drive and just have it with you wherever you have your laptop basically.

    then when you need more space at hope just pick up another large drive for the desk.

    a 500gb should easily enough for a normal user even if you have lots and lots of music and videos and photos. and with Leopard and Timemachine coming out fairly soon, it will really be nice to have a decent amount of backup space.
     
    circa86, Aug 2, 2007
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