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    What Backup (External) Hard Drive should I get?!

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by nmsystms, Jul 16, 2006.

  1. nmsystms

    nmsystms Notebook Enthusiast

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    I want to get an external hard drive to backup my laptop’s data (as well as add extra files)

    Does any one have a Western Digital My Book Drive? If so, how would you rate it?

    Also, there are 2 verions one with just USB and one with USB and firewire. Is it worth it to pay the extra money to get the firewire port?

    Is firewire any faster than USB?

    Also, please let me know of any other external hard drives that you could recommend. Thanks
     
    nmsystms, Jul 16, 2006
    #1
  2. RogueMonk

    RogueMonk Notebook Deity

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    Firewire is slightly faster than USB 2.0 for raw data transfer. You will have to determine if the slight increase in performance is worth the extra cost.

    Have you considered buying an enclosure and a harddrive to build your own? It is often much cheaper that way.
     
    RogueMonk, Jul 16, 2006
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  3. nmsystms

    nmsystms Notebook Enthusiast

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    If something normally took me 1 hr to transfer date via USB, how long would it take me to transfer the same data via firewire. I am trying to get an idea how much faster it really is.

    Also, I was thinking about getting a internal hard drive w/ an enclosure but I found it to be more expensive when looking for a 500GB hard drive.

    Example:

    External: WD My Book Premium Edition External 500GB - $257

    Internal (with enclosure): Maxtor MaXLine Pro 500 7H500R0 500GB- $299 + 40 for enclousure - $339
     
    nmsystms, Jul 16, 2006
    #3
  4. cashmonee

    cashmonee Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

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    I would go with the My Book because they seem reasonably priced. Get FireWire if you can. It is faster because it gives consistant speed whereas USB goes up and down more. FireWire is much better, especially if you are going to be burning from it or using it for video and such.
     
    cashmonee, Jul 16, 2006
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  5. datachasm

    datachasm Notebook Enthusiast

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    i bought a WD essential 500gb from dell; i used the $45 coupon and another stackable $25 i got with my laptop purchase... so it was about $196 shipped and it only took a day to get here. no firewire, just USB2; i wouldnt personally go crazy to get firewire unless i was going to be transfering from a device that uses it like a DVR or something. those my book pros are pretty sexy though...

    i just got this 2 days ago so take it with a grain of salt.

    what i have been reading alot about is the drive dying, so im a little timid about putting files on it. the thought of losing 500gb of data is scary... thats ALOT of work. but there isnt much to read online about them: i figure for the most part the complainers are the small percentage who get a defective drive.

    i formatted mine to NTFS, i havent bothered partitioning it and am not sure i will. the only benefit i can see in partitioning is that it will be easier to defrag and scan since there is no system folder to worry about.
     
    datachasm, Jul 20, 2006
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  6. dB02

    dB02 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey what coupon did you use? I am interested in buying an external HD and dell looks like the best deal.
     
    dB02, Jul 21, 2006
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  7. datachasm

    datachasm Notebook Enthusiast

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    datachasm, Jul 21, 2006
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