01-30-2010, 07:11 PM

Hi guys,

Just wondering if you have any recommendation of any good and reliable external hardrive? I need 2 I think. I am going to get a new iMac, so I need a 1TB one to work with the time machine, then I will also need another one, doesn't have to be 1TB just as a 2nd back up. I am a photographer, so it's important I keep more than 1 copy of my work. I am rebuilding my archive so planning on using 1 hardrive to link with my new mac, another one have identical copies then make 3rd copies on DVDs.

I might also need a replacement of my portable HD which I think it's dying.

Any opinion is appreciated.

Thanks

01-30-2010, 07:27 PM

How about one of these;
Voyager Q drive dock (Review)

01-30-2010, 11:19 PM

I have a Seagate FreeAgent 1TB for Mac, and have had no problems with it. I use it for my time machine backups. I paid about $150 for it a year ago, looks like the price has come done some. Seagate at Frys I use it with the firewire 800, it is amazing fast, plus it leaves a free usb port for other items.

I'ver super happy with it, if I ever need another I would get this one again.

01-30-2010, 11:32 PM

i am using a wd20000h2q (2TB external drive) it has 2 1TB drives in it that i have set up as raid to mirror them, so i only get 1TB to actually use as backup. works fine with Time machine. Its almost a year old and a quick search on google could not find any quickly but Western D must have made a replacement for it.

01-30-2010, 11:37 PM

My Book for Mac 2 TB Hard Drives ( WDBAAG0020HCH )

01-30-2010, 11:47 PM

I would recommend using a web based solution such as Carbonite. You have your originals on your internal drive, a second backup on an external drive, and then the third backup could be the Carbonite backup. That way you've got an external drive in case your internal drive dies but you also have the offsite backup to protect you in case of a fire or theft. I believe Carbonite is about $55 per year but that is for unlimited storage.

01-30-2010, 11:51 PM

Originally Posted by willrmurphy

you also have the offsite backup to protect you in case of a fire or theft.

Good point

+1 for WD i have 1TB MyBook and its plug and play .. No need to format like some others ......

01-31-2010, 12:07 AM

I've always been partial to buying internal bare drives and buying a case to put them in. In most cases this is more cost effective and allows you to get better drive size and the interface you choose at a lower price point. For example I can pair a 1Tb Seagate or Hitachi internal SATA II drive with a FireWire-400 case for about $100, not a bad deal and each are covered under their manufactures warranties so you will get them replaced for at least a year if wither fails.

To be honest, the last thing you want to do is couple a big fast drive to a slow interface like USB 2. Data transfer is a nightmare. Go with FireWire 400 or 800 (if your getting a new iMac you have to go with $800 which will drive the price up a bit). Either way though, don't go with USB-2, you'll regret it, trust me.

01-31-2010, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by baggss

To be honest, the last thing you want to do is couple a big fast drive to a slow interface like USB 2. Data transfer is a nightmare. Go with FireWire 400 or 800 (if your getting a new iMac you have to go with $800 which will drive the price up a bit). Either way though, don't go with USB-2, you'll regret it, trust me.

This is the best advice yet. Whatever you get, get Firewire 400 or 800 (or ethernet if you can find a drive with it in your price range). I use Firewire 800 and it's incredibly FAST!