Which External Hard Drive should I buy/Do you suggest?
Hi, I'm looking for a 500 GB hard drive (that's ideal, but 300-400 could also work) to use to store video files for editing. It's important that this drive be reliable and not prone to randomly breaking and destorying my files, because there won't be any backup (though I could easily recapture all the files from the original DV). In people's experience, what's the best/most reliable brand and model for a 500 GB hard drive? I hear there are problems with LaCie, but that may only be for windows users. Are they ok for Macs? Thanks!!
Off topic, I would recommend making back ups. As you know over time tapes can go bad or even break. Plus you could be in the middle of a job and have a hardware failure. You don't want to start from scratch unless you have too.
On-topic: I have only used a Maxtor 200GB one touch drive for my video work and back ups. So far I, have had no problems as of yet.
__________________ Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, It's about learning to dance in the rain!
There is no reason why a hard drive would be more or less reliable based on the OS of the system that it is plugged into. In my experience no HD manufacturer is perfect, but I think WD and Seagate are better than some of the others.
I've used two different LaCie drives. The first was a 250GB USB 2.0 Porsche drive, and I was utterly unimpressed. There could be three reasons to my dissappointment however. The first was that it was USB and it would frequently freeze-up in the middle of transfers. The second could be the fact that I had formatted it to FAT32 so I could use it between my PC. The third could be that it was just a dud.
I gave LaCie a second chance, though, and tried the 250GB d2 Extreme Triple Interface. So far I've had no problems whatsoever and I am thoroughly happy with the purchase. It may be because I'm now using the Firewire instead of the USB 2.0 or it could be that I've formatted the drive to Mac OS instead of FAT32. Either way, I recommend this drive based not only on its reliability but also on its price. Since you want something larger, then I'd suggest the 500GB LaCie Big Disk Triple Interface.
I have the 250 gig lacie porshe drive. Mine is firewire though(NEVER TRUST USB FOR ExHDDs!!!). It works perfectly. Lacie seems fine for mac, my guess is the reviews on amazon and stuff are by windows users dumb enough to use usb.
I have never had problems so far with any LaCie Drive or Burner even. BUT I am using them Firewire. I always use Firewire if I have the choice for external drives. I did try my drive on USB2 once to see how it worked. It worked fine but was slower so I went back.
Seagate right now as far as drive brands go, makes a very reliable hard drive. WD is very good also.
whats wrong with USB 2.0 external HD's? i have 2 of them i got an external HD kit and placed my PC's old HD's in them. 1 of them has USB only and the other USB and Firewire. USB 2.0 is faster afterall 480mbps vs fire wires 400mbps.
Mac Specs: Mac Pro, 8-Core 2.8Ghz, 10GB RAM, 2x1TB HDDs, iPod U2 Edition
Quote:
Originally Posted by mynameis
In my experience no HD manufacturer is perfect, but I think WD and Seagate are better than some of the others.
100% Agree.... Have used both of those manufacturers as well as many others and WD and Seagate have been the most reliable for me. Many Lacies and Maxtors have died on me... but my WDs and Seagates just keep chuggin away. And yes... Firewire is much more reliable for video capturing.
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I have the 250 gig lacie porshe drive. Mine is firewire though(NEVER TRUST USB FOR ExHDDs!!!). It works perfectly. Lacie seems fine for mac, my guess is the reviews on amazon and stuff are by windows users dumb enough to use usb.
i guess what i ment to say was why cant you trust USB for and External HD?
and you are right over the long run Firewire is faster than USB 2.0. but to say that USB cant be trusted for external HD's needs explanation.
I got me a 300GB Lacie triple tingy and I have it partitioned with Fat32 and MACOS - No problems experienced so far ( 6 months old ). Would be better if it was powered by the firewire but you can everything at budget price!
Here's the lowdown on the LaCie "problems". For the most part LaCie makes the best external drives (although Maxtor is starting to have some nice ones). The issue is the drives designed by Porsche. Avoid those like the plague as they have known quality issues and tend to have failure problems. LaCie's d2 line is rock solid.
Mac Specs: Powerbook G4 1.67GHz 15.2" Superdrive 1.5GB RAM
I back up my files on Lacie 80GB (designed by Porsche) via USB 2.0 for over 6 months now and have not had a problem. The HDD gets carried everywhere (bike, car, plane). From reading all the posts, I shouldn't be using this drive (especially not at the rate I treat it). But since I'm not having any problems, is it worth changing it?
My whole PhD is on the laptop and it would be three years down the drain if anything happens to it....
