Lag with External Hard Drive

[lilmur03]

I am having an issue with lag on my MacBook (13", 1.83GHZ, 512MB) whenever I have my external HD (250gb Western Digital My Passport, USB powered) plugged in. The computer seems to run fine when the external isnt plugged in, but there are major lag issues when the external is plugged in. I DJ so I need the external for all of my music, and the main issue I have is that it causes my DJ program (serato) to lag and causes a second or two "hesitation" in which there is no sound.

My main question is whether this is an external or computer issue. If it is an external, no biggie as I can just buy a new one, but I dont want to buy a new one only to have it be the an issue with the computer.

Also, I reformatted the comp a few days ago which seemed to clean up the overall performance of the computer, but I still have the issue when the external is plugged in.


Brady

 

[lilmur03]

Actually, after using it some more today, it seems like the problem is a general problem which is just made significantly worse by the addition of the external

 

[chscag]

Your MacBook is suffering from memory starvation. Feed the poor thing and maybe it'll go faster. Up the memory to the maximum. Your machine should take 2 x 1 GB modules for a total of 2 GB.

A faster internal hard drive would also help.

Regards.

 

[lilmur03]

Thanks! Upgraded the Memory to 2gb today and it seems to have helped.

Next step will be the new internal HD. Any suggestions as to what the best option would be? Obviously upgrading to a 7200rpm HD....but I am not sure if any specific manufacturer is better or not.

Thanks again!