What external HDD or Enclosure for SuperDuper! & Ultimate Data Security?

Hi Guys, Gals - bit of a noob to backups / raid etc - hopefully you can help!

I've got a 2.33Ghz C2D MBP / Leopard with 100GB internal HDD.
I've got a 500GB external HDD - both drives are almost full.
I have bought / downloaded SuperDuper! to backup / clone with.

I've decided I want a 1TB external device which I will create a 100GB partition on (for SuperDuper! to put a bootable clone of my internal HDD onto) - the rest of the space I will use to put the contents of my 500GB drive on (i'll then sell that drive or use it for non-essential data).

I want to have everything backed up / redundant in case the new device fails at any point. I also want the clone to be 100% bootable and reliable incase of failure of my internal drive.

I don't know if I should get a 2TB external device that is mirrored (RAID) - to appear as a 1TB drive (and use as stated above) OR if I should get 2 x 1TB devices and back up to both of them.

The reason I'm indecisive over this is because some people say you should avoid using RAID 0 as a "backup" because lots **could** happen like power spike, drop the unit on the floor etc which could destroy both drives at once... it is, however, very convenient of course...

It would also be nice to go for the 2 x 1TB option because I can put in some nice HD103UJ drives (Samsung's new 1TB/32MB/3 Platter baby) - and later on perhaps put them in a MacPro if I get one (and arrange different backup options)

I've been recommended a 2TB Lacie 2big Triple RAID enclosure by Dave Nanian (the guy behind SuperDuper!) - he absolutely swears by this device he says it's just outstanding build quality / heat management etc etc

I've been recommended OWC enclosures (the "Mercury Elite-AL Quad
Interface" ones take my fancy) - apparently they're flawless with mac's but I've heard no definitive information on how well they implement the oxford chipset or how reliable they are in terms of booting from them (by FW, eSATA or USB) - in case my internal HDD fails (remember?)...

In addition to all this, the OWC stuff is only available stateside although eshop.macsales.com ships to the UK. I have no idea how much import duty / VAT I'd have to pay if buying from here - does anybody know??

As you can see, this is a big decision because a) it's a few hundred quid's worth of kit b) it's vital data which I don't want to lose / downtime I don't want to have.

Any and all advice, comments and suggestions welcome thanks!

id buy this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817716028
or
one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004

the first is great because it holds two drivers, and offers fw400 for a decent price. Ive read things about the fan, but if youve got 2 drives in there, i think id want a fan inside the box.

the second, is probably what id end up buying. Now that i have fw800 on my mbp, i would maybe up to the fw800 model though. Or better yet, the esata version, buy a cheap expresscard34 esata card, and go that route with a 1tb drive.

thatd be my recommendation.

Hey man thanks for the reply!

The first one looks like a taurus knockoff!?

The second looks fine I know people use Icybox / Icydock... Although I don't know what their reputation is like with mac - reliability / bootable? etc...

Thirdly, I am still not sure of the true safety of RAID 0 - I mean it's convenient to have everything written to two drives automatically BUT the downsides are:-

1) The unit could somehow toast BOTH drives - power surge - if it got dropped etc

2) there's no room for incremental backup's - If I had TWO SEPERATE drives, I could "rollback" to some extent...

Thoughts?

Thanks

i wouldnt even mess with any raid on option 1. thats just my opinion though. Ive had the actually unit, and it did fine, no issues.

if you get a power surge, well there is a chance everything plugged into the outlets will fry, so i dont see this as much different.

i like the ICYdocks, they are nice, and have lots of connections on them. They appear to be hot swappable too, so you could buy an extra tray for a 2nd drive, and just slide them out. this could save you some money if you didnt need both @ the same time.