Which External Hard Drive should I buy/Do you suggest?

External HDD on wireless

Hey everyone. I'm somewhat tech-savvy but sometimes get dizzy from things as they get complicated (or I make them complicated).

I think I'm trying to do something pretty straight-forward and hoping to get some guidance. I'm on a MacBook Pro OS X 10.5.8 connecting to a cable modem thru a Linksys WRT54G2 V1.5. The router is also connected to a phone modem for Vonage.

I'm looking to get an HDD to use Time Machine for backing-up as well as using the HDD for external storage, and would also like to hook-up to a printer wirelessly. I was thinking a 1TB drive would suffice, especially if I could later hook-up additional HDDs thru USB/Firewire, etc.

What I'd like to know is:

(1) Can I set-up an HDD to do Time Machine back-up and use as storage for media (music, video, pictures) simply by partitioning the drive? Or is it more complicated than that?

(2) Would I need a powered hub to link my router to the HDD, printer, etc? Or can the HDD be linked directly to the router and printer, etc linked thru the HDD?

Any suggestions on particular hardware, etc would also be appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

^ Sorry to interrupt mate.

I have a few noobie questions

I'm looking for an external 2.5" HDD

I have been looking at the Segate Go Flex 2.5" drives because they have firewire 800, eSATA and USB 3.0 connectors.
Has anyone used these drives before and thoughts otherwise?

Would the 1TB drive be okay?

What sort of transfer speeds would I be looking at approx for firewire 800?

I was also wondering what format should I use if I wanted to use it for Mac and PC? I just want to use it for back ups of music and file transfers.

Cheers Kieran

PS I spelt my username wrong it's ment to be a u on the end...

I have 3 WD drives (500gb and 2x 1TB) they are fairly new but have had trouble with 2 of them - (not including them always being ejected - but that is on a different thread and i don't think it is the fault of the Hard Drives) However 1 of the WD drives has totally failed and i lost everything on it! even when i reformatted and put stuff back on it to test it is failed again a week or so later - luckily it was a back up to the other drive but it is knackered.
I would definately recommend avoiding WD - LaCie has always been recommended to me and i wish i bought one of those instead!
oh and i also had been told to avoid keeping video scratch on an external drive as it made rendering too slow even on firewire...
good luck.

brightondf said:

LaCie has always been recommended to me and i wish i bought one of those instead!

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Just note that LaCie makes pretty looking enclosures at premium prices. The drive mechanisms installed in them could run the gamut from Western Digital to Samsung. You really don't know what you're getting. At the end of the day, it's the drive itself that counts in terms of performance and reliability.

cwa107 said:

I'd still recommend the OWC drive with the Hitachi mech. From every recent review I've seen over the course of the last 5-6 years, they seem to be pretty reliable and have a loyal following on NewEgg.com (a place known for very critical reviews).

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Ok thanks for this advice I guess I will be going for an OWC drive but last question.... Having looked at OWC's site I can't tell if all their drives are Hitachi or just some of them. Any ideas which are the best ones in their range.

Thanks

ok changed my mind,,, going for a G tech one since they are also Hitachi mech inside and being in the UK OWC will take ages to get shipped over

WD upload large files?

I am looking into getting an external drive for backup. I currently have a Western Digital portable HD that I use for extra storage. However, because it is FAT32 format, I cannot upload files over 5GB. (I'd rather not reformat in HFS b/c I'd like to be able to open files on a PC as well)
This has been a problem for me and I wondered if newer WD HD's still have this problem? Or if Seagate or another company would be better?

abstractmotor said:

I am looking into getting an external drive for backup. I currently have a Western Digital portable HD that I use for extra storage. However, because it is FAT32 format, I cannot upload files over 5GB. (I'd rather not reformat in HFS b/c I'd like to be able to open files on a PC as well)
This has been a problem for me and I wondered if newer WD HD's still have this problem? Or if Seagate or another company would be better?

Click to expand...

FAT32 limits files to 4gb. And any drive formatted in FAT32 is like this.

abstractmotor said:

I am looking into getting an external drive for backup. I currently have a Western Digital portable HD that I use for extra storage. However, because it is FAT32 format, I cannot upload files over 5GB. (I'd rather not reformat in HFS b/c I'd like to be able to open files on a PC as well)
This has been a problem for me and I wondered if newer WD HD's still have this problem? Or if Seagate or another company would be better?

Click to expand...

You could re-format the drive as NTFS (losing all the data) and load an NTFS driver onto your mac.

Apple - Downloads - System/Disk Utilities - NTFS-3G

I just bought a WD 2TB Essential for Mac. The VCD and SmartWare has been a royal pain. When working it's slow. Tried removing it by formatting the drive. Downloaded firmware updater and Virtual CD Manager. Following the steps from an article about how to remove the WD software from the drive marccizravi/2010/remove-wd-smartware/) (outdated link removed) it was updating SmartWare the SmartWare icon and the My Book icons disappeared from my desktop. Thought it was normal. Now the drive is stuck in what looks to be a sleep mode. Power dot is dimmed.

I unplugged/plugged the power cable. Nothing. Pressed the on/off button on the back. The dot would brighten when pressed. Dim again when I removed my finger.

Might need to refund this drive and get another. Maybe another brand. How is this Lacie?
NCIX - Buy LaCie Starck Desktop 2TB 7200RPM USB 2.0 External Hard Drive for Windows and Mac - Lacie - 301889KUA - in Canada (outdated link removed)

Any opinions on the Seagate GoFlex line? Does their preloaded software get in the way? Or can you just choose not to use it and let Time Machine do it's thing? I'm also considering this one...

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/seagate-seagate-goflex-desk-3tb-external-hard-drive-stac3000101-stac3000101/10158177.aspx?path=1565220c3e9342b162819dc755ed430cen02

Anything from OWC...just my humble opinion...Do not use preloaded software...if your keeping it simple for back ups only...stick with Time Machine.

Which external HD for my old G5?

I want to buy an external HD for my 2007 G5. Any thoughts on what I should get? I don't think this old Mac even has USB 2.0 does it?

I need to buy an external HD for heavy video/photography work using FCP, STP, DVD Studio, Compressor, Lightroom and Photoshop. I have my eye on this:

G-Tech 1TB 4th Gen G-Drive External Hard Drive - FW800, USB 2.0 & eSATA | Store | Tekserve

Anyone have any other suggestions? I refuse to buy WD again. Too many of their HDD's have died on me in the past, even before I became a videographer/photographer.

Metro said:

I need to buy an external HD for heavy video/photography work using FCP, STP, DVD Studio, Compressor, Lightroom and Photoshop. I have my eye on this:

G-Tech 1TB 4th Gen G-Drive External Hard Drive - FW800, USB 2.0 & eSATA | Store | Tekserve

Anyone have any other suggestions? I refuse to buy WD again. Too many of their HDD's have died on me in the past, even before I became a videographer/photographer.

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To be honest, for professional work, I'd be looking at a RAID 1 device for an external device - this way, if one of the drives fails, you won't lose your data. RAID 1 devices are mirrored - that is, you have two redundant disks that instantly replicate the data across two physical drives. OWC has some nice units like this one that do exactly that. You'll pay a little more up-front, but IMO, it's worth it for the peace of mind in knowing that your data is safe.

toddiacho said:

I want to buy an external HD for my 2007 G5. Any thoughts on what I should get? I don't think this old Mac even has USB 2.0 does it?

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I think you're underestimating the age of that machine. In 2005, Apple started transitioning to Intel, and by 2006, I believe the entire line was moved over to it. With that said, USB 2.0 became prevalent across the board by about 2003. So, you should have 2.0 ports. Is that an iMac or a PowerMac?

Check out OWC Storage Solution - I just purchased a 1TB OWC Mercury Elite - Has an excellent review

I bought a Western Digital, My Passport Essential 500 gb. If you buy it make sure you buy the one for the Mac, because it`s already configured for you. Also you can get support. Biffo

mynameis said:

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.

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I had an awful run when 3 oof my external drives went erm - 'bottoms-up'...

I have so many un-marked cables that I think I must have plugged in the wrong power rating to at least 1..
And - one of my 6 cats knocked an Iomega on to the floor from about 3 feet...
Another Iomega has just stopped working - for no apparent reason...

I have recently invested in 6 Western Digital 2TB Drives which are a good price at the mo from Amazon.co.uk...
I am NOT MOVING any of them, and their flat base stay fixed to my Mac Station these days...
It really makes you consider having 'back-ups of your back-ups'.
Just in case.

I would have liked some Mac externals like Time Machine - but they are prohibitively expensive - and not so well packed with enough memory for my needs...

Compatibility w/OS 10.3.9

I'm looking for an external hard drive for my old G5 running 10.3.9. All the models I've looked at require 10.4 or later. Can you please recommend to me a make and model that will plug and play with my system?

Thanks.

Bob Ottaviano

I have 3 WD old my book hard drives great drives. Just bought a WD My Book Studio LX, it is horrible!! It wont boot from firewire only USB and has all sorts of permanent software that is unremoveable. I would not suggest this drive to anyone. I have heard it has a problem with TIme machine. I am considering OWC but have heard some bad stuff about them although that was from reviews a few years old. Why cant someone make a simple HD that works, I can reformat it and dont want anything fancy just storage!!!!!!. That is all I want