[Robo]

Is this a good one?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136023

It's just as big as my iMac's hard drive, so I'd be able to back up everything. (Since I probably won't fill up my iMac's hard drive anytime soon, I'm thinking about plugging it into an Airport Extreme and letting my family backup to it, too.)

I'm a little wary about the software it automatically installs on the computer when you plug it in, though. Is there no such thing as a plug and play hard drive?

I'd prefer not to spend more than $100 on something that I'll hopefully never use, but would a FireWire drive be worth the extra dough?

[SpecMode]

I don't think it automatically installs anything on a Mac - we don't *quite* have an Autoplay equivalent, at least not one that doesn't require user authentication.

That being said, it looks like a solid, bare-bones external drive that should suit your needs for basic backups. Personally, I prefer FW over USB simply because it has a higher sustained transfer speed, but since you're just using the drive for backups, it should do just fine.

[Track_40]

I have a two part solution for you. Get a reliable OWC Mercury Elite drive, and then buy a license of SuperDuper -- the easiest, fully automatic MAC drive imager. Run SuperDuper! every couple of weeks, and you'll be all set. If your Mac's internal hard drive ever dies, you can boot off the OWC drive (via Firewire), and keep on running as if it were the drive inside the computer. Then, once you get the internal drive replaced, you can have SuperDuper restore the image from the external, back to the new internal, and you will be good to go. All programs, preferences/settings -- EVERYTHING, will be as it was when you backed up the drive last.

Pretty cool. And it all works, effortlessly.

Do yourself a favor, and get a Firewire drive. Dont skimp out on a drive you hopefully won't ever have to use... Because when the time comes that you need the backup on that external, you will be glad that you didn't.

[FFL]

Originally Posted by Track_40 I have a two part solution for you. Get a reliable OWC Mercury Elite drive, and then buy a license of SuperDuper -- the easiest, fully automatic MAC drive imager. Run SuperDuper! every couple of weeks, and you'll be all set. If your Mac's internal hard drive ever dies, you can boot off the OWC drive (via Firewire), and keep on running as if it were the drive inside the computer. Then, once you get the internal drive replaced, you can have SuperDuper restore the image from the external, back to the new internal, and you will be good to go. All programs, preferences/settings -- EVERYTHING, will be as it was when you backed up the drive last. Pretty cool. And it all works, effortlessly. Do yourself a favor, and get a Firewire drive. Dont skimp out on a drive you hopefully won't ever have to use... Because when the time comes that you need the backup on that external, you will be glad that you didn't.

+ + +
QFT

[Track_40]

Qft??

[Windowsrookie]

Originally Posted by Track_40 Qft??

Quite Fucking True.

[FFL]

Or, "Quoted For Truth"

[Track_40]

Lmfao

[Windowsrookie]

oops for got the

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Track_40 I have a two part solution for you. Get a reliable OWC Mercury Elite drive, and then buy a license of SuperDuper -- the easiest, fully automatic MAC drive imager. Run SuperDuper! every couple of weeks, and you'll be all set. If your Mac's internal hard drive ever dies, you can boot off the OWC drive (via Firewire), and keep on running as if it were the drive inside the computer. Then, once you get the internal drive replaced, you can have SuperDuper restore the image from the external, back to the new internal, and you will be good to go. All programs, preferences/settings -- EVERYTHING, will be as it was when you backed up the drive last. Pretty cool. And it all works, effortlessly. Do yourself a favor, and get a Firewire drive. Dont skimp out on a drive you hopefully won't ever have to use... Because when the time comes that you need the backup on that external, you will be glad that you didn't.

Wow, thanks for the help! It's appreciated muchly.

I kinda like OWC's miniStack drives. They'd fit nicely underneath the Airport, should I choose to make a NAS setup. Are they just as reliable?

And should I get a FireWire 800 drive, or would a FireWire 400 drive work fine?

Finally: Is there anyway I could do the SuperDuper backup for my Mac over Firewire, but still plug the HD into my Airport Express so the rest of my family could back up some of their files? Would I have to partition the drive or something? Can I plug the drive into both USB (Airport) and FW (iMac) at once?

This is getting complicated...

[Dutch Pear]

If you only have intel macs, a USB disk will be just as good as a firewire drive as intel macs can boot from USB drives just fine.

[macleod]

How are the Seagate FreeAgents? The specs say that for Mac OS X 10.4 it is read only. Is that if you use their software or can 10.4 only read and not write to these drives? That seems weird to me but I don't know much about how that stuff works really.

[jdcfsu]

Originally Posted by Roboman I kinda like OWC's miniStack drives. They'd fit nicely underneath the Airport, should I choose to make a NAS setup. Are they just as reliable?

This things do look pretty nice, especially with the port replication. I've not used one so I can't speak to its reliability, but it does have both FW400 and USB so it looks like you could transfer with FW and then connect with the AirPort. They also offer a FW800/400/USB option for about $40 more if you want the extra speed.

[MCQ]

Originally Posted by macleod How are the Seagate FreeAgents? The specs say that for Mac OS X 10.4 it is read only. Is that if you use their software or can 10.4 only read and not write to these drives? That seems weird to me but I don't know much about how that stuff works really.

Based on CDW specs, it sounds like it ships formatted as NTFS, which would be read only on OS X.

You should be able to use Disk Utility to reformat it however.

[macleod]

Thanks. That makes sense. Also, I was wondering what people's opinions are of LaCie? I have heard mixed things about their reliability. Is the LaCie Big Disk 1 TB two HDDs in the one enclosure or is it a single 1 TB HDD in there?

Sorry for the all the questions but I am looking for a new external HDD since I got my Airport Extreme.

[Luca]

I can vouch for not skimping on an external hard drive case. I got a plastic no-name one a few years ago, and over the last several months it had an almost total failure. I was afraid I'd lose my hard drive's data, but it was actually the case's fault. So I bought a MacAlly FW400/USB2 enclosure, which I see as a good middle-ground between the cheapest unreliable plastic crap you can get from NewEgg and the expensive OWC Mercury Elite. I'm not sure if it's worth it to get an OWC case... I'm sure they're good, but at $80 for a FW400/USB2 one, it's twice the price of my MacAlly.

Up to you though. If you can afford the extra $40, I'm sure you won't regret it. But I don't think a MacAlly case will cause you any problems either. On the other hand, if you go for a bargain basement USB2-only case for $15, chances are good you'll have problems with it somewhere down the line.

[rampancy]

I agree. I'd strongly recommend going for one with an aluminum case - it'll help cooling with the hard drive far better than a plastic case.

Also, I'd recommend going with a fairly reputable brand name, but I'd watch out - many cases sold by companies are all rebranded examples of the same case made by one manufacturer.

[neiltc13]

Doesn't an external hard drive kinda defeat the purpose of getting an all in one computer?

[Gargoyle]

I just got a drobo. So far I am happy with it.

It only has USB2, but it really does exactly what it says on the tin. I poped in 2 x 250 gig drives and within seconds it was ready to use. No messing with RAID settings etc - Just let it do its thing.

Only tip I would have is to use the physically smallest and coolest drives you can. I put in 4 Samsung 250Gig 7200 RPM drives which run quite hot, this caused the drobo's fan to kick in at a higher speed. So, for now I have taken 2 out until I need the capacity.

[chris e boy]

I've got one of these to store my iTunes library on (the original WD drive in the top post). They're pretty good, no software gets installed it just works. I'm using mine with FAT32 since I often unplug it and take it to work and over my mate's house.

It is pretty fast (although nowhere near firewire speeds). Quiet too, and a good brand that you can trust.

One irritating thing I find though is that when you shut down your computer, the drive doesn't power down, you have to push the power button manually.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by chris e boy One irritating thing I find though is that when you shut down your computer, the drive doesn't power down, you have to push the power button manually.

Except for models that are actually powered by the computer, I've *never* seen an external hard drive that didn't require you to turn it on/off manually.