[digitaldave]

I'm thinking about getting an external drive for backups and a couple of other uses, but I've got a couple of questions...

1) Is it worth getting an off the shelf one, or should I buy a disk and enclosure separately and build it myself?

2) Are there ones that are bus powered either on USB2 or FW400/800?

3) How much difference is there in the real world between FW800, FW400 and USB2?

4) Boot Camp... I know that it's possible to get Windows on an external drive with lots of tweaking, but I was wondering if I could create a partition on my MBP internal drive that only has Windows, and then create another partition on the external drive for installing Windows applications (thus leaving the rest of the external drive for backups, extra storage for my MBP etc.)?

Thanks .

Dave.

[chucker]

Originally Posted by digitaldave I was wondering if I could create a partition on my MBP internal drive that only has Windows, and then create another partition on the external drive for installing Windows applications (thus leaving the rest of the external drive for backups, extra storage for my MBP etc.)?

Yeah, sure. It'll mount just fine.

[thegeriatric]

I have an external hard drive, the only problem is the led is on the rear, i've lost track of the number of times it's been left on. Make sure led is on front, I wish i had.

[ghoti]

I wouldn't buy an enclosure separately unless I already had the drive. These enclosures all have very low build quality, so a complete drive at least gives you the illusion of a more substantial product

It also depends on what size you're looking at. For less than 160GB, you can get a compact 2.5" drive that is bus-powered on FireWire or with a second USB cable. FireWire is better because it uses less CPU power, but 2.5" FW drives are getting rare. The larger 3.5" drives are now up to 1TB in size and need external power. But those usually have USB and FireWire, and also FW800. The latter only really makes a difference for video editing though.

[kretara]

Originally Posted by digitaldave 1) Is it worth getting an off the shelf one, or should I buy a disk and enclosure separately and build it myself?

The buy off the shelf or build your own is more a matter of taste than anything else.
If you buy off the shelf you might get some backup software to assist you in your backup quest, but you can't control the quality of the components or hard drive. Also, upgrading the HD later can be a big problem.

I have 2 LaCie drives and 4 enclosures that I bought and put in the drives that I wanted.
I prefer to buy the enclosure and then put in Seagate drives. I also only buy multi bay enclosures.

Originally Posted by digitaldave 2) Are there ones that are bus powered either on USB2 or FW400/800?

I do not believe that there are any USB2 powered enclosures. FW400/800 can be bus powered, but I would much rather have a wall powered unit for anything other than a small (2.5 inch drive) portable enclosure.

Originally Posted by digitaldave 3) How much difference is there in the real world between FW800, FW400 and USB2?

The difference between USB2 and FW400 is pretty small when you are moving a few small files. When you start moving a large file or many small/med/large files FW400 really starts to pull ahead. USB2 cannot sustain a high transfer rate and will use your CPU during the transfer process. FW400 can sustain high bandwidth's and has little impact on your CPU.

FW800 is quite a bit faster than USB2 or FW400 in all respects.

[kretara]

Originally Posted by ghoti I wouldn't buy an enclosure separately unless I already had the drive. These enclosures all have very low build quality, so a complete drive at least gives you the illusion of a more substantial product

That very much depends on the enclosure that you buy.
If you choose to buy crap, then you get crap.
I would rather spend some dollars on a quality enclosure and know that it will serve me for years to come than save a few dollars and have issues with cheap junk.

[ghoti]

Originally Posted by kretara That very much depends on the enclosure that you buy. If you choose to buy crap, then you get crap.

When I was shopping around recently for an external 2.5" SATA enclosure, they were all in the same price range, and undoubtedly of similar quality. I'm sure there are bigger differences (and perhaps better cases) for 3.5", but I couldn't even find a 2.5" SATA one with FireWire.

[kretara]

Originally Posted by ghoti When I was shopping around recently for an external 2.5" SATA enclosure, they were all in the same price range, and undoubtedly of similar quality. I'm sure there are bigger differences (and perhaps better cases) for 3.5", but I couldn't even find a 2.5" SATA one with FireWire.

Like this one from OWC?

Oxford chipset with 2xFW800 (including converter for FW400) and 1xUSB2 for 2.5" SATA HD.
$90

[ghoti]

I knew you would post a link immediately I was looking on newegg and Amazon and found nothing. But thanks, I'll keep that around for when I get annoyed enough with my cheapo one.

[torifile]

I do not believe that there are any USB2 powered enclosures.

Sure there are. I just bought this one from tigerdirect for $89 (they've got a local store that actually has decent prices!). It's really small, bus powered and a 5400 RPM drive. Not blazing speed but it works very nicely. 3-year warranty and everything. I was looking for a firewire powered enclosure but I haven't seen any recently.

[screensaver400]

For a 2.5" SATA Hard Drive, I have one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817193034

I bought it because it was cheap, and I'm holding out for a reasonably priced FireWire enclosure, but this enclosure is actually decent. It comes with a USB cable with two plugs (which, unfortunately, cannot reach to my MBP's two USB ports). However, it seems to work fine only plugged into one USB port.

For $15 its pretty good.

[digitaldave]

Thanks for the replies everyone . I think I'll look in to the ready made ones, maybe something like the Seagate FreeAgent, as some of the stores here in the UK have some decent prices on the 500GB versions.

[screensaver400]

Ready made is a nice option, for most people. My next "mass storage" external will likely be a FreeAgent.

One reason to go "custom" is to get a particular drive. For example, I'm looking at picking up a 36GB WD Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drive with a FireWire 800 enclosure. I really doubt you'll find this combo ready made, but it's just what I need as a dedicated Photoshop scratch drive.

[drewprops]

I moved a dodgy old ATA laptop drive from an iBook into an older version of the plastic FW400 2.5" enclosure you see over at OWC..... the drive recently bit the dust (as expected) so I'm looking for a replacement drive.... any recommendations on where to get a really swank drive for good prices?

What's the best size/price ratio out there right now?

Nevermind!


.

[screensaver400]

Originally Posted by drewprops I moved a dodgy old ATA laptop drive from an iBook into an older version of the plastic FW400 2.5" enclosure you see over at OWC..... the drive recently bit the dust (as expected) so I'm looking for a replacement drive.... any recommendations on where to get a really swank drive for good prices? What's the best size/price ratio out there right now? Nevermind! .

Be sure to check NewEgg and Mwave, too. Both have given me excellent service, and as a general rule their prices are much better than OWC.