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View Full Version : Looking for good external hard drive/enclosure?


markw10
2007-01-22, 14:17
I am going to be purchasing two external hard drives and want usb2.0 as well as firewire 400/800 and I want something compact. One of these will be used with my laptop and I want something compact that I can take on the go with me on my laptop case. The other will be used for hard drive backups and I want it small so it can fit inside a fireproof safe.
So far what I'm most interested in is the Lacie Rugged All Terrain drives, specifically their 120gb or newer 160gb drive. What are opinions of this?
Since I'm buying two I"m looking for the best deals I can find. Is it cheaper if I buy a good drive and then a good firewire 400/800 usb2.0 enclosure? Will this save a lot of money and if I go this route what is a good drive to go with as well as a good enclosure? It's important to have these features but be compact as well as rugged.

FFL
2007-01-22, 14:51
A prebuilt drive from Lacie or another reputable vendor, while possibly a few dollars more, will be more reliable and rugged than anything you can assemble yourself.

It sounds like you are on the right track with Lacie.

turtle
2007-01-22, 15:00
I'm with FFL on this one, buy a prebuilt one. Don't do it yourself if rugged is the essential. I can't really recommend a name though, none of mine are rugged.

kretara
2007-01-22, 15:17
I'll third it. LaCie is the way to go for rugged.

If you want to do it yourself, then take a look at what OWC (http://macsales.com/) has. I have an external 2 bay drive from them and it is fantastic.

beardedmacuser
2007-01-23, 11:48
I use one of those orange LaCie portable hard drives with my G4 PowerBook and it's really good. I've never had any hint of trouble.

Although it's not cheap for the amount of storage you get, if that's the main issue for you.

I've no idea whether the FW800 is actually much faster than FW400 in day-to-day use, but at the very least it leaves the FW400 port on my PowerBook free for other devices.

malcolm
2007-01-23, 19:17
Hi there,
I'll weigh in with my two cents - - a friend's hard drive just went belly-up, and he swore from now on he'll only buy a hard drive in an enclosure with a fan. I really don't know. But if the stuff you're storing on it is so valuable that you're going to keep the hd in a safe, please do check with people to see if my friend is right about the importance of fans (instead of just heat sinks, if that's what they're called).
Cheers,
Malcolm

FFL
2007-01-23, 22:20
Portable (2.5" form factor) external HDs do NOT come with fans - those only apply to non-portable 3.5" form factor drives.

maCar
2007-02-23, 17:27
G-Tech ***** probably the best ones!