[Wyatt]

I'm going to upgrade my base model Rev. A MacBook (1.83/512/60/Combo) this month, and I'm trying to decide what my best options will be. I'm hoping you guys can clear things up for me.

My situation: I will have about $200 to upgrade my MB. I've just signed on to be the video producer for my college's new student media Web site, and I'll be doing most of my work in iMovie. I'll be shooting and editing a lot of the content myself, but I'll also be working with content other people give me. I want to upgrade my RAM and add some external storage. Preferably, I'd like to have something that uses USB 2.0 and is self-powered, so I can carry it with me easily.

What should I go with? I already have some ideas in mind, but I want to see what you guys suggest before I throw my ideas out there.

[stevegong]

a storage device that is self powered is probably not going to be fast enough for video editing. If you are doing editing, in my experience it's always better to go with firewire.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by stevegong a storage device that is self powered is probably not going to be fast enough for video editing. If you are doing editing, in my experience it's always better to go with firewire.

But I'm not going to be doing my editing in one place all the time. I'll need to be able to do it anywhere, and something with an external power source is just not a good option for me.

[bassplayinMacFiend]

The only self powered devices I've found have been firewire enclosures for laptop hard disks. You have to remember though, this drive will run off your laptop battery so your computing time will be drastically reduced.

Also, this route will eat up most if not all of your $200 budget. If you're doing video editing in iMovie then you're going to need more RAM. I know because I've done some editing in iMovie on my Rev A base model MacBook (same one you have) and while it works, the lack of RAM definitely slows things down.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend The only self powered devices I've found have been firewire enclosures for laptop hard disks. You have to remember though, this drive will run off your laptop battery so your computing time will be drastically reduced.

I can manage to work with my laptop power supply. It's just that I'm not normally going to be in a place where I can also use a hard drive power supply. That's a big hassle, too, and not something I want to mess with.

Can somebody show me some solid numbers on how much faster Firewire drives would be vs. USB 2.0 drives? There are tons of self-powered USB hard drives out there, so the added expense of a firewire drive isn't something I want to take on unless I decide it's absolutely necessary.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by fcgriz Can somebody show me some solid numbers on how much faster Firewire drives would be vs. USB 2.0 drives? There are tons of self-powered USB hard drives out there, so the added expense of a firewire drive isn't something I want to take on unless I decide it's absolutely necessary.

Certainly.

http://forums.applenova.com/showpost...68&postcount=4

Originally Posted by Ichiban_jay I would highly recommend you go back and return it. Where did you buy it at? Most big retailers offer 100% cash-back for tech accessory returns (Staples, Compusa, Circuit City, etc). Besides being bootable with firewire, large transfers such as backing up your HD go significantly faster with even firewire 400 compared to USB even though theoretical speeds for firewire 400 is 400mbps and for USB 2.0 is 500mbps [sic]. Test Comparisons Firewire read time is 33% faster than USB 2 and Firewire write time is 16% faster than USB 2. Of course, this is for sustained throughput, that is longer lengths of continual read/write. For short bursts of information read/write USB 2 will be faster.

[Wyatt]

Thanks Brad. I'll look over that a little more closely this afternoon when I have some time. I won't likely be dealing with very large files, but I'll have to look over some short clips I already have to make sure.

At first glance, it looks like I'd be okay with USB if I'm dealing with smaller files (say 100MB or less), since the difference really comes through with larger transfers. Am I reading that right, or do I need to look at it again?

[bassplayinMacFiend]

How short is the video you'll be working with. If you're working with DV format, 4 minutes takes about 1GB of space.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend How short is the video you'll be working with. If you're working with DV format, 4 minutes takes about 1GB of space.

In general, we're talking very short clips, and yes, it will be DV. 1GB for 4 minutes sounds like I might be getting a bit over my head with USB, though.

[colivigan]

I've been pretty happy with this Macally enclosure. It has both FW and USB 2.0, self-powered. For $30, you I don't think you can beat it. And for another $60-$70 you can pick up a nice 60 or 80 GB Seagate HD. I just ordered two of the 80s - they're actually cheaper than the 60s right now!

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by UncleJohn I've been pretty happy with this Macally enclosure. It has both FW and USB 2.0, self-powered. For $30, you I don't think you can beat it. And for another $60-$70 you can pick up a nice 60 or 80 GB Seagate HD. I just ordered two of the 80s - they're actually cheaper than the 60s right now!

That looks like a good solution to me. I was hoping somebody would come up with a decent enclosure that I could use. I'd looked around (even at NewEgg), but I hadn't found anything I liked yet. I do like that one, though. Thanks!

[FFL]

Originally Posted by UncleJohn I've been pretty happy with this Macally enclosure. It has both FW and USB 2.0, self-powered. For $30, you I don't think you can beat it. And for another $60-$70 you can pick up a nice 60 or 80 GB Seagate HD. I just ordered two of the 80s - they're actually cheaper than the 60s right now!

Definitely your best option. Don't get a non-FireWire enclosure - you WILL regret it if you do!

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by FFL Definitely your best option. Don't get a non-FireWire enclosure - you WILL regret it if you do!

Alright.

I've just re-figured my budget, and it turns out I'll actually have $300 for upgrades. I'll be picking up 2GB RAM, that MacAlly enclosure, and a hard drive to stick in it. I found a 120 GB Western Digital drive on NewEgg for $85, and I think it'll be perfect for me.

The only hang up now is the brand of the drive. I've owned probably half a dozen WD desktop drives, and I've had fantastic success with them. How reliable are their notebook drives?

[Brad]

For what it's worth, I am very satisfied with this enclosure that I got a while back:



http://www.cooldrives.com/esata-fire...-external.html

Internally it has a SATA connector and externally it supports FireWire 800 (and 400), eSATA, and USB 2.0. It's a bit more expensive than other enclosures, but its connectivity can't be beat. Plus, it includes every cable you'll need.

Given the choice, I'd suggest an enclosure with internal SATA instead of the old PATA standard. The MacAlly one you linked above uses the latter. Going with SATA (and with a desktop-size 3.5" instead of the notebook-size 2.5" drive) will also offer support for faster and larger drives.

[Wyatt]

I would like to go 3.5" and SATA, but I have a couple problems with both. First, 3.5" means a much larger piece of equipment for me to carry around when I do need to have it with me. If I stick with with 2.5", though, SATA is considerably more expensive, in terms of $/GB. With the budget I'm on, and the constraints I'm under, I feel like 2.5"/PATA is probably the best choice for me right now.

However, you have convinced me to wait a bit before I do anything about my hard drive situation. While the solution I came up with is okay, I would like something with more storage (something in the 200-300 GB range would be great), and my only choices there would be 3.5" Perhaps if I wait a bit and see how much I'm actually taking my MB to the newsroom and events for editing, I might find that a 3.5" drive would be okay.

That said, the enclosure you posted is damn sexy and I would get it in a heartbeat in different circumstances.