[nmkramer]

Hey guys!

Any way to know this actual number without buying one? Reason is I have a rather large (55 GB) file that I need to back up and I want to know if my planned purchase of a 60 GB iPod will cover it.

I know my 15 GB iPod has 13.9 GB, which is 92.67%.
I also know the 4 GB iPod mini carries 3.77 GB, which is about 94%.

Any insight would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[The Return of the 'nut]

55.7 GB

[Brad]

Originally Posted by The Return of the 'nut 55.7 Gb

Don't you mean 445 Gb? Big 'B' = Byte. Little 'b' = bit.

Here's the story behind measuring drive storage. The drive itself does have a 60 GB capacity. Why can't you fit 60 GB of data on it though? It's because a gigabyte is defined differently depending on whom you ask.

In decimal notation, the SI prefix "giga" means 10^9. Decimal notation is base ten because that's how our "human" counting systems work. That means a gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 bytes.

In binary computer terms, the prefix "giga" means 2^30. Computers measure in base two because all digital data is stored in bits with only two possible states: zero and one. That means a gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 bytes.

Which one is right? Both. Which one is "more" right? The former.

There has been a move for several years to get software to define bit and byte size using different notation, making 2^30 bytes into a gibibyte (GiB) instead of incorrectly calling it a gigabyte. There was actually a big lawsuit a few years ago claiming that hard drive manufacturers were mislabeling drive size because of this conflicting nomenclature, but the truth was that the manufacturers were right all along.

So, your iPod really does hold 60 GB of data using decimal notation. In binary terms, though, it can hold 55.879 GiB.

You can find more information about counting prefixes here.

Make sense now?

[Wrao]

Wouldn't it make sense to just buy an external 80 GB firewire HD.
a) you'd be 100% sure that you'd have enough space
b) save a couple hundred dollars
c) it'd probably be a higher quality and faster drive than the iPod
d) they make some pretty small 80 GB externals, not iPod small, but if it's just one file that you are backing up, I don't see what it could possibly be that you need to carry it around in your pocket?

Then again, if you're the type of person that has a need to back-up one file on a whole iPod, most of those points are probably moot anyway, so carry on.

[Brad]

And a regular external drive should be faster and have a longer life span.

Yeah, an iPod isn't really ideal for jobs like this. iPods are music players first, storage mediums second.

[nmkramer]

Thanks guys!

[Luca]

Brad and Wrao, do note that he spoke of his "planned purchase," as if he was already planning on getting a 60 GB iPod and thought it might also be useful for this other thing he's doing.

Don't spend more for the higher capacity just so you can do backups, though. I'd definitely recommend a Firewire external drive. A Firewire case will run you about $40, and hard drives are cheap. If you get the 20 GB instead, you save $100, which is about what it costs to buy a Firewire case plus an 80 GB desktop hard drive. Budget $50 more for the hard drive (spending $110 instead of $60 on the HD alone, for a total of $150) and you can get a 200 GB drive. If you need to do backups often, you should definitely do this.

But if you have the need for 60 GB of music storage and are using the hard drive for backups as an added perk, then by all means get the 60 GB iPod.

[nmkramer]

Thanks Luca for clarifying, and you were right about my intentions.

I was actually going to get the 60GB for the music and photos, not the backupability. However it was a side thought of mine to do a reinstall and use my iPod for backup. Anyway, I got the U2 20GB and am very happy with it.

I will definitely get a firewire case and hard drive. Any suggestions? I'll search the site for similar threads too.

[Luca]

I buy most of my generic computer stuff from NewEgg.com. It's just a huge online retailer. You want to look here for external enclosures and here for hard drives. Use the pop-up menus to customize your search criteria. You'll want an enclosure with a 3.5" size (the width of a normal hard drive), an internal IDE interface, and an external IEEE 1394 (Firewire) interface. There are also USB 2.0 + Firewire combo enclosures, but they cost more and I don't think having USB 2.0 is that much of a benefit unless you want to connect it to a PC.

In fact, right now the cheapest 3.5" Firewire case is a fanless, aluminum MacAlly one that looks pretty nice. It's $42 after shipping. I made the mistake of buying one with a fan and I had to disconnect the fan almost immediately after buying it since it was so loud.

Then, get a hard drive. It should be ATA/100 or 133, and NOT Serial ATA/150. You might want to look into a Seagate specifically since they carry a longer five-year warranty (most drive manufacturers only have three years), but it's really up to you since Seagate also costs more. In my experience, no one company is really any better than any other company. Anyway, depending on what you want to spend, you have tons of options for what hard drive to install in the case:

$60 - 80 GB
$80 - 160 GB
$100 - 200 GB
$120 - 250 GB

After that, things kind of break down... there are 300 and 400 GB hard drives, but their prices have not fallen to where each model is within a few dollars of the others. It's also hard to find compatible drives in those capacities, and they cost more per GB of storage, so I'd stick to one of the above four choices. Again, just make sure you don't get a Serial ATA (aka SATA) hard drive. I'd also suggest getting one with 8 MB of cache (it's an option in the menus).

[oldmacfan]

Originally Posted by Luca I buy most of my generic computer stuff from NewEgg.com. It's just a huge online retailer. You want to look here for external enclosures and here for hard drives. Use the pop-up menus to customize your search criteria. You'll want an enclosure with a 3.5" size (the width of a normal hard drive), an internal IDE interface, and an external IEEE 1394 (Firewire) interface. There are also USB 2.0 + Firewire combo enclosures, but they cost more and I don't think having USB 2.0 is that much of a benefit unless you want to connect it to a PC. In fact, right now the cheapest 3.5" Firewire case is a fanless, aluminum MacAlly one that looks pretty nice. It's $42 after shipping. I made the mistake of buying one with a fan and I had to disconnect the fan almost immediately after buying it since it was so loud. Then, get a hard drive. It should be ATA/100 or 133, and NOT Serial ATA/150. You might want to look into a Seagate specifically since they carry a longer five-year warranty (most drive manufacturers only have three years), but it's really up to you since Seagate also costs more. In my experience, no one company is really any better than any other company. Anyway, depending on what you want to spend, you have tons of options for what hard drive to install in the case: $60 - 80 GB $80 - 160 GB $100 - 200 GB $120 - 250 GB After that, things kind of break down... there are 300 and 400 GB hard drives, but their prices have not fallen to where each model is within a few dollars of the others. It's also hard to find compatible drives in those capacities, and they cost more per GB of storage, so I'd stick to one of the above four choices. Again, just make sure you don't get a Serial ATA (aka SATA) hard drive. I'd also suggest getting one with 8 MB of cache (it's an option in the menus).

These are really good notes.

The only other thing I would add is that as much as I like New Egg, they sell a lot of OEM merchandise. The problem this can cause is when you need to get a refund for a defective product or it goes bad during the normal course of the warranty. Manufacturer's have been known to give retail customers a hard time when RMA'ing an OEM product versus the retail version of the same thing. I have read this many times on many different web sites.

Personally, I choose to buy the retail version instead most of the time. But that is my preference.

[Luca]

NewEgg has an excellent RMA policy of their own. And I prefer OEM because I'd rather spend $60 on an 80 GB hard drive than, say, $100. If you can find a good deal on a retail hard drive (usually through a special sale or a rebate, often a mail-in rebate) from someplace like CompUSA or Best Buy, more power to you. But to pay $30-$40 more for a hard drive just to get better customer service down the road is ridiculous, especially when it'll only cost you a few bucks more to just toss the thing and buy a brand new one.

By the time it fails, you'll be able to buy a better new one (160 GB vs. 80 GB?) for the same $60. Besides, if your drive fails, you have the hassle of dealing with tech support either way. It's just that you might be more likely to get it replaced under warranty if you buy retail. And in neither case is your data in any better shape. If your drive dies and you don't have a backup, it's lost either way.