External HD's who/what/when/where ?

Hi Guys,

I'm not much of a hardware guy so I'm going to rely on yous for information. I'm looking for an external HD mainly for backup purposes. I'll do some file transfers with it but it will mainly be used once a week or so to dump all my stuff on to. I'm also not too worried about size, I thinking in the 300 GB range.

My first question is should I buy a separate drive and enclosure. Are there many tangible benefits for doing that? Or am I better off buying it already done off the shelf.

Which is better firewire or USB? Also for my purposes would powering from USB be much of an issue? I've seen some recommend externally powered drives for DJs but I'm not using the drive 'live' so to speak.

Lastly I'm a cheap skate keep that in mind. ;)

Thanks,
Dan

Dan this is the one I have:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3514723&CatId=2422

I have it partitioned three ways, one for movies, one for music and one for lap top HD backup. Every Sunday night, I back up my entire HD on it.

I like it because it is very fast to transfer too and from, and it is very very small.

The one thing I don't like about it is the blue light on the front of it is just insanely bright. I am talking like blinding.

I have to have it turned away from me at the desk.

Hi Guys,

I'm not much of a hardware guy so I'm going to rely on yous for information. I'm looking for an external HD mainly for backup purposes. I'll do some file transfers with it but it will mainly be used once a week or so to dump all my stuff on to. I'm also not too worried about size, I thinking in the 300 GB range.

My first question is should I buy a separate drive and enclosure. Are there many tangible benefits for doing that? Or am I better off buying it already done off the shelf.

Which is better firewire or USB? Also for my purposes would powering from USB be much of an issue? I've seen some recommend externally powered drives for DJs but I'm not using the drive 'live' so to speak.

Lastly I'm a cheap skate keep that in mind. ;)

Thanks,
Dan

I picked this one up a couple of months ago and so far so good. The only change I would make is if I was going to do it again I would have bought a Terrabyte

Most of the drives I looked at before buying were externally powered and from what I have read that is the better option as it allows the USB port to do what it does best transfer data and nothing else

Firewire is somewhere between 35 and 70% faster depending on how many files you are transferring (the less files you transfer the faster firewire is) but it also costs more. I would expect for the amount of info you would be transferring regularly it wouldn't matter much after the inital setup

If you already have a firewire port setup and need the speed it would be the better option. In my case I didn't have the port and the extra cost to me with the amount of data I transfer it wasn't worth the added expense

Done stuff and FireWire.!!

I've been using a couple WD My Book 250s for over a year for backup purposes, and they have performed great (inexpensive too) :)

I have two connected, and they each get a complete image backup of my main internal drive every night. They have their own power supplies, and not a wall wart -- the box is in the middle.

Dan,

If you are a do it yourselfer and you have the reseller accounts setup with xyz companies you can build it cheaper with the drive itself and an enclosure of your choice.

i personally went the route and purchased a western digital from best buy here in town. So far I have been very satisfied with my 500 gig. I partitioned two drives on there one is a fat32 file system and the other ntfs. This way linux/mac/windows will all work on a shared system. And the better NTFS will operate the larger portion for video files (file size is a cavet of fat32).

No issues here, stay away from maxtor and any of those off brand names. LaCie has been a hit or miss for me as well.

Dan,
you can get exceptional deals on brand new hard drives on Ebay if you know what you are looking for.
I have also bought from TigerDirect. If your putting music on your hard drive, I would suggest buying the terabyte, you can get them on sale for less than $250.00 now.
You might as well have a 1000 gig hard drive now because you'll probably need it in the next 5 years anyway.
You can even get brand new 500 gig externals on Ebay for around $100.00 because most people that are graduating to the terabytes are either throwing away their old 200 and 300 gig hard drives anyway.

Western Digital 500gb second gen...

http://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=39311324

Groovielou

No need to buy anything smaller than 500GB because you can get one for around $100 on sale just about every week. Smaller drives cost the same amount or more for some reason, so you might as well have 500 Gigs. Just watch this web site (http://www.deals2buy.com/) and pull the trigger when you see the deal you want.

Since they're so inexpensive you might want to get two, safer that way. compare what all of your information is worth vs. another $100. Very inexpensive insurance. If one backup drive fails you keep going without missing a beat.

I just clicked on his link and as usual grovielou knows exactly what he's talking about. That's a good deal IMO. groovielou, you da man!

By the way groovielou, I got a Dell laptop like you suggested in a previous thread. Nice machine and I got a great deal, it's all good brother. thanks

Thanks Wiz,

Did you get the Vostro 1000 or 1500? Both are awesome. I also just bought a Dell desktop from this deal:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=brde2bl&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&c=US&l=EN&m_8=80S&dgc=BF&cid=7420&lid=197374

However, I upgraded to a 22" LCD monitor, added a 48X CD/RW Drive (on top of the DVD +/-RW) total out the door $530 and change.

By no means a "kick butt" system, but for what I do, its perfect!

Groovielou

I am a My Book User. I have 4 of them in use and not a single complaint.

With cost, 500 gig is the smallest you should buy. I have even seen the terabyte ones around the $200 range,

Not to derail this thread... I got an Inspiron with a 17" screen. I like it and it should be just fine for DJ and Karaoke. I don't plan on using it for anything else. See this thread (http://www.ourdjtalk.com/showthread.php?t=12640&page=2)

and just bought a second gen for less reecently for backup. I also have a 300 gig, and 2-250 gig drives.Im very pleased with the WD's thus far.Western Digital 500gb second gen...

http://www.ecost.com/Detail.aspx?edp=39311324

Groovielou

I just bought a My book 750gb (Western digital)

This will house my video collection untill i out grow it, then i will add another.

I seen them on newegg.com for $165 shipped

BTW Dan,

I got my new 26" monitors in today -- talk about some serious screen real estate! WOO-HOO, tax writeoffs are fun!

Shakira, erm I mean my software, looks pretty good too :sqwink: :sqbiggrin:

I got my new 26" monitors in today

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_paris_hilton_070425_ms.jpg

Thats HOT!

Groovielou

Over the summer I bought a Seagate 500 gig from Tigerdirect for $199. They are now on sale for $159. so I just bought another one.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3094183&CatId=136

BTW Dan,

I got my new 26" monitors in today -- talk about some serious screen real estate! WOO-HOO, tax writeoffs are fun!

Shakira, erm I mean my software, looks pretty good too :sqwink: :sqbiggrin:

and here I thought I was living large on a 22". You crushed me man! :sqwink: My favorite Halle Berry background looks awesome at 1680 by 1050! :D

I think I'm gonna go with one of the myBooks, I'll start my price shopping adventures again, I'm hoping to squeeze it in as a b-day gift. :)

http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/nm_paris_hilton_070425_ms.jpg

Thats HOT!

Groovielou

Oh , come on Lou!No the Paris chick again.Find some beautifool and nice.Shes not even hot anymore.BTW seen the movie(privat)?She dont know what to do with...

Marco... I was just using the image because she coined the phrase "Thats Hot". She indeed is a woof-woof IMO

Groovielou

Sorry Lou!I was not in right direction.Sorry again.

Dan all my guys use the WD usb powered drives as back up and so far no problems ever. We tried simpletech but they powered down halfway through a show i did so i threw them all away (literally) I can be a little hothead when something f-s up a performance, not badly but enough to piss me off. soooo i quickly diverted back to the WD's

Dan all my guys use the WD usb powered drives as back up and so far no problems ever. We tried simpletech but they powered down halfway through a show i did so i threw them all away (literally) I can be a little hothead when something f-s up a performance, not badly but enough to piss me off. soooo i quickly diverted back to the WD's

I know I wrote a program to deal with spin and power downs -- ahh yes, it's called MDIS (My Drive Is Spinning), and there is a link to it somewhere on this site (I can never remember where it is on my site) :sqbiggrin:

Do a search, you'll find it. Keeps the drive going, and uses almost no resources.