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[Chrono]

I searched for a few threads that were helpful and didn't know whether to bump or start a new one... or do neither. I almost ordered one just now but seriously I'm spending $150 - 200 here so I stopped. I'd appreciate it if anyone could give his opinion on which one of these they recommend.


Maxtor One Touch 120 GB

Western Digital 120 GB

Seagate 160 GB

 

[ShadowRed]

I have the top one. It's great. I don't know anything about the other 2 though.

 

[Ecrofirt]

buy an internal HD and an external enclosure. It's cheaper, and you have much more choice. Also, it works EXACTLY THE SAME as an external drive.

 

[Chrono]

I'm a n00b at this stuff so I don't want to risk it. And I just need to store music/fansubs/some documents and then place the HDD in a drawer somewhere (it'll only be connected to my pc when backing up stuff) so anything with space will do.

 

[tedtropy]

They're all likely going to fill your needs. The Seagate may running quiter than the others, but the difference between the three will be minimal. Also, that WD enclosure is the tackiest thing I've seen in awhile - apparently their design guys went for the 16 year old "light modz are teh rockzorz" crowd.

 

[Meatpuppet]

buy an internal HD and an external enclosure. It's cheaper, and you have much more choice. Also, it works EXACTLY THE SAME as an external drive.

Seconded.

 

[Orin GA]

Why not get a DVD RW

 

[Chrono]

Why not get a DVD RW

This does look like the best solution but I will be getting a DVD RW when I build my first pc in a few months. This way I'll have both later on considering if I get one now it'll be external which I can use but probably won’t with a new pc, and they’re also (from what I've seen) pretty expensive -- around the same price as those external hard drives but with more cost because of blank DVDs. I also just like carrying everything in one place -- a HDD is perfect because I'll probably lose most of my DVDs.


I think I'm gonna go with the Seagate one.

 

[Ecrofirt]

Crono, have you ever played with legos? If you have, you can get one of these external enclosures working.

 

[Alcibiades]

how much faster is FireWire to USB 2.0?

It's about $25 more for a model w/ FireWire, don't know if it's worth it...

also, are these PC & Mac compatible, like I can share files with both and the hard drive won't complain...

I wouldn't want anything corrupted or erased if I were to use a harddrive with both PC's and Macs...

 

[tedtropy]

This does look like the best solution but I will be getting a DVD RW when I build my first pc in a few months. This way I'll have both later on considering if I get one now it'll be external which I can use but probably won’t with a new pc, and they’re also (from what I've seen) pretty expensive -- around the same price as those external hard drives but with more cost because of blank DVDs. I also just like carrying everything in one place -- a HDD is perfect because I'll probably lose most of my DVDs.


I think I'm gonna go with the Seagate one.

And if that HD fails you lose everything in that one place. Depending on the size and importance of the data, it wouldn't hurt to use a few redundant DVD-R backups.

 

[Cloudy]

buy an internal HD and an external enclosure. It's cheaper, and you have much more choice. Also, it works EXACTLY THE SAME as an external drive.

Yep, you can get like a 160-200 gig internal for $100 or less after rebates and buy a case for like $20-$30....

 

[tedtropy]

how much faster is FireWire to USB 2.0?

It's about $25 more for a model w/ FireWire, don't know if it's worth it...

also, are these PC & Mac compatible, like I can share files with both and the hard drive won't complain...

I wouldn't want anything corrupted or erased if I were to use a harddrive with both PC's and Macs...

Theoretically, USB 2.0 is faster than Firewire 400 and Firewire 800 is faster than USB 2.0, although I'm not even sure if PCs support that format yet. And yeah, USB is pretty universally supported between Macs and PCs.

 

[Ecrofirt]

but in actuality, FireWire is faster than USB 2.0. At least from everything I've read.

 

[tedtropy]

Yep, you can get like a 160-200 gig internal for $100 or less after rebates and buy a case for like $20-$30....

I got my laptop HD enclosure for 8 bucks, threw a 20GB drive I had in it and it's working great. Don't need a power supply and it's very small. The power of porn in my pocket!

 

[Brofist]

You can buy an external enclosure and a standard ide HD for much cheaper. Plus you can pick from a million enclosures at newegg. (as stated a couple times before but with helpful links now )

http://www.newegg.com/app/manufactory.asp?catalog=92&DEPA=1
http://www.newegg.com/app/manufact.asp?catalog=14&DEPA=1

 

[tedtropy]

but in actuality, FireWire is faster than USB 2.0. At least from everything I've read.

The difference between USB 2.0 and Firewire 400 is nill. I doubt an external HD is even going to saturate the max bandwith of either.

 

[AzN_F15h]

i got that exact western digital 120gb one, runs very quiet and no problems so far, the lights are just a cool addition to it. the only thing that bothers me is that there if not on/off switch, u just unplug the power chord....which worries me that it'll fuck up or somehting but meh

 

[Chrono]

Ok changed my mind.

External DVD RW is what I'm getting now. I'm looking at these too now, 90% sure I'll get the Lite-On though the sony is so sexy.

Lite-On

Sony writer

 

[tedtropy]

Eh, I've read alot of bad things about Sony burners as of late and you're paying quite abit more for the name. Check into the latest Pioneer or NEC drives. Pioneer can be kinda pricey, but they make one of (if not the) best DVD burner presently out. I presently use the NEC ND-3500A and that drive hasn't made a single bad burn for both data and movies, the Pioneer uses the same chipset.

 

[Ecrofirt]

Can't you do the same thing with an internal DVD-RW?

 

[levious]

my sony dvdr is actually manufactured by Pioneer... does sony make their own at all?

Ecro,

he's never played with legos

 

[tedtropy]

my sony dvdr is actually manufactured by Pioneer... does sony make their own at all?

Ecro,

he's never played with legos

They outsource to Lite-On alot, but I've read alot of horror stories about some of Sony's burners. That and they tend to cost more without any real reason.

 

[Ecrofirt]

It's obvious. He's just pissing away good money.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I have the Maxtor 300GB at 7200 RPM, yet to use it, my laptop comes in next week

 

[maharg]

Ok changed my mind.

External DVD RW is what I'm getting now. I'm looking at these too now, 90% sure I'll get the Lite-On though the sony is so sexy.

Lite-On

Sony writer

GET AN ENCLOSURE. There is no risk, it's two things to plug in and you can plug *anything* into a 5 1/4" bay. A hard drive, a DVD-RW drive, and it's all *cheaper*.

If you decide to get a proprietary external drive when portability is not a concern, you will be mocked mercilessly for the rest of your life. It's just not worth it.

 

[Chrono]

Just ordered this one. XD

Lite-On 16X Dual Drive

And of course some media.

I got them before reading The Eyes' post, I didn't know there were enclosures for DVD RWs too so I'm looking for one now.

 

[Chrono]

Got this enclosure.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-342&depa=1

Everything totaled up to $129 or so. Much better than 200 for that seagate I almost got.

 

[Ecrofirt]

you bought a lite-on DVD burner?

 

[Chrono]

you bought a lite-on DVD burner?

Its rating is pretty good out of 80 votes at newegg.

 

[Great King Bowser]

+

40gb of storage and of course a DAP. Store most of my movies on as my laptop is getting kind of full. The mini-sync charge cable is a godsend though, lets me use it as a proper external HDD without me worrying about its battery running down and having to plug on AC.

Great for using it in same situation you'd use say a flash pen drive as well, bring it to college everyday and save all my work on it. BEST SOLUTION EVER.

 

[FreakyFink]

Looking for some input on my impending portable external hard drive purchase.

I'm in the market for an 80+GB drive with firewire & usb2.0 compatibility (tohugh I could settle for just firewire). It should be light and portable to be easily toted around in smallish laptop bag.

I'm looking for recommendations; currently considering...

Firelite: 100GB, firewire, ?? rpm, $319

LaCie: 100GB, firewire/usb2, 4200 rpm, $279

G-Drive Mini : 100GB, firewire/usb2, ?? rpm, case, $330

Should I be concerned with rpm? Or is 4200 rpm faster than practical firewire throughput?

 

[Blimblim]

One thing I still have to find would be an enclosure with no external adapter required (as I travel a lot with the drive), and both USB2 and firewire. I know QPS does some stuff like this with the drive included, but I never found "empty" ones yet.

 

[FreakyFink]

Anyone else have advice?

 

[Chrono]

You should've started a new thread for this because most people probably just looked at the first post. =\

Anyway I feel like posting that I finally ordered all my PC parts and will be building my first PC next week. Yay.

I couldn’t get the Iceq ATI 9800 pro (out of stock -__) and got the 128MB NVIDIA 6600GT instead – the one max cool suggested in that other thread I made. And newegg ran out of stock for the 90nm AMD 3500 CPUs so I got the .13micron one. Is there really a big difference between those two (Winchester core vs. Newcastle core)? I already ordered though so I can’t change anything heh.

 

[UtadaBarkley]

Ok changed my mind.

External DVD RW is what I'm getting now. I'm looking at these too now, 90% sure I'll get the Lite-On though the sony is so sexy.

Lite-On

Just got that yesterday... AWESOME drive... Make sure you have USB 2.0 if you're still back in the 1.1 days....I love this sucker, it looks slick, like the PS2 a lil bit. Man, I'm not knocking your purchase, but you coulda picked up the Lite On for teh same price as what you paid for the enclosure and drive...now you don't get the sexy lil stand. but oh well. Hope it works out for ya.

 

[Chrono]

J Man, I'm not knocking your purchase, but you coulda picked up the Lite On for teh same price as what you paid for the enclosure and drive...now you don't get the sexy lil stand. but oh well. Hope it works out for ya.

Well now that I'm building a PC that enclosure is useless. =\

I'll probably use it later for an HDD or something.

 

[Argyle]

Looking for some input on my impending portable external hard drive purchase.

I'm in the market for an 80+GB drive with firewire & usb2.0 compatibility (tohugh I could settle for just firewire). It should be light and portable to be easily toted around in smallish laptop bag.

I'm looking for recommendations; currently considering...

Firelite: 100GB, firewire, ?? rpm, $319

LaCie: 100GB, firewire/usb2, 4200 rpm, $279

G-Drive Mini : 100GB, firewire/usb2, ?? rpm, case, $330

Should I be concerned with rpm? Or is 4200 rpm faster than practical firewire throughput?

If you want a 2.5" 100GB drive, why not go the same route as with the desktop HDDs - buy the notebook drive and the enclosure separate...

Fry's apparently has the Fujitsu 2.5" 100GB 4200rpm drive for $169 after rebate, similar drives (Seagate) have been as cheap as $150 after rebate...

An enclosure that is USB or Firewire powered should run you < $40ish...I got this one (granted, this one doesn't support 100GB drives, apparently - I have a 40GB in it)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-145-330&depa=1

 

[bionic77]

Western Digital 200 gig external harddrive. Got this over a month ago for about 100 bucks and it has worked perfectly. It is super quiet too and it looks real nice too.