Hi,

I'm in the market for an external FW hard drive. I haven't bought an external drive since I bought a LaCie a few years ago. I know things have changed, etc. and so was just wondering what's considered good these days?

Also, if I want immediate gratification (ie, want to buy locally), any good deals going on at B & M stores? I'm in Houston, so don't have a Staples locally, but I guess they do free overnight shipping from Dallas, so I'd be able to get it by tomorrow (hopefully).

Anybody know of any deals at Office Depot, Office Max, Target, etc.?

Thanks.

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My music blog: [www.auditorymusings.net]


The Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Did you check dealmac?

[eshop.macsales.com]

(YMMV as always, but LaCie is on my poop list.)

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What's the best deal you found so far?

If you buy a drive and case separately, I advise against Plumax cases - the bridges don't seem to last very long.

There are several FW and FW/Combo drives listed here.

[macresource.com]

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

just be sure the chipset is Oxford. I say this from past experience.

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!#$@@$#!

proofraed by OwEn the c@t.

i like the look of those "my book" drives

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Edited 999 time(s). Last edit at 12:08PM by jdc.

Quote
jdc
i like the look of those "my book" drives

Yeah, i saw an ad for one on sale in the paper last week at J&R.
They do look pretty cool. The circular light on the front is a capacity gauge.

The 1TB book:
[www.jr.com]

Why are there so few FW drives and a plethora of USB 2.0 drives?

Has Apple fixed the problem it was having with USB 2.0 when they first implemented it into their computer line? I think I remember reading that Apple's USB 2.0 was much slower when compared to a PC's USB 2.0 and when compared to FW 400.

Will I see much of a speed hit if I get a USB 2.0 drive instead of a FW 400 drive?

Quote
pinkoos
Why are there so few FW drives and a plethora of USB 2.0 drives?

Because USB 2.0 is cheap - it's a processor driven interface (using computer's processor for load) vs. transfer control being done via interface. This is why FireWire 400 is faster than USB 2.0 despite USB 2.0 touting a theoretical 480mbit/s vs. 400mbit/s for FireWire.

Quote
pinkoos
Has Apple fixed the problem it was having with USB 2.0 when they first implemented it into their computer line? I think I remember reading that Apple's USB 2.0 was much slower when compared to a PC's USB 2.0 and when compared to FW 400.

Will I see much of a speed hit if I get a USB 2.0 drive instead of a FW 400 drive?

FireWire 400 is faster than USB 2.0 even on PCs. USB 2.0 is slower on Macs (even on a MacBook comparing OS X boot to BootCamp Windows XP Boot) because Apple employs additional error correction/protection in it's read/write scheme that the OS does compared to Windows - something we were advised of.

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OWC Larry
Other World Computing
[www.macsales.com]

Why look any further than our own OWC?

I know I've been extremely happy with the external FW 400/800 OWC-AL enclosure I use as backup for my MacPro.

Whether you use their FW enclosure with your own drive as I did or buy one of their Mercury units, I know you'll be happy, too.

As I always say, "that's just my opinion, I could be wrong." (but not about this)

GeneL

I'm sure Fry's has something on a good sale. Here's a USB 2.0 500gb for $130 bucks.

[www.netaffilia.com]

Thanks for the replies and explanations.

Fritz - what's up with the Oxford chipset? I found a Western Digital My Book dual interface (FW 400 and USB 2.0) 320 GB drive at our local Target for $150. I have a Target Gift Card worth about $35, so my effective price is $115 for 320 GB with a FW interface. However, I couldn't find anything on WD's website or the box stating what the chipset is.

Just curious about your comment if you can elaborate.

Thanks!