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07/22/2008 12:46:49 PM · #1 |
| I am going to buy an external hard drive for photos, video, and music. Which name should I look at, and are there any features I should look out for? |
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07/22/2008 12:54:14 PM · #2 |
I've been thinking of this myself
and then I was thinking
wouldnt it be nice to plug your camera directly to it, stick it in a backpack or something and shoot without having to worry about memory? Like one big giant memory card |
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07/22/2008 01:00:21 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by dagaleaa:
I am going to buy an external hard drive for photos, video, and music. Which name should I look at, and are there any features I should look out for? |
I'm using the Western Digital 'My Book' series...on my 3rd one now. I make a copy of photos on DVD's (move them to another location) and move the same photos to the external harddrive. When the external HD fills up, just buy a new one (they're fairly inexpensive nowadays). This helps keep room on the PC and gives me a decent backup plan (IMO of course).
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07/22/2008 01:22:45 PM · #4 |
If you want something portable: My husband (computer programmer) has a small (around 100gb) Toshiba portable HD that he carries around with him. It's small and light and nice if you need something on-the-go.
If you want something for the desk: For photo backup I have a Seagate 700gb External HD that he got me for my birthday last year. Makes its own backup. It's nice. Seagate is a pretty reliable EHD from what he tells me.
Either way, good luck in your hunt... Everyone here has a favorite, those are just what we use :) |
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07/22/2008 01:24:19 PM · #5 |
I built my own using a Seagate 500GB Sata and a unit called Icybox, works a treat.
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07/22/2008 01:26:05 PM · #6 |
Ditto what Jojo said...I've a Seagate 750GB external and it's great! not to mention you can actually sign up for a service where you can access it anywhere (should you need). They now have a 1TB unit out! :)
Good luck! |
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07/22/2008 01:29:45 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by glad2badad:
Originally posted by dagaleaa:
I am going to buy an external hard drive for photos, video, and music. Which name should I look at, and are there any features I should look out for? |
I'm using the Western Digital 'My Book' series...on my 3rd one now. I make a copy of photos on DVD's (move them to another location) and move the same photos to the external harddrive. When the external HD fills up, just buy a new one (they're fairly inexpensive nowadays). This helps keep room on the PC and gives me a decent backup plan (IMO of course). |
I second the My Book...I am using a 150G SeaDisk and a 1TB My Book. they both work awesome. the seadisk is over a year old..the My Book is fairly new. But at 238 for 1Tb..i am loving it.
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07/22/2008 01:32:31 PM · #8 |
When I shop external HDD's I look at one detail, what's inside. If it isn't Western Digital, I don't buy it. The one I have is a Trekstor with a WD 320GB in it and it works great. Very quiet too. I'm waiting until the 500GB models are on sale to add to my system.
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07/22/2008 01:49:07 PM · #9 |
Hi Dagaleaa,
Im a systems admin (i work on all the computers in our office) at a company with around 50+ machines currently up. In my experience there are only 2 ways to go. Seagate or WD.
Seagate has a 5 year warranty as does WD. The WD passport is great if you are looking for somehting small. i think those go up to 500 or so. Seagate's externals go higher with their perpendicular technology. Although i think most HDD manufactors are using that technology now.
higher buffer (8mb+) is better on larger drives and RPMs should be at least 5400 (preferably 7400). Im not sure that they will spec all this out to you on external drives, but if they do its what to look for.
The last thing is, the safest way to go is to purchase something like this because your data (pics, vids, etc.) will be stored on 2 drives at once. that way should 1 drive die the second still has all your data. Either that or make sure your backing up regularly (cannot stress enough).
Hope this helps.
Message edited by author 2008-07-22 13:53:51. |
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07/22/2008 03:29:45 PM · #10 |
| Another vote for WD. Have been using them forever w/o a drive failure (seagate as well). Like others I use the 'book' product to copy backups to. |
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07/22/2008 04:34:59 PM · #11 |
Thermaltake sells a thing called BlacX for around $30-50. It takes any SATA drive and you can hot swap drives - cheaper together than a Mybook or some similar thing.
Seagate drives have a 5 year warranty (some WD units do but not all) where most have 3 year warranties. Since everything dies the day after the warranty consider seagate.
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07/22/2008 04:46:52 PM · #12 |
I use a Dlink DNS 323, which has a pair of mirrored 750Gb drives accessed over a gigabit lan.
It is absolutely solid - would recommend this to anyone who needs security and fast access.
Message edited by author 2008-07-22 16:49:18. |
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07/22/2008 05:12:27 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
Thermaltake sells a thing called BlacX for around $30-50. It takes any SATA drive and you can hot swap drives - cheaper together than a Mybook or some similar thing.
Seagate drives have a 5 year warranty (some WD units do but not all) where most have 3 year warranties. Since everything dies the day after the warranty consider seagate. |
Just pulled out my packing and box for my WD...and it is 1 year warranty in North, Central and South America...3 years in asia.
//www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=353
You can go here and see the products they offer and the warranties that go with each product. Mine..only has a one year.
Message edited by author 2008-07-22 17:16:22.
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07/22/2008 05:33:59 PM · #14 |
Silly question maybe egamble. Is that 1 year guarantee for the enclosure rather than the HDD? I find it odd that WD guarantees all their HDD for 3 years but this product for 1 year.
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07/22/2008 05:47:45 PM · #15 |
| WD (WesternDigital) are the only brand of hard drives I've never had a failure with. |
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07/22/2008 06:07:20 PM · #16 |
Originally posted by Jac:
Silly question maybe egamble. Is that 1 year guarantee for the enclosure rather than the HDD? I find it odd that WD guarantees all their HDD for 3 years but this product for 1 year. |
Perhaps. But I don't think so.
External Drives:
My Book Mirror, My Book Pro, My Book Pro II, My Book World, My Book World II, My Book Home, My Book Office WDH2U, WDG1T, WDG2TP, WDG1NC, WDG2NC, WDH1CS, WDH1B N/A 3-year
WD Elements, WD Elements Portable, My Book Essential , My Book Premium, My Book Premium ES, My Book Premium II, My DVR Expander eSATA Edition, My DVR Expander USB Edition, Dual-Option Media Center, Dual-Option Combo, Dual-Option USB, NetCenter, Lighted Combo, Extreme Lighted Combo, USB, Combo, FireWire WDE1U, WDE1MS, WDG1U, WDH1U, WDG1C, WDG1SU, WDG2T, WDG1S, WDH1S, WDXUL, WDXF, WDXUB, WDXB, WDXE, WDXC N/A 1-year
This is from the link I provided. All of their products that only have a one year warranty. Again, I could be wrong. Maybe not reading the fine print well enough.
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07/22/2008 06:08:28 PM · #17 |
| Warranty on a hard drive seems pretty irrelevant to me -- none of them will pay the $1500 to recover the lost data ... |
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07/22/2008 06:18:34 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by Falc:
I use a Dlink DNS 323, which has a pair of mirrored 750Gb drives accessed over a gigabit lan.
It is absolutely solid - would recommend this to anyone who needs security and fast access. |
Forgot to say this unit also has an iTunes server and FTP server built in, so you can stream your music from it AND access your music/images from anywhere on the internet, without having your PC/Mac on line.
The gigabit ethernet access was the clincher for me though - no waiting for a USB connected drive to respond. |
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07/22/2008 06:34:52 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Warranty on a hard drive seems pretty irrelevant to me -- none of them will pay the $1500 to recover the lost data ... |
personally i would rather have 2 drives with 1 yr warranty than one drive with 5 yrs.
Also, re Dlink. they put out some fantastic options with their products, but the products themselves fluctuate in quality. meaning one time you get a good one and the next its rubbish. if you want something remote like NAS get the mac version. its a bit more expensive, but the qual. is constant. |
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07/22/2008 06:52:36 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by onesaint:
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Warranty on a hard drive seems pretty irrelevant to me -- none of them will pay the $1500 to recover the lost data ... |
personally i would rather have 2 drives with 1 yr warranty than one drive with 5 yrs.
Also, re Dlink. they put out some fantastic options with their products, but the products themselves fluctuate in quality. meaning one time you get a good one and the next its rubbish. if you want something remote like NAS get the mac version. its a bit more expensive, but the qual. is constant. |
How about 4 drives with 3 year warranties? :)
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07/22/2008 07:00:49 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by Jac:
How about 4 drives with 3 year warranties? :) |
Too much. thats 12 years. i could do 3 drives with 2 yr warranties though. ;^) |
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