Want - Excellent external hard drive for cheap
- Thread starter serum79
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You might try picking up an external case - they run about $25 at newegg. Then you can purchase any internal hard drive you want. If there's a good special going on for an internal drive, it ends up being cheaper doing it this way than buying an external hard drive plus it's easy to upgrade later on.
I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.
Actually that venus external case for HD seems overpriced. I mean it costs >$40 with shipping. You should spend between $17-$25 at most for an external enclosure. In effect, the external enclosure should cost less than the hard drive itself.
[quote name='Strell']I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='Strell']I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
[quote name='hero101']Actually that venus external case for HD seems overpriced. I mean it costs >$40 with shipping. You should spend between $17-$25 at most for an external enclosure. In effect, the external enclosure should cost less than the hard drive itself.[/QUOTE]
Yea, if you don't want one with onboard cooling. There are much cheaper alternatives out there, but the reason is because they have no fans to cool the drive. Hence why it is better to get a quality component. All in all you could spend 70-80 bucks to get an external drive that will last, or you can get a cheap one that will work for a while until the HD melts from heat.
You could go cheaper and then get a table fan to blow on it at all times, but it's better to be safe and have internal cooling.
HD prices have fallen like rocks, so I'm not sure why you think that has anything to do with anything.
Yea, if you don't want one with onboard cooling. There are much cheaper alternatives out there, but the reason is because they have no fans to cool the drive. Hence why it is better to get a quality component. All in all you could spend 70-80 bucks to get an external drive that will last, or you can get a cheap one that will work for a while until the HD melts from heat.
You could go cheaper and then get a table fan to blow on it at all times, but it's better to be safe and have internal cooling.
HD prices have fallen like rocks, so I'm not sure why you think that has anything to do with anything.
m6oo
CAGiversary!
Pay the extra $5 and get the Venus case, they are great. As was said, most 3.5 inch enclosures don't have any active cooling and the drives can really heat up. Those that do usually have some crappy 25mm fan out the back.
The Venus case has an 80mm fan mounted flat against the drive. That sucker moves a lot of air through the case and is surprisingly quiet.
On a more technical note, the Venus case uses the Cypress USB/ATA chipset, which is one of the better ones out there.
The Venus case has an 80mm fan mounted flat against the drive. That sucker moves a lot of air through the case and is surprisingly quiet.
On a more technical note, the Venus case uses the Cypress USB/ATA chipset, which is one of the better ones out there.
[quote name='Strell']I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
Strell has the correct idea.
Few months back, I got a new 250 GB hard drive. I already have 2 HD's in my PC, and I didn't want to fumble through the hard-to-reach empty 3.5" slots so I just decided to make one external. I picked up an external case (less than $40, however. I believe mine was about $25 w/ cooling) and stuck in my internal HD. Bam! Works perfectly, and USB 2.0 is pretty fast.
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
Strell has the correct idea.
Few months back, I got a new 250 GB hard drive. I already have 2 HD's in my PC, and I didn't want to fumble through the hard-to-reach empty 3.5" slots so I just decided to make one external. I picked up an external case (less than $40, however. I believe mine was about $25 w/ cooling) and stuck in my internal HD. Bam! Works perfectly, and USB 2.0 is pretty fast.
doubledown
CAGiversary!
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So, any COOL looking external enclosure with lights or anything (I'm thinking about hooking up a HD directly to my 360, so I want it to look pretty 
) Windows Media Connect slows down my PC at times.
) Windows Media Connect slows down my PC at times.
JackFlash666
CAGiversary!
This sounds like a good plan for me and my laptop...can't beat that 300GB!
[quote name='Strell']I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
This may be a dumbass question, but would this setup work with a macintosh? I just got an ibook and want to get an external HD. This seems to be the better option.
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
This may be a dumbass question, but would this setup work with a macintosh? I just got an ibook and want to get an external HD. This seems to be the better option.
I'm afraid I wouldn't know, but I will speculate. As long as the hard drive is compatible with Mac, it should work. Granted I don't know much about hard drives working with Macs.
The enclosure says (via a PDF data sheet I found on their site) that it should work with Macs without issue. Since you can get a slightly more expensive casing with Firewire, I assume they are all usable with Macs (the one I linked to only has USB, but I personally bought the step-up with Firewire).
Therefore I want to assume that a Mac would find it without issue. I'd look around for more information on Seagates. Pretty sure the enclosure is good to go.
The enclosure says (via a PDF data sheet I found on their site) that it should work with Macs without issue. Since you can get a slightly more expensive casing with Firewire, I assume they are all usable with Macs (the one I linked to only has USB, but I personally bought the step-up with Firewire).
Therefore I want to assume that a Mac would find it without issue. I'd look around for more information on Seagates. Pretty sure the enclosure is good to go.
[quote name='Strell']I'm afraid I wouldn't know, but I will speculate. As long as the hard drive is compatible with Mac, it should work. Granted I don't know much about hard drives working with Macs.
The enclosure says (via a PDF data sheet I found on their site) that it should work with Macs without issue. Since you can get a slightly more expensive casing with Firewire, I assume they are all usable with Macs (the one I linked to only has USB, but I personally bought the step-up with Firewire).
Therefore I want to assume that a Mac would find it without issue. I'd look around for more information on Seagates. Pretty sure the enclosure is good to go.[/QUOTE]
Cool, the three things i want to do for my ibook is beef up the ram, get an external HD, and get an external DVD burner (to, you know, . . . burn things)
So i want to get all of those things as cheap as possible. Making my own external HD would help cut costs.
OT, but I have a question about the RAM. It came with 512 MB, and i want to take it up to at least 1 GB. My two options are getting a second 512 stick, or getting a GB. The 1 GB costs a bunch more. Should i go ahead and spend a bit more for the 1.5, or just go with the 1 GB?
The enclosure says (via a PDF data sheet I found on their site) that it should work with Macs without issue. Since you can get a slightly more expensive casing with Firewire, I assume they are all usable with Macs (the one I linked to only has USB, but I personally bought the step-up with Firewire).
Therefore I want to assume that a Mac would find it without issue. I'd look around for more information on Seagates. Pretty sure the enclosure is good to go.[/QUOTE]
Cool, the three things i want to do for my ibook is beef up the ram, get an external HD, and get an external DVD burner (to, you know, . . . burn things
)So i want to get all of those things as cheap as possible. Making my own external HD would help cut costs.
OT, but I have a question about the RAM. It came with 512 MB, and i want to take it up to at least 1 GB. My two options are getting a second 512 stick, or getting a GB. The 1 GB costs a bunch more. Should i go ahead and spend a bit more for the 1.5, or just go with the 1 GB?
Two things:
1. I want to say I heard somewhere that after a gig of ram, you get severely diminished returns. Maybe I heard that about two gigs, but honestly I think a gig would be sufficient.
2. UNLESS you are doing tons of video editting, Photoshopping, audio stuff, etc. If that is the case, then you need all the RAM you can get. Since it's dropped in price a LOT in recent years, and given that the trend will continue, you *could* wait for a few months and it might drop by a few bucks.
It sucks as an answer to say "well it depends on what you are going to do with it," but that's honestly the best way to look at it. I mean if you're going to for of a school report/AIM/CAG sort of thing, then a gig is much more than you need. But doing anything heavy on it, and you'll want to extra horsepower.
Hope this helps, munch!
1. I want to say I heard somewhere that after a gig of ram, you get severely diminished returns. Maybe I heard that about two gigs, but honestly I think a gig would be sufficient.
2. UNLESS you are doing tons of video editting, Photoshopping, audio stuff, etc. If that is the case, then you need all the RAM you can get. Since it's dropped in price a LOT in recent years, and given that the trend will continue, you *could* wait for a few months and it might drop by a few bucks.
It sucks as an answer to say "well it depends on what you are going to do with it," but that's honestly the best way to look at it. I mean if you're going to for of a school report/AIM/CAG sort of thing, then a gig is much more than you need. But doing anything heavy on it, and you'll want to extra horsepower.
Hope this helps, munch!
[quote name='Strell']Two things:
1. I want to say I heard somewhere that after a gig of ram, you get severely diminished returns. Maybe I heard that about two gigs, but honestly I think a gig would be sufficient.
2. UNLESS you are doing tons of video editting, Photoshopping, audio stuff, etc. If that is the case, then you need all the RAM you can get. Since it's dropped in price a LOT in recent years, and given that the trend will continue, you *could* wait for a few months and it might drop by a few bucks.
It sucks as an answer to say "well it depends on what you are going to do with it," but that's honestly the best way to look at it. I mean if you're going to for of a school report/AIM/CAG sort of thing, then a gig is much more than you need. But doing anything heavy on it, and you'll want to extra horsepower.
Hope this helps, munch![/QUOTE]
yeah, it does. I'm hoping to be recording music with it and doing small video stuff for my fiancee. But overall nothing big. That's why i'm torn between going 512 and a gig. I might need it, but then again i'm not totally sure. Thanks for the help, though.
1. I want to say I heard somewhere that after a gig of ram, you get severely diminished returns. Maybe I heard that about two gigs, but honestly I think a gig would be sufficient.
2. UNLESS you are doing tons of video editting, Photoshopping, audio stuff, etc. If that is the case, then you need all the RAM you can get. Since it's dropped in price a LOT in recent years, and given that the trend will continue, you *could* wait for a few months and it might drop by a few bucks.
It sucks as an answer to say "well it depends on what you are going to do with it," but that's honestly the best way to look at it. I mean if you're going to for of a school report/AIM/CAG sort of thing, then a gig is much more than you need. But doing anything heavy on it, and you'll want to extra horsepower.
Hope this helps, munch![/QUOTE]
yeah, it does. I'm hoping to be recording music with it and doing small video stuff for my fiancee. But overall nothing big. That's why i'm torn between going 512 and a gig. I might need it, but then again i'm not totally sure. Thanks for the help, though.
I'd tell you to go for it then. Even minimal stuff benefits from it, and will save a lot of frustration.
Just for my curiosity, is the price of RAM uniform all around? Or are you getting it factory direct or something? I'd think you could find a gig of notebook ram pretty cheap, probably sub $100. At least IBMs would be around that price. Are Macs more expensive?
Just for my curiosity, is the price of RAM uniform all around? Or are you getting it factory direct or something? I'd think you could find a gig of notebook ram pretty cheap, probably sub $100. At least IBMs would be around that price. Are Macs more expensive?
There isn't a Mac exclusive RAM, i don't think, so i'm just going off of newegg. prices. I was looking to pay about $100 for a gb, $50 for 512. I think those are about the base prices. I don't know much about the brands, but i heard that it doesn't matter much.
I was looking at this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208015 especially because of the rebate.
I was looking at this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208015 especially because of the rebate.
Yea, newegg.com is a good place to hit. I tend to think the people giving reviews there are smarter than, say, amazon.com, which seems to be a mixture of knowledgable persons and the typical "IT TOOK 5 DAYS FOR THIS TO GET TO ME SO I GAVE IT -1 STARS."
100 sounded reasonable. You could try pricewatch.com but that would take you to some questionable sites.
Anyway, good luck with it munch. From what you are saying, I'd go with the gig.
100 sounded reasonable. You could try pricewatch.com but that would take you to some questionable sites.
Anyway, good luck with it munch. From what you are saying, I'd go with the gig.
[quote name='Strell']I've said this multiple times:
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
I'm about to take the plunge on
AMS VENUS DS-2316B2BK 3.5" USB 2.0 Black External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: DS-2316B2BK
Item #: N82E16817145656
$36.99
and
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3300831AS
Item #: N82E16822148064
$131.00
Any reason why I shouldn't? Also, does anyone have any Newegg codes or something for a discount?
Thanks!
Get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145656
And then get a cheap rebate Seagate, such as this: http://dealnews.com/deals/Seagate-120-GB-IDE-Internal-Hard-Drive-for-30-after-rebates/105644.html
You want the case to have cooling. Venus has cooling on their enclosures.
It's either that or watch your HD die in a year. So you can say the price is too high and get something cheaper, but you'll regret it when everything is lost.[/QUOTE]
I'm about to take the plunge on
AMS VENUS DS-2316B2BK 3.5" USB 2.0 Black External Enclosure - Retail
Model #: DS-2316B2BK
Item #: N82E16817145656
$36.99
and
Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3300831AS 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: ST3300831AS
Item #: N82E16822148064
$131.00
Any reason why I shouldn't? Also, does anyone have any Newegg codes or something for a discount?
Thanks!
[quote name='munch']javeryh, report back on how easy this was to put together. I'm a complete novice, and i'm assuming you are too , so we're in the same boat.[/QUOTE]
Will do. The shipment should be here in 2-3 business days so around Thursday... I'm hoping to transfer my entire iTunes library to it in neat little organized folders.
, so we're in the same boat.[/QUOTE]Will do. The shipment should be here in 2-3 business days so around Thursday... I'm hoping to transfer my entire iTunes library to it in neat little organized folders.
OK, I got the hard drive and enclosure and they are incompatible. The enclosure only supports ATA100 and ATA133 HDDs and the hard drive I ordered is an ATA150. You can't even get this information from the newegg product page and you would think that someone there would notice before shipping it out. Now I have to go through the trouble of getting a refund/return and waiting for a new enclosure (assuming I can find a compatible one).
Shit, sorry javery, I should have looked closer.
The interface on the enclosure says "IDE" and the drive shows Serial ATA150. In short form, it's SATA format, so yea, that wouldn't work.
I should have caught that for ya.
Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148061#DetailSpecs
Really sorry about that, but the one I just linked should work without issue.
On the slight upside, it's a little cheaper, in a true spirit of CAGness.
(I also noticed a 250 gig looked to have a small discount of 5 bucks, cost around 103, but an extra 50 gigs for less than 30 bucks is a much better deal.)
The interface on the enclosure says "IDE" and the drive shows Serial ATA150. In short form, it's SATA format, so yea, that wouldn't work.
I should have caught that for ya.
Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148061#DetailSpecs
Really sorry about that, but the one I just linked should work without issue.
On the slight upside, it's a little cheaper, in a true spirit of CAGness.
(I also noticed a 250 gig looked to have a small discount of 5 bucks, cost around 103, but an extra 50 gigs for less than 30 bucks is a much better deal.)
[quote name='Strell']Shit, sorry javery, I should have looked closer.
The interface on the enclosure says "IDE" and the drive shows Serial ATA150. In short form, it's SATA format, so yea, that wouldn't work.
I should have caught that for ya.
Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148061#DetailSpecs
Really sorry about that, but the one I just linked should work without issue.
On the slight upside, it's a little cheaper, in a true spirit of CAGness.
(I also noticed a 250 gig looked to have a small discount of 5 bucks, cost around 103, but an extra 50 gigs for less than 30 bucks is a much better deal.)[/QUOTE]
It's no big deal. So you are saying I should return the hard drive instead of the enclosure? It doesn't matter to me - I actually really like the enclosure I ordered - it's slick looking. Is there any major difference regarding the hard drives? I don't want something cheap or that might break in a few years...
The interface on the enclosure says "IDE" and the drive shows Serial ATA150. In short form, it's SATA format, so yea, that wouldn't work.
I should have caught that for ya.
Here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148061#DetailSpecs
Really sorry about that, but the one I just linked should work without issue.
On the slight upside, it's a little cheaper, in a true spirit of CAGness.
(I also noticed a 250 gig looked to have a small discount of 5 bucks, cost around 103, but an extra 50 gigs for less than 30 bucks is a much better deal.)[/QUOTE]
It's no big deal. So you are saying I should return the hard drive instead of the enclosure? It doesn't matter to me - I actually really like the enclosure I ordered - it's slick looking. Is there any major difference regarding the hard drives? I don't want something cheap or that might break in a few years...
Seagate as a brand offers the longest warranties - 5 years - and in recent years they have become very high profile (this is from personal research from a while back). So anything by them should be just fine - not going to wear out anytime soon, and generally with a portable HD, you'll (well, if you use it like me) only be using it sparingly. Just keep it in a safe, dry, somewhat cool place and it shuold last quite a while.
Truthfully I'm not exact on the difference between SATA and IDE, but I know that IDE interface is plenty fast for a portable HD, especially when you combine it with USB 2.0 or Firewire.
(Checks wikipedia.) Aye, SATA is faster. So, if it's worth it to you, there should be a Venus enclosure with SATA capability...
And there you go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145660
So it's up to you. My guess is that this enclosure is more expensive - (checks) - aye, 18 bucks more.
I mean, if you're going to leave it plugged in a lot and run it all over the place, go for the SATA enclosure. But it's mostly for once-a-month archival purposes, the former should be just fine.
Truthfully I'm not exact on the difference between SATA and IDE, but I know that IDE interface is plenty fast for a portable HD, especially when you combine it with USB 2.0 or Firewire.
(Checks wikipedia.) Aye, SATA is faster. So, if it's worth it to you, there should be a Venus enclosure with SATA capability...
And there you go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145660
So it's up to you. My guess is that this enclosure is more expensive - (checks) - aye, 18 bucks more.
I mean, if you're going to leave it plugged in a lot and run it all over the place, go for the SATA enclosure. But it's mostly for once-a-month archival purposes, the former should be just fine.
[quote name='Strell']Seagate as a brand offers the longest warranties - 5 years - and in recent years they have become very high profile (this is from personal research from a while back). So anything by them should be just fine - not going to wear out anytime soon, and generally with a portable HD, you'll (well, if you use it like me) only be using it sparingly. Just keep it in a safe, dry, somewhat cool place and it shuold last quite a while.
Truthfully I'm not exact on the difference between SATA and IDE, but I know that IDE interface is plenty fast for a portable HD, especially when you combine it with USB 2.0 or Firewire.
(Checks wikipedia.) Aye, SATA is faster. So, if it's worth it to you, there should be a Venus enclosure with SATA capability...
And there you go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145660
So it's up to you. My guess is that this enclosure is more expensive - (checks) - aye, 18 bucks more.
I mean, if you're going to leave it plugged in a lot and run it all over the place, go for the SATA enclosure. But it's mostly for once-a-month archival purposes, the former should be just fine.[/QUOTE]
Awesome. Thanks a lot! I'll probably go with whatever is easier to return. The hard drive didn't even ship in a box - it was just taped up in bubble wrap so it might be easier to return in a smaller envelope... I know nothing (obviously) and I never even heard of SATA and IDE until 20 minutes ago...
Truthfully I'm not exact on the difference between SATA and IDE, but I know that IDE interface is plenty fast for a portable HD, especially when you combine it with USB 2.0 or Firewire.
(Checks wikipedia.) Aye, SATA is faster. So, if it's worth it to you, there should be a Venus enclosure with SATA capability...
And there you go: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145660
So it's up to you. My guess is that this enclosure is more expensive - (checks) - aye, 18 bucks more.
I mean, if you're going to leave it plugged in a lot and run it all over the place, go for the SATA enclosure. But it's mostly for once-a-month archival purposes, the former should be just fine.[/QUOTE]
Awesome. Thanks a lot! I'll probably go with whatever is easier to return.
The hard drive didn't even ship in a box - it was just taped up in bubble wrap so it might be easier to return in a smaller envelope... I know nothing (obviously) and I never even heard of SATA and IDE until 20 minutes ago...Wow, weird. That's a very un-newegg.com sort of thing to do. It sounds like something Best Buy would do. Only they'd put it in a manilla envelope without padding and send it off. Admittedly, I've never ordered an HD from them, but everything I've gotten has been with all it's original packaging and such. Maybe it was OEM, meh.
Anyway, keep us updated!
Only they'd put it in a manilla envelope without padding and send it off. Admittedly, I've never ordered an HD from them, but everything I've gotten has been with all it's original packaging and such. Maybe it was OEM, meh.Anyway, keep us updated!
We had an SATA/IDE discussion a month or so back.
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79193
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79193
[quote name='Vinny']I got a question: exactly what kind of cooling is necessary? My external doesn't have a fan and the enclosure is made of aluminum. I never let it run for more than 8 or 10 hours... it gets hot but not that hot.[/QUOTE]
Simple answer: the more cooling, the better.
If it's an aluminum case and it doesn't get too hot, then you should be fine. There's probably a way to hook up some sort of output screen to tell you exactly what the temperature of your drive is, but I wouldn't know how to set something like that up. Nor would I know what acceptable temperatures would be. I'd have to research it.
Best to put a small fan (like, one you buy at Target in the home section or something) on it if you are worried about it.
Simple answer: the more cooling, the better.
If it's an aluminum case and it doesn't get too hot, then you should be fine. There's probably a way to hook up some sort of output screen to tell you exactly what the temperature of your drive is, but I wouldn't know how to set something like that up. Nor would I know what acceptable temperatures would be. I'd have to research it.
Best to put a small fan (like, one you buy at Target in the home section or something) on it if you are worried about it.
I need some help (Strell i'm looking at you ). I have an ibook and want to get an external HD. BB has one on sale that seems like a great deal:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7441832&type=product&id=1124432398244&ref=10&loc=01
My question is, can this work with my mac? Usually it says that it is compatible with Mac OSx, but this one says Windows only. Do you think i can get this to work?
). I have an ibook and want to get an external HD. BB has one on sale that seems like a great deal:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7441832&type=product&id=1124432398244&ref=10&loc=01
My question is, can this work with my mac? Usually it says that it is compatible with Mac OSx, but this one says Windows only. Do you think i can get this to work?
I want to say no offhand for two reasons: 1) Not listed on a retailer website, and 2) Not listed on Seagate's website either (which is what I looked up).
However, on Seagate's site, it says this: "Operating Systems not listed here may provide device drivers for USB mass storage devices." What that makes me think is, given the notorious simplicity of Apple, that maybe there's a standard USB driver that would work with this. Now, I don't know that per se, but Apple's OS works plug-n-play much better than Windows ever possibly could, so the best answer would be to test it. Maybe if you go B&M you could ask them to hook it up right then and there.
I praise Seagate, though I've never used an external drive they make themselves. I'm hoping they are smart enough to put adequate cooling. Otherwise you could do like I mentioned to Vinny - just keep a fan on it if it ever felt like it was getting too hot. You could also get one of those "coolpad" things people make for laptops, but I don't know how effect they are. And besides, it might be fine without that.
So I'm leaning like...70-30 it will work versus not. It might just be that they didn't test it given past instances, hard to tell. Sounds like they are saying "we're confident it will if drivers exist beforehand, we're not going to make them ourselves." Which means if no Apple equivalent exists, in a month or two you can expect someone to have hacked one out on Sourceforge or something. Which means if it doesn't work now, you can almost fully expect it to work within a few months.
Not a great answer, I know, but that would be my assumption. People make drivers for fun these days. I still play video games.
However, on Seagate's site, it says this: "Operating Systems not listed here may provide device drivers for USB mass storage devices." What that makes me think is, given the notorious simplicity of Apple, that maybe there's a standard USB driver that would work with this. Now, I don't know that per se, but Apple's OS works plug-n-play much better than Windows ever possibly could, so the best answer would be to test it. Maybe if you go B&M you could ask them to hook it up right then and there.
I praise Seagate, though I've never used an external drive they make themselves. I'm hoping they are smart enough to put adequate cooling. Otherwise you could do like I mentioned to Vinny - just keep a fan on it if it ever felt like it was getting too hot. You could also get one of those "coolpad" things people make for laptops, but I don't know how effect they are. And besides, it might be fine without that.
So I'm leaning like...70-30 it will work versus not. It might just be that they didn't test it given past instances, hard to tell. Sounds like they are saying "we're confident it will if drivers exist beforehand, we're not going to make them ourselves." Which means if no Apple equivalent exists, in a month or two you can expect someone to have hacked one out on Sourceforge or something. Which means if it doesn't work now, you can almost fully expect it to work within a few months.
Not a great answer, I know, but that would be my assumption. People make drivers for fun these days. I still play video games.
JackFlash666
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Yeah from what I know- pretty much any external hard drive will work with Macs (firewire or USB it don't matter) And if it doesnt right out of the box, there are tons of free shareware drivers out there that can be used. It's the same thing when you buy a mouse or game pad for a Mac.
doubledown
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BUY.com had a 300GB External FANTOM drive for $150 shipped. Not sure how good that is....
Alright, i've got a question for everyone, but it deals with external DVD burners, or really making an external dvd burner. I want to stay under a hundred on this, but i've decided that i will be willing to shell out the extra cash if i have too. Here is the external burner that i was looking at before i heard you could make your own:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131266
It looks slick as hell, but i want to go a bit cheaper if i can.
Here is what i've been thinking about getting instead. First, this burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058
and this enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145654
Will this work? Now, I guess i should say that i want a dvd burner to burn my dvd's (and my friends ) can i say that? The cons of the second option is that it doesn't come with any software (shouldn't be a problem ) can i say that? The sony one comes with toast lite.
Ok, you see there are a couple of things that confuse, however. I do not want this to be my main burner. My ibook has a combo drive that i want to remain as my primary cd burner. Will there be a conflict between the drives? Can i designate one as the DVD burner and one as the CD burner? I'm not worried so much about the drive working natively with my ibook because a program called patchburn should take care of that. And, in order to do what i want to do, i'm going to have to get a program called popcorn which will compress my dvds (like dvd shrink), and i think it will do the burning like toast would (i think).
So, which option do you guys recommend me going with. You are dealing with a novice, but i'm not afraid of trying to make this drive. So, just let me know what you would do if you were in my shoes.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827131266
It looks slick as hell, but i want to go a bit cheaper if i can.
Here is what i've been thinking about getting instead. First, this burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058
and this enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817145654
Will this work? Now, I guess i should say that i want a dvd burner to burn my dvd's (and my friends
) can i say that? The cons of the second option is that it doesn't come with any software (shouldn't be a problem ) can i say that? The sony one comes with toast lite.Ok, you see there are a couple of things that confuse, however. I do not want this to be my main burner. My ibook has a combo drive that i want to remain as my primary cd burner. Will there be a conflict between the drives? Can i designate one as the DVD burner and one as the CD burner? I'm not worried so much about the drive working natively with my ibook because a program called patchburn should take care of that. And, in order to do what i want to do, i'm going to have to get a program called popcorn which will compress my dvds (like dvd shrink), and i think it will do the burning like toast would (i think).
So, which option do you guys recommend me going with. You are dealing with a novice, but i'm not afraid of trying to make this drive. So, just let me know what you would do if you were in my shoes.
[quote name='m2k2p']A couple questions , maybe one of you can help me with this. Is it better to just get an enclosure and a good HD or just get an external drive? If you have both an Firewire and Usb 2.0 ports, does it make any speed difference on which of them you choose? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
They are essentially the same thing, so go with whatever's cheaper. I'd go with USB 2.0 over Firewire - you see more computers with USB than with Firewire. I don't think there's much speed difference between the two to choose firewire:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#USB_compared_to_other_standards
They are essentially the same thing, so go with whatever's cheaper. I'd go with USB 2.0 over Firewire - you see more computers with USB than with Firewire. I don't think there's much speed difference between the two to choose firewire:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Serial_Bus#USB_compared_to_other_standards
[quote name='m2k2p']A couple questions , maybe one of you can help me with this. Is it better to just get an enclosure and a good HD or just get an external drive? If you have both an Firewire and Usb 2.0 ports, does it make any speed difference on which of them you choose? Thanks in advance.[/QUOTE]
Dood, see post 4 of this thread.
Dood, see post 4 of this thread.
OK, I got the hard drive installed - I think. It's not appearing in windows explorer as a drive. The hard drive was plugged into the case and the case is powered on and connected to my usb port. Is there something I should be doing? THe "install new hardware wizard" never popped up or anything...
[quote name='Strell']I remember running a Seagate application CD install before I attached the drive in the enclosure. Have you done that? (Hope this doesn't sound rude/harsh/what have you.)[/QUOTE]
No, I didn't run anything. The hard drive came with nothing. Usually when I plug something into my USB port (like my PSP or iPod) my computer recognizes it right away. It doesn't do anything with the hard drive...
No, I didn't run anything. The hard drive came with nothing. Usually when I plug something into my USB port (like my PSP or iPod) my computer recognizes it right away. It doesn't do anything with the hard drive...
I went to the Seagate website and downloaded the Driver Installation Software. I ran it and now everything appears to be working properly. One last question, Can I unplug/plus this thing in only when I need it? I'm using a laptop and it would defeat the portability of it...
Yea. The best way to do it would be to double click on the "Add/remove devices" taskbar icon, and then choosing your portable hard drive. That way it "safely" stops sending information back and forth to it, which essentially means you can then unplug it.
For the record, you probably wouldn't have any problem removing it without doing the above, but it's best to go ahead and take the extra five seconds to do it.
After removing it, just turn it off, unplug it, etc. I cable tie all my cords and then put them in a PSOne silver carrying case (hey, it fits right in there quite well). But that's just me.
Let me/us know if you have any more questions/problems/wahtever, javery. Good to hear it is up and running.
For the record, you probably wouldn't have any problem removing it without doing the above, but it's best to go ahead and take the extra five seconds to do it.
After removing it, just turn it off, unplug it, etc. I cable tie all my cords and then put them in a PSOne silver carrying case (hey, it fits right in there quite well). But that's just me.
Let me/us know if you have any more questions/problems/wahtever, javery. Good to hear it is up and running.
bread's done