# External hard drive recommendations ???



## domromer (Nov 23, 2007)

I finally got all my photos together and it seems I have 110gigs of pics. I don't really want to store these all on my mpb. So it's time to buy an external hard drive. I don't really know much about them so I was hoping some of you guys could point me in the right direction. I'm looking to spend 150$ OR less. I'm looking for quality and storage capacity over speed. 

Also is their a way to save the photos on the external and still be able to use iphoto as my main photo viewer?


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## Alex_B (Nov 23, 2007)

get some standard seagate or similar harddrive .. and get some external usb or whatever housing, connect, and wohaa


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## jstuedle (Nov 23, 2007)

Most drives are made by Seagate or Western Digital these days, so take your pick. An off the shelf external 320 gig is about $100 these days. A housing and a standard 320 is about $100. So either way it's about the same.


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## table1349 (Nov 23, 2007)

Take a look at a 1 Terabite Western Digital World Book.  About $300 but the case will contain two 500 gig drives.  You can set it up to be a single 1 Terabite drive, or as two separate drives with one configured to be a mirror back up of the other.  If you are running a photo business you can also connect this to a network as it has built connectivity.


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## TCimages (Nov 24, 2007)

I recommend buying two so you can have a second copy on the shelf.   If you buy the drive and enclosure seperate pay attention to the interface so they are compatible.  This can be a little confusing.


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## astrostu (Nov 24, 2007)

I'm a big fan of LaCie external drives.  http://www.lacie.com/us/products/range.htm?id=10033


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## Garbz (Nov 24, 2007)

I used to agree with you astrostu, but I've been thinking twice about them lately after hearing the story posted in the Beyond the Basics forum about how they handled a customer having a drive break. Giving them the option of replacing the drive or the data but not both.


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## BAB (Nov 24, 2007)

I have Lacie and have not had any problems (knocking on the proverbial wood), but recently I have heard from several sources that Lacie are not reliable and problematic.  Maybe I am a lucky one, I dunno.  Seagate on the other hand, routinely gets great reviews and they have been making  hard drives for a long time.


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## domromer (Nov 25, 2007)

Thanks for all the input. I've narrowed it down to a few models now I'm going to see who has the best prices. I think I'm going to end up getting it off Amazon as I have some credit there.


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## TCimages (Nov 25, 2007)

domromer said:


> Thanks for all the input. I've narrowed it down to a few models now I'm going to see who has the best prices. I think I'm going to end up getting it off Amazon as I have some credit there.


 
If you change your mind, I highly recommend www.NEWEGG.com


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## sneshanian (Dec 4, 2007)

BAB said:


> I have Lacie and have not had any problems (knocking on the proverbial wood), but recently I have heard from several sources that Lacie are not reliable and problematic.  Maybe I am a lucky one, I dunno.  Seagate on the other hand, routinely gets great reviews and they have been making  hard drives for a long time.



i had a lacie, the enclosure died on me a little after a year, so i bought a new enclosure and am still using the hard drive. i just purchased a western digital mybook and am happy with it. ive heard a few people having the same problem i had with my lacie, and thats what caused me to change brands for my second HD. 

i would personally stick with western digital or G-tech (a bit more expensive), g-tech has been getting good reviews and we have been using them at my workplace with no problems for about a year (im a apple computer tech).

heres a link to their site:

http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm


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## EOS_JD (Dec 4, 2007)

I know you might think it's more hassle than it's worth but if you have a large enough drive on your PC leave them there and use the external drive as a backup.

If (sorry WHEN) the drive fails you do not want to lose everything do you?

I speak from experience and now have a total of 9 hard drive devices at home ranging from 500Gb (external Seagate Drive) to 40Gb (Epson P-2000).

Back up: backup: back up: backup: Back up: backup: back up: backup: Back up: backup: back up: backup:


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## D-50 (Dec 4, 2007)

You definately need a back up or two.  I have an unbackedup HD die on me and I lost everything.  After talking with many people the consensus seems to be all Hard drives will fail eventually. Of course this process is sped up by knocking it around, but definatly buy two, the odds of both failing simulaneously are slim so if one dies go out that day buy another and back it up again.  You may say you dont have the money now but afteryou lose all you photos you'll kick yourself for not spending the extra 100-150 for backup, data recovery on an HD cost at least $1000 if its a mechanical failure.


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## JDS (Dec 4, 2007)

DVD's are a fairly cheap alternative for backup purposes as well.  Get the gold archival ones if you want them to be purposefully built to last a really long time.

Once you burn a DVD, make a copy of it.  Store the copy at a friend's house - if yours burns down you'll still be out of luck if all your backups are there.


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## Atropine (Dec 4, 2007)

I have a 500GB WD MyBook, but I really cannot recommend that one since it is noisy as hell from day one. I told my friend to buy a Seagate Freeagent when he was looking for an external HD and I must admit I am a bit jealous now. The Seagate is practically noiseless and looks a lot more nicer with a cool early eighties (atari, commodore) retro feeling to it.

But if you have a serious/professional need for your back-ups you really should look for a RAID'ed solution. LaCie 2Big 1TB (500GB usable) disks provides that, and costs about $300. May sound steep, but what is the cost for lost originals?


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## domromer (Dec 4, 2007)

Thanks for all the recommendations. I ended  up getting  a western digital 500g from b&h.


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## TCimages (Dec 4, 2007)

EOS_JD said:


> I know you might think it's more hassle than it's worth but if you have a large enough drive on your PC leave them there and use the external drive as a backup.
> 
> If (sorry WHEN) the drive fails you do not want to lose everything do you?
> 
> ...


 
There are a couple reasons I normally don't recommend saving your images on your Primary drive. The biggest being that it's more susceptible to viruses and second it's the drive that's constantly being accessed and under much heavier use. 

I personally save nothing on my primary drive. All my files are saved on external drives. This gives you great flexibility when you have PC problems and have to rebuild.


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## EOS_JD (Dec 5, 2007)

TC I agree with ytour comments but if there is no other back up solution, then I would not hesitate to have them on my primary drive (just in case)!

I bought a hard drive not long ago. Worked on it for a week and it failed on me luckily I had everythig backed up.

To the OP - remember we told you....

Back up: backup: back up: backup: Back up: backup: back up: backup: Back up: backup: back up: backup:


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## _SnapShot_ (Dec 7, 2007)

Dvds are not stable don't trust your photos to dvds.

RAID dual drives with two drives are the most secure externals. If you only have one drive and it goes bad, you have nothing.

Best backup is off site on the web that you can get for $10 a month. Your computer can get struck by lightning, burn down in a fire and have the firemen put it out with a hose and you still have all your photos.


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## BAB (Dec 7, 2007)

_SnapShot_ said:


> Dvds are not stable don't trust your photos to dvds.
> 
> This is absolutely correct, they are very unpredictable to trust storing valued images, data etc.  Sure better than no back-up, but it definately is in your best interest to back-up on extra internal or external HD's or remotely as has been suggested.


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## TCimages (Dec 8, 2007)

one thing that never gets mentioned in these back-up threads is validation. Always, go through your images to validate the back-up on whatever media you chose. Nothing worse than doing the right thing only to find corrupt files when you need it.


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## snra786 (Dec 8, 2007)

I bought this. Great price for 500gigs, and am happy with it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...rives+-+External-_-Western+Digital-_-22136025


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## Atropine (Dec 10, 2007)

snra786 said:


> I bought this. Great price for 500gigs, and am happy with it.
> 
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...rives+-+External-_-Western+Digital-_-22136025


That's the one I have too, but I really don't like it at all. Beside the noise issue, it lacks a hardware switch. This means it always starts when you start or reattach your computer. Stupid solution imho. As I wrote earlier, I really wouldn't recommend this drive.


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## f8lranger4x4 (Feb 12, 2008)

Just got a western digital 500 and can't wait to try it on the road!!!


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## Chibamonkey (Feb 13, 2008)

I have been using a LaCie Rugged 160 gig USB for a while.  Has a toshiba hd in it, and has been an extremely excellent unit for me.  In the market of a 500 gig to back up it and my laptop, and will be looking at another LaCie.

I have heard both the good and the bad about LaCie, and our IT guys recommended it wholeheartedly....so that is why I went w/ LaCie.


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## Alex_B (Feb 13, 2008)

i just wonder, does design play a role for you? I mean, most external HDs which you buy look kind of horrible and bulky, and often they come in shapes which take a lot of space when you try to lock several of them away, as they often cannot be stacked.

This would be one more reason to buy a nice housing which suits your needs and  then buy the drive and assemble it.


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## CanadianMe (Feb 13, 2008)

I use Lacie external drives, never an issue with them.


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## f8lranger4x4 (Feb 13, 2008)

The my book looks just like the name says it looks like a black book.


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## MichaelT (Feb 13, 2008)

I use a Snap Server 4100.  It's called Network Attached Storage.  It's basically a box of HD's that's connected to an Ethernet plug.  It shows up on the computer as another HD and can be used by any computer on the network.  This setup keeps clients work very organized, as anyone at any workstation can access a client's folder to work on their images.

I bought mine used on ebay for $450, and have used it for 4 years without a glitch.  Since it's Raid 5, if one of the drives ever quits, you just pop in a new one and it rebuilds the data from the other drives.

I do have external HD's for archiving jobs after they are done, as the Snap Server is just for current work in progress.


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## CanadianMe (Feb 13, 2008)

I always try to tell people this, buy two, set yourself up a raid backup. Everything should be replicated on a second external drive. HD's have a life expectancy like anything else. I have seen people lose a life's work over a $150.00. The Second hard drive is only ever fired up to back up the back up, maybe once a week or so, and I keep a copy of all my computer and photos on a third that is in my saftey deposit box. It may seem extreme but I work from home and my life's work is on my computer and what I need to make an income. I use 3 external HD's, the one in the Safety  Deposit Box comes home for an hour or two once a month, backs up my back ups and put in storage. A house fire, flood or any other catastrophe may occur, are you willing to lose everything? just a word of Advice. You may think it won't happen to you, but for the cost is it not worth thinking about, you put all your photos on a HD, turns out you get a defective one, a month later it just crashes taking all your files with it, you may be able to recover some but that can be a very costly procedure. I prefer mine on separate cases, I know what the dual are supposed to do, but I have seen them fail horribly. Again just my opinion.


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## Hertz van Rental (Feb 14, 2008)

You would be hard pressed to do better than these:
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=11023
Every input you could need, fast and secure with good bundled software.
You can daisy-chain them too.
I have two 500Gb linked.
Lacie do an excellent range of HDs and other drives - and they look stylish an' all!


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## 391615 (Feb 15, 2008)

Firstly a bit of advice from one who has lost files from a hard drive. I spent a week on holidays travelled 2000 miles. I was stupid, and backed up all my files to hard drive, I was going to burn to DVD but I didn't. My hard drive crashed, and if I want the pictures back it will cost me $1500 + to get the data from the drive. I'm paranoid now.

1. I am in the process of getting two external hard drives. one stays in the house, the other goes in a safe in the garage.

2. I make two dvd copies, one goes in the safe, one goes to a second location.

3. I only store my raw files, and probably all edits that took hours to work on.

4. All of my absolute best shots, which for me is probably 1-2 per photo shoot, on a Solid state drive.

I'm paranoid, and don't want to lose hours and hours of hard work, so this is my plan of attack.


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## Fiendish Astronaut (Feb 15, 2008)

I have a 500Gb Lacie external drive as my back up - no problems with it except the power lead connection in the back of the drive is extremely loose. It gets knocked out just when I knock it or shift the CPU around! Very annoying.

I also back up on DVD. I understand they aren't amazingly reliable, but it's a quick and easy way to add an extra layer of insurance.


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## schuylercat (Feb 16, 2008)

Really, the only advantage is portability and no need for space: bus performance, read/write speed and such are slower even with Firewire (unless you have an external SATA connecter on your machine), and internal drives are cheaper.

You have a drive bay available?  I'd recommend an internal...or better still: two.  I have pair of a 500GB internal Western Digital drives I picked up at NewEgg, each of them cost $95 with shipping, after rebates.  One is my primary data source, the other is a mirror.  

Upside: cheaper, faster, more reliable (so they say, anyway), and as CanadianMe said: if you have the ability, you can make a RAID array and be even safer.

Downside: you need to have an open bay, both drives are in the same place so there's no DR (then again...isn't your external drive in the same space too, technically?).

Just a thought...good luck!


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## TCimages (Feb 16, 2008)

While I agree adding another drive is good for extra drive space I personally don't think it's best for back-up. 
It's on the same Internal power supply which means if there is a problem both drives could fry with your PC. Also, it's always powerd on and it's exposed to additional internal heat. I like an external back-up that always off and you turn it on only to add data. 

I think a RAID configuration is best done with NAS. 

BTW- this is my opinion only. Every option vulnerable


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## Kentanner11 (Feb 16, 2008)

I currently have a WD 500g my book that I purchased after my hard drive on my laptop died. It sucked! I lost everything! I was one of those I will back up tomorrow people. I wish I would have done more shopping around (nothing wrong with the one I have now) just wish I would have purchased something with RAID, which I am probably going to do. 
I have been fond of this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822155003
... Wonder if I can free the hard drive in the my book so I dont have to buy 2 hd's. 
Anyone know if the HD's in the My Book are SATA?


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## Hertz van Rental (Feb 17, 2008)

Look up the specs of your actual model here:
http://www.wdc.com/en/

You don't need to buy a RAID array - just link several HDs and use software.
You can get stand alone software but often the software on your computer supports it. 

http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-RAID-0.4x-HOWTO.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/2001/09/06/raid_without_additional_hardware/
http://systemsboy.blogspot.com/2006/04/apple-software-raid-tests-or-what-to.html

Lots more with a Google.


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## Kentanner11 (Feb 17, 2008)

wow! didnt know that! I have some reading to do! Thanks!


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## bhop (Feb 17, 2008)

Kentanner11 said:


> I currently have a WD 500g my book that I purchased after my hard drive on my laptop died. It sucked! I lost everything!



The WD 500 sucked?  Or it sucked that your laptop died?

I ask because i've been thinking of the WD 500 myself.  It seems to have higher ratings than most on Amazon.  My ex had two Lacie drives die on her.  They both just stopped communicating with any computer.


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## Kentanner11 (Feb 17, 2008)

No the WD is great, not my laptop. I like the 500 bc/ it is silent and very dependable, just wish I had assessed my needs better. The prices sure have gone down!


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