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General discussion

External Drive Recommendations for MBP?

Nov 24, 2006 7:30AM PST

Hello,

I am in the market for a big external hard drive to back up my Macbook Pro (15.4", 2 GHz Intel Core Duo, OS X 10.4.Cool as well as provide extra storage for music and video files. I'm hoping for a drive that is PC-compatible also since I use Boot Camp on my MBP.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Discussion is locked

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Fair warning. Look at this forum and find...
Nov 24, 2006 7:46AM PST

FAT32 volumes can go missing or corrupt on USB 2.0 or even firewire. Be sure you don't count on them to stick around. The sad news is that if you must interchange said drive, FAT32 is the only way today. But you won't see me relying on it to stick around.

Bob

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Ok...
Nov 24, 2006 8:39AM PST

Thanks Bob. Definitely didn't know about that limitation.

Is it possible to say...save the files I want from Windows onto my 30GB Ipod and transfer them to my Mac drive instead? And does this mean I should look exclusively at drives that are designed for Macs now?

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Good idea. Ask around.
Nov 24, 2006 8:56AM PST

I don't have that to try out. I was under the impression the file space was MAC or Windows only and not a transfer space from one to the other. Sorry, just something I haven't looked at.

Bob

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That's fine
Nov 24, 2006 9:36AM PST

I appreciate your help so far, Bob. As for the external drive, do you have any strong recommendations off the top of your head? Maybe some brands known for reliability or best value, particularly for the mac?

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I admit it.
Nov 24, 2006 10:22AM PST

At home and office we don't use prebuilt units for the usual 3.5 hard disk sizes. We pick up USB 2.0 cases or ones with firewire for the Apple and slip a drive of our choosing into such. I do have a 60GB Seagate for the laptop but that was some sale item and it looks pretty nice and tough.

My only criteria for the units we've built is they have a fan.

Bob

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I keep...
Nov 24, 2006 4:33PM PST

hearing about the advantage of building your own external drive...Is it doable for the average Joe? How would you go approaching this? Is there a guide somewhere? Sorry for all the questions, but I really appreciate everything. Thanks!

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Do you know what a Philips screwdriver is?
Nov 24, 2006 11:16PM PST

Then it's likely you can build your own. We've done that numerous times at home and office. You pick a case and drive from places like newegg.com or case from them and watch the sales for 89/99 buck 300GB drives then go do it.

My only thought about the case is I want it to have a fan.

Bob

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Thanks Bob
Dec 4, 2006 6:48AM PST

So I get the general idea now...After some browsing around, I'm getting confused by the techical stuff (mainly the interface)...so what's up with the IDE, SATA, SCSI, and so on stuff? At that point, I was just about to pick a random one and hope it worked...didn't think it was such a good idea though =)

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Mix and match.
Dec 4, 2006 6:53AM PST

For most, they will want firewire on the Mac. So find a firewire/usb case. Now look at it's specs. Almost 100% of the time it takes a PATA IDE drive. Should be simple enough to get both.

Bob

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It's me again...
Dec 23, 2006 8:16AM PST

Hey Bob,

Sorry to have to bother you again, but can you give me some advice on this deal through newegg?

http://promotions.newegg.com/HDD/121506/index.html

I couldn't find much information on the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 model...what do you think? Good enough buy?

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You know what....
Dec 23, 2006 8:21AM PST

Maybe I'll just look for some cheap external drive instead...I have enough to worry about for my first year in college!...I wish I can just find a good deal on a 300-500GB drive and be done with it.

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Santa brought our college kid a ...
Dec 23, 2006 8:56AM PST

Metal Gear case and a 300GB drive. Santa paid 99 bucks for the drive and 25 for the case. Elvis put it together and it's done.

I fear you may be overanalyzing this simple product.

Bob

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I agree...
Dec 23, 2006 10:08AM PST

Ok, this thread is now officially closed then. =P

$99 though?!? I need to look waaay harder. Thanks for helping this newbie freshman Bob.