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General discussion

external storage

Jan 5, 2007 7:36AM PST

Hello!. Could use some suggestions for external storage. I have a powerbook G4 running mac osx10.4.8. I am interested in something relatively small physically for portability (much traveling).It would be primarily used for photos (i have already managed to lose some!) and possibly music. I use my mac primarily for personal use. Also, what about usb vs. firewire? My machine has firewire 400 & 800 as well as usb. Thanks for any and all ideas.

Discussion is locked

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External Drive
Jan 5, 2007 9:14AM PST

Normally I would advise you to go with a firewire drive but you have put the "relatively small" caveat in there.
I know that Verabatim make an 8GB USB2.0 Hard Drive which, so far, appears to function well with a customers MacBook. Size is about 2.5" X 3.5" has a neat little USB cord which attaches neatly to the drive when not in use. It is referred to as "Store 'n' Go"
It will work directly from the USB port of a MacBook but a powered HUB would be recommended for long term use.
The may well make larger drives. 8GB is respectable.

Hope this helps

P

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It depends how much you want to carry around and
Jan 5, 2007 9:25AM PST

how much you want to spend.

There are cases to hold 3.5 inch or 5.25 inch drives. The 3.5 inch cases will hold the smaller drives from laptops - and generally (but not always), those drives are slower.

I use a metal SIIG case for the larger (and faster) drives and the case has FireWire 400 and USB ports. And it is a metal case, so it acts as a heatsync for the drive (no fan, one less thing to make noise). But it is not self (or buss) powered - I don't know if that is a requirements for you. Yet another power brick/wall wart to lug.

If you have a "home base" would it be possible to set up a server or NAS at home, and upload your photos to that server or NAS unit? That way you don't need to carry the extra hardware around. The Network Attached Storage NAS devices sit on the ethernet LAN and don't need a computer...

I like Fry's Electronics and shop their brick/mortar stores... (no, I don't work there; I don't know anyone who works there; I am not an investor and I know there are cheaper places to buy this stuff) but for examples of the different drives and cases, go to http://www.frys.com and where the tabs are near the top, go to the "Hard Drives/Memory" tab, then click on "Hard Drives" The externals and NAS unit selections will be on the left. If you get a case, fill it with an appropriate drive from the "Internal Retail" or "Internal Bare" selections.

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usb vs firewire
Jan 6, 2007 3:49AM PST

Thanks to both of you for the response. I have found some from Lacie that look like they may work well for me. One of them has both usb and firewire. On that subject, what are the relevant differences and pros/cons of those connections? Sorry if i seem "lost" on this but the fact is i am. Thanks.

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the biggest differences
Jan 6, 2007 6:47AM PST

between USB and FireWire is that FireWire can sustain high speed data - whereas USB can burst high-speed data. This is much more relevent in a video-transfer-editing environment rather than transferring photos... they are both acceptable, non-real-time, file transfer methods. In USB's case it is possible to find buss-powered gear - that is, rather than an external power source, it *could* grab power from USB - however, it is possble that the buss-powered device, along with anything else on the USB string, could pull too much power causing the whole string to not operate properly... best to use external power for a drive and not risk causing yourself problems... which makes this portion of the USB-FireWire discussion moot...

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Thanks
Jan 7, 2007 1:06AM PST

Thanks for the info, it will help in the decision making. The assistance from all is much appreciated.