portable HD advice... 1515 Responses

Last post: 6 months, 1 week ago | Thread started: Jul 31, 12, 10:50 a.m.

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• npduggins

  Having had a couple of failed G-Techs, I would really love some advice / recommendations on a portable 1TB HD (ideally firewire800) for daily use. I often render directly and run my iTunes library from it so it is in pretty much constant use...

  thanks

  Jul 31, 12, 10:50 a.m. – Permalink

• yurimon

  I usually get mine from macsales.com its seems to be cheap and good quality. no problems so far.

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 11:29 a.m. – Permalink

• jaylarson

  seagate

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 11:32 a.m. – Permalink

• vaxorcist

  I get two at a time, back them up to each other and/or another one.... I use Seagate but have a couple of Verbatims that are great...

  NOTE that it seems the ones with a fancy case may overheat more than the plain ones in my previous experience with an overheated LaCie... nice looking case though...

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 11:35 a.m. – Permalink

• whereRI

  LAcie rugged with usb 3 works well for me, can render straight to it and work with footage off it

  • *LaCie– whereRI1/5

    YES. i've had 3 of these. all still running.– doesnotexist2/5

    cheers - how would I connect USB3 to my macbook pro?– npduggins3/5

    you can't. not without the newer MPB– pango4/5

    I have a bunch with FW800, all still working.– scoops5/5

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 1:47 p.m. – Permalink

• jamesjohnston

  Depends on how much you transport it. Lacie rugged if you want to move around.

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 3:38 p.m. – Permalink

• CyBrainX

  They all break. They all suck. Make sure you back up. Ask people at your stores. They will tell you they last from a few months to about 3 years. Solid state drives are much more reliable but much more expensive.

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 3:47 p.m. – Permalink

• akrok

  yeah. go SSD if you going to move it around a lot. but, it's pricey. yep.

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 4:11 p.m. – Permalink

• doesnotexist

  +3 for LaCie rugged !!!

  

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  Dog-earJul 31, 12, 4:32 p.m. – Permalink

• inteliboy

  The bloody usb 3 connectors on these drives are terrible - both a lacie rugged and 2 x WD mypassport of mine have broken (connector come loose). I don't smash them around either and try to be careful.

  Am thinking of getting a thunderbolt drive just so I don't have a to dick around with these fragile connectors and can plug in and out witout worrying.

  • I had similar experiences with dodgy USB3 connectors... ugh!
    – vaxorcist

  

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  Dog-earNov 11, 12, 10:02 p.m. – Permalink

• ETM

  I have a Pocketec Datastor drive from 2004 that is still going strong. Spent years in the laptop bag, back and fourth everyday. It still works like a top, but it's only 20gb so it's not so useful anymore.

  http://www.pocketec.net/

  • The drive itself was a 2.5" Fujitsu.– ETM

  

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  Dog-earNov 11, 12, 10:12 p.m. – Permalink

• orrinward2

  My advice is to get yourself a reliable drive and install it in a case yourself.

  But yes... Back up.

  I recommend Hitachi Travelstars. I've had failed 1TB Seagate and WD drives - One purchased in an Intenso case and the other in a Lacie case.

  These days I just order internal drives from a brand I like or a model that gets a particularly high rating and pop them in a case.

  'Lacie' doesn't mean the hard drive is reliable, it just means it's in a fancy case.

  For 2.5inch drives I'd keep to 500GB or less for now and switch them up. I say this as I've tried a bunch of 1TB 2.5's and only one is still alive. My uneducated guess is that they haven't quite got them right yet.

  • any case recommendations? Sturdy usb 3 that doesn't come loose off the circuit after a week.– inteliboy1/3

    Fraid not. I only have 1 type of USB3 case and don't have a point of reference for performance.– orrinward22/3

    It's a budget case so doubt it performs well.– orrinward23/3

  

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  Dog-earNov 11, 12, 11:57 p.m. – Permalink

• pango

  As far as converting between USB 3.0 and FW800... you're out of luck. I was just looking into that and I found none. people were saying that USB3.0 and FW800 reads file differently, so it's really difficult to come up with a solution...
  You're best solution is to buy a case that does FW and shelve a hard-drive in it.

  

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  Dog-earNov 12, 12, 12:17 a.m. – Permalink

• pango

  As far as converting between USB 3.0 and FW800... you're out of luck. I was just looking into that and I found none. people were saying that USB3.0 and FW800 reads file differently, so it's really difficult to come up with a solution...
  You're best solution is to buy a case that does FW and shelve a hard-drive in it.

  • de fug...– pango

  

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  Dog-earNov 12, 12, 12:27 a.m. – Permalink

• pango

  If you're not going to move the drive around. this guy will do the job just fine. USB3.0 and FW supported as well.
  http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/N…

  • need ot move and not worry about moving - even though it;s just rubber, i think that's why rugged are so popular– inteliboy

  

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  Dog-earNov 12, 12, 12:33 a.m. – Permalink

• formed

  They all break, it is just luck whether it happens when you need it.

  Buy the one that is on sale.

  

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  Dog-earNov 12, 12, 6:30 a.m. – Permalink