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neoptik · Mar 18, 2005, 01:25 PM

Hey all,

I've been enjoying my mac mini as a recent PC convert for two weeks now, but I could sure use some more disk space. So, naturally, I am investigating firewire hard drive options. I'm looking for something in the 100-200 gigabyte range, and it has to be as quiet or quieter than the mac mini itself. I had tried using an external firewire enclosure with an older drive that I pulled from my PC but it was just too darn loud.

Any suggestions? I was thinking about the d2 series from Lacie. Any experiences with them?

Any advice is much appreciated.

Goldfinger · Mar 18, 2005, 04:17 PM

My LaCie d2 is silent (160GB). But some people reported noisy d2's but I think that most of them are silent.

Chito · Mar 18, 2005, 05:30 PM

My d2 is also silent. Very nice drive

CaptainHaddock · Mar 18, 2005, 05:35 PM

My LaCie is also silent, except for an audible click when it first spins up, and another click when it goes to sleep. During operation, I hear nothing.

Like you, I was previously using a cheap enclosure with an IDE hard disk I already owned, and it was way too noisy. And slower than the LaCie, which is lightning fast. And uglier than the LaCie, which looks really pretty on my desk.

all2ofme · Mar 19, 2005, 06:34 AM

My 250GB Lacie Porsche FW drive is very quiet. Not silent, but very quiet. To me silent means no noise whatsoever, which I've never seen when it comes to hard drives.

subego · Mar 19, 2005, 09:09 AM

I'll second the Porsche drive, and also say the D2s aren't exactly loud, it's not like they're silent either.

The Porsche is quieter if only it because it doesn't have a fan.

billyed · Mar 19, 2005, 03:45 PM

I've got a OWC Firewire Neptune 160 GB (by Oxford) that's extremely quiet. Other than the power light you don't know it's on.

C.J. Moof · Mar 21, 2005, 10:43 AM

I've got a 160(?) gig Fantom Drive, and it's not silent at all. I can't even remember how big it is since I keep it off most of the time, it annoys me too much.

Mojo · Mar 22, 2005, 03:05 PM

Any enclosure with a fan is going to be noisier than one without a fan. I have one now that is a little too noisy for me. The enclosure I am waiting to receive does not have a fan.

I purchased one of those fancy LaCie drive enclosures and I had to return it for excessive noise and vibration, so don't be afraid to return an enclosure if it fails to meet your expectations.

You should note that enclosures that come with a drive installed often use the least expensive drives in the respective drive company's line. For example, the LaCie I purchased at an Apple Store (the aluminum job with a neat little blue led) had a Western Digital drive with a 2MB buffer. It is generally less expensive to buy a better quality drive on sale and install it in an enclosure yourself.

I got a 250GB WD 8MB buffer 7200RPM drive on sale for $.31 per gigabyte, which is as cheap as it gets in my experience. The enclosure I chose will add around $60 to the total cost of the external drive.

Goldfinger · Mar 22, 2005, 03:13 PM

Originally posted by subego:
I'll second the Porsche drive, and also say the D2s aren't exactly loud, it's not like they're silent either.

The Porsche is quieter if only it because it doesn't have a fan.

The d2s don't have a fan. The only thing you hear is the hard drive spinning and you'll have that with *any* case.

subego · Mar 23, 2005, 08:52 AM

Originally posted by Goldfinger:
The d2s don't have a fan. The only thing you hear is the hard drive spinning and you'll have that with *any* case.

Sorry. My bad.

Dog Like Nature · Mar 23, 2005, 09:18 AM

My G-Tech G-Drive FW800 is fanless, but when it starts up, it sounds like a bomb has been armed and is ready to explode (think James Bond movies!) YIKES!

In normal operation it's pretty quiet, but for some reason if left on it will buzz for about 10 seconds every 5 minutes or so. EEK!

I was David B. · Mar 27, 2005, 04:21 AM

I support the idea to combine an empty case and a quiet hd.
Cases with external power adapters usually don't have a fan.

I use a Sarotech hardcase with an internal adapter and a loud fan. But it does not get hot at all (in fact it doesn't get warm), so I disconnected the fan and now it is perfect.

But also the icecubes are reported to be great.

My internal hd is a Samsung spinpoint. The quietest hd I ever had. It is hardly audible.

hudson1 · Mar 27, 2005, 06:25 AM

If you're looking to go the build-your-own route, Seagate hard disk drives have a reputation of being the quietest.

SSharon · Mar 27, 2005, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by hudson1:
If you're looking to go the build-your-own route, Seagate hard disk drives have a reputation of being the quietest.

And that 5-year warranty can't be beat.