[milhaus]

First, I'd like to know whether or not 5200 or 7200RPM makes a difference, and the size of the buffers. I read that the bridge is the main problem, so rotational speed doesn't matter, but what if we go all the way down to 4200RPM (for the portable drives) - is there a difference then?

Do most drives have an external power source, or are they bus powered. Obviously, this would make much more of a difference for the portable drives, but let me know.

Finally, has anybody bought drives from some of the lesser known manufacturers that advertise in the back of Macworld, and how are they? I'm thinking of companies like www.firewiredirect.com, www.centuryglobal.com, www.archos.com, etc. And what about using drive kits? Does it really work out to be cheaper?

Finally, why the hell are VST's drives so damn overpriced . . . they're sweet, but c'mon . . .
Thanks.

Not too sure about the rotational speed, or the buffer issue, so I'll leave that to folks more knowledgeable than I. I get about 13-15 megs/sec off of the drive I just bought. Not insanely fast, but I'm not sure that I'd notice much of a difference in daily use, to be frank.

If a drive is full sized, assume that it is not bus powered. what the producer has done is slap a regular hard drive that could be installed in your machine into a firewire enclosure. Most full size drives need more power than the firewire bus will supply.

I just bought a VST portable hard drive, and while it's a bit more expensive, I believe it's worth it. Remember, this is something you're going to be carrying around with you. It'll get banged around (some. you can be careful, of course, but some is unavoidable). VST has been around a while, they have good support, and their drivers offer features that other companies' do not.

A friend of mine bought that really cheap 80 gig desktop drive that's advertised on the front page of this site, and it's given him no end of trouble. Seems to be conflicting with the drivers with his video card. I also found a really good web price at their site. The deals there now aren't quite as good, but if you're not looking to buy right this minute, I bet you can find a reasonably good deal.

[Cipher13]

Rotational speed makes a major difference. Between 5400 and 7200, the difference is amazing...
Buffer size? Not really. But the bigger the better.
The bridge isn't really the main problem, as no matter how fast the hard drive is, it can only read or write as fast as the medium the data is travelling through, and at the moment, the speed the data can be carried far outdoes the speed of the drive itself.
So you will notice a difference in rotational speed. I wouldn't go below 7200 myself, and absolutely not below 5400 RPM's...

As for power, it depends on the drive. There are bus powered drives, but I wouldn't trust them. You need to be more specific in what you want - internal or external?
Desktop or laptop?
Portable or not?
SCSI, IDE or FireWire?

If internal for a desktop system, IDE is best. ATA/100 drives. Will work backwards on ATA/66, ATA/33 etc...
What kind of computer do you have, and what kind of ATA controller?
In the case of IDE, the power is seperate to the data cable, but inside the computer still, just sitting there waiting to be plugged in.

Those ones in the back of MacWorld you're talking about, I think are distributors rather than manufacturers.
I think Archos is pretty good though - but don't take my word for it...

Cipher13

[Misha]

In daily use the difference in rotational speed isn't that noticeable, especially if you're not using the drive as a startup or scratch disk. The portable drives are required to run slower because they use laptop drives inside, the majority of which are 4200 RPM.

The only bus powered drives are those same portable ones, since they don't require much power. I've never had any problems with bus powered drives, and the convenience is great.

VSTs drives are overpriced because people are willing to pay for that much for them. Don't ask why. Apart from the sleek case, the performance is mediocre and the portable drive is impossible to upgrade (without tearing up the case).

Check out www.fwdepot.com. The guys over there are very helpful (a lot of the time the CEO himself, Jeff Chasik, will answer the phone when you call) and stand behind their product 100%. Their prices are also very good and they'll sell you just the case (so you can save money buying the drive yourself). The cases they use are also very slick... not so much in terms of looks, but because you can take them apart without any tools (makes for very easy upgrading).