[zigzag]

I'm planning on buying a Firewire drive to store digital video (I store most of my raw footage on DV tape, but I'd like to have some of it on a drive for quicker access and reference; I also want some extra space for photos, mp3's, etc.).

I'm considering either a Maxtor 3000DV (80GB @ 7200 RPM for $320) or a Maxtor 3000XP (160 GB @ 5400 RPM for $375). Obviously, with the latter drive, I can get a lot more storage for the money, but it's only 5400 RPM.

[I realize that there are other sources for drives, but these can serve for purposes of comparison. Both have fast Oxford-type Firewire bridges. I have a 7200 RPM 60 GB drive in my Cube.]

Question: would the 5400 RPM Firewire drive be fast enough for DV? I've heard it said that 7200 RPM is necessary for doing DV via Firewire, but I'm not sure if this is true of the newer Firewire drives.

Is it that 5400 RPM Firewire drives are fast enough for storing and playing DV, but not fast enough for editing? Or is it that they're fast enough for storing, playing, and editing, but not capturing? Which is it?

Anyway, if anyone has any experience with using FW drives for DV, I'd appreciate hearing from you. Thanks.

[lucylawless]

I use DV just as a hobby, but...
I have an older Maxtor 5400 RPM drive (I don't think it even has the oxford 911 chipset), and it seems to work fine for DV for me. The only problem was when I only had about 5 gigs free (40 total), I would get little hicups in the captured DV about every 30 seconds. But now that I have about 30 gigs free while capturing, everything is fine. I think you're safe with the 5400 rpm drive, unless there are some pro-related DV concerns I'm not aware of.

[osiris]

I haven't had any problems with either speed.

In fact a firewire drive saved my butt because I needed to store a 18 min chunk of a DV project - it was flawless.


[ 01-22-2002: Message edited by: osiris ]

[GK]

Chances of dropped frames are smaller with the 7200rpm drive, however the 5400rpm should be just fine. Also, go to www.2-pop.com for lots of info from dedicated DV and FCP/iMovie users.

I have seen on quite a few boards that maxtor drives were somewhat unreliable (in DV apps), and had to be sent back in many instances. I have an external IBM in a www.transintl.com Oxford 911 enclosure. Very happy with it, no dropped frames, reliable drive. for best prices you can also check out www.pricewatch.com, www.googlegear.com, www.newegg.com, www.firewiredepot.com, www.caldrives.com, www.otherworldcomputing.com.


hope that helps

[zigzag]

Thanks - sounds like 7200 is optimal but that 5400 will meet my needs - I'll always have my internal 7200 for capturing and editing.

[l008com]

I'm pretty sure that both 5400 and 7200 RPM drives max out firewire, so go with the 5400 i'd say, or better yet, go with the 7200, and put it inside.