[SLB]

First off I am very new to the Mac world and have limited hardware knowledge but I plan on doing some light video editing and would like to get an external firewire hard drive. It would be a 3.5inch drive.

I have seem many threads that suggest building your own to save cash, sounds great to me but I'd like a little more info on what it takes to actually "build" one.

I can certainly find a case and drive but what does it mean to build? I'm looking for a very detailed guide.
- Is it just sliding the hard drive into the case and securing it with a few screws? Are the screws generally included? Are there any handling issues I should be concerned about?
- Once it is physically assembled do I just plug it in and start transferring my footage to it? or do I need to format the drive to prepare it for data?

I also plan on using the drive to back up my data.

Thanks in advance for any insights you have.

BTW I have a 12 inch PB 1.5 with 1Gig Ram and a superdrive.

[SpaceMonkey]

Originally Posted by SLB

First off I am very new to the Mac world and have limited hardware knowledge but I plan on doing some light video editing and would like to get an external firewire hard drive. It would be a 3.5inch drive.

I have seem many threads that suggest building your own to save cash, sounds great to me but I'd like a little more info on what it takes to actually "build" one.

I can certainly find a case and drive but what does it mean to build? I'm looking for a very detailed guide.
- Is it just sliding the hard drive into the case and securing it with a few screws? Are the screws generally included? Are there any handling issues I should be concerned about?

Yes, it is as simple as that. Some enclosures are designed for slightly easier drive installation than others, but it isn't ever any more complicated than plugging the drive into the IDE data and power cables in the enclosure, and handling some screws (which are provided).

- Once it is physically assembled do I just plug it in and start transferring my footage to it? or do I need to format the drive to prepare it for data?

After you install the drive and connect the enclosure to your computer, you will need to format it using Disk Utility (probably to Mac OS Extended (Journaled), unless you have some unusual need for something else).

[mduell]

Originally Posted by SLB

- Is it just sliding the hard drive into the case and securing it with a few screws? Are the screws generally included? Are there any handling issues I should be concerned about?
- Once it is physically assembled do I just plug it in and start transferring my footage to it? or do I need to format the drive to prepare it for data?

- Yes. Yes. Don't whack it on the desk repeatedly.
- No, you'll probably need to format it first (HFS if you only want to use it with Macs, FAT32 otherwise).

With my Kingwin enclosure I had to remove 3 thumbscrews from the top (pivot on the 4th or remove it), insert the drive, connect both internal cables (provided) to the drive, flip it over and insert 2 screws (provided) through the case and into the drive, and then put the thumbscrews back on top. All in all it took 3 or 4 minutes.

I recommend this enclosure because it uses the Oxford 911 chipset (best on the market) and the manufacturer supports Macs. For a drive you can pick any ATA(100 or 133) drive; I recommend Seagate for their industry-best 5 year warranty.