[webcookie]

I'm looking into getting an external hdd for my iBook G4 (the very first ones that came out; I bought it 2 days after they were released) because the 40gb hdd it came with isn't enough anymore. I don't need a huge hdd but I see that most of them are in the 160gb-250gb range anyways. I guess I'd prefer a FireWire drive because I have that port free and a million things to plug into the USB ports. I was looking at the LaCie ones and I see that a lot of Mac users have them, so I guess that's a good sign. But I'm here looking for some suggestions on a good drive to get that is under $175 (I was looking at Newegg and stuff, I don't need to buy it from Best Buy). So... suggestions? Thanks!

[mduell]

I'd go with Seagate for the drive since they're the only brand with a 5 year warranty:
250GB for $75 or 320GB for $95

Then pick one of these two FW400+USB2 enclosures ($40 and $50, respectively):

[rjt1000]

You can get a portable (2.5 inch) or desktop (3.5 inch) firewire drive in a variety of sizes, styles and speeds.

Stick with the Firewire 400 drives (your iBook doesnt have Firewire 800).

I have always had good experience with Other World Computing (macsales). They have good products at nice prices. Their Mercury Elite Aluminum and Mercury Elite Classic Desktop drives and Mercury "on-the-go" Portable drives have been well reviewed.

FireWire Drives & Accessories at OtherWorldComputing.com

If you go with the LaCie, I would suggest the D2 (aluminum) enclosure over the Porshe (plastic) enclosure for durability

If you are handy, you can save some money by buying a bare OEM drive and putting into an enclosure. Newegg has lots of choices.

[rclay6612]

How much space and how portable do you want to be? If you are looking for a huge drive, I'd check dealmac for internal drives and buy an enclosure.
Otherwise, to stay portable, I bought a larger 2.5" drive and an enclosure. Swapped the hard drives and put my old smaller one into the macally enclosure.

Guides to change the hdd are here:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Mac/

Then plug the firewire enclosure into the Mac, boot from the external hdd enclosure (your old drive) then install system and transfer files.

Now you've got a bigger native HD and your old stuff on an enclosure.

RPC

[webcookie]

Originally Posted by mduell 

I'd go with Seagate for the drive since they're the only brand with a 5 year warranty:
250GB for $75 or 320GB for $95

Then pick one of these two FW400+USB2 enclosures ($40 and $50, respectively):

This looks like exactly what I'd want. Is it pretty easy to get it all hooked up? Can either of those drives go in either of those enclosures? I'd go with the 250gb, and even that is a whole lot.

I'm going to ask my grandparents to buy me this for my birthday (a month away).

Thanks a lot for your help!

[mduell]

Originally Posted by webcookie 

This looks like exactly what I'd want. Is it pretty easy to get it all hooked up? Can either of those drives go in either of those enclosures?

Yes, takes about 2 screws and 5 minutes. Yes.

[foo2]

Originally Posted by webcookie 

I'm looking into getting an external hdd for my iBook G4 (the very first ones that came out; I bought it 2 days after they were released) because the 40gb hdd it came with isn't enough anymore. I don't need a huge hdd but I see that most of them are in the 160gb-250gb range anyways. I guess I'd prefer a FireWire drive because I have that port free and a million things to plug into the USB ports. I was looking at the LaCie ones and I see that a lot of Mac users have them, so I guess that's a good sign. But I'm here looking for some suggestions on a good drive to get that is under $175 (I was looking at Newegg and stuff, I don't need to buy it from Best Buy). So... suggestions? Thanks!

Troll the bensbargains.net and techbargains.com sites for a few days and you'll see deals ($100 for 250GB with USB/FW, etc.) if you're patient.