Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Dell Switcher · Oct 30, 2003, 10:11 AM

Interested in external hard drive for backup...have iMac 17 and PB 15 Al Would need 80GB with basic backup SW. Looked at LaCie, Maxtor and iOmega but not sure which is best for the money or if there are other brands better.

Most of my data comes from MS Office, iTunes and iPhoto

TiUser · Oct 30, 2003, 10:46 AM

I bought the LaCie d2 Hard Drive (160G) and use the included SilverKeeper software for backing up my Home directory. It's easy to set up and works great.

zigzag · Oct 30, 2003, 10:59 AM

CompUSA has a Seagate 160 GB Firewire drive on sale this week for $160 after rebate, which is an amazing deal for an external drive.

There's usually one or two name-brand FW drives on sale during any given week - check www.dealmac.com and www.dealsontheweb.com every day/week for deals.

I believe the Seagate and Maxtor FW drives include backup software but I've never used them.

Other good sources for FW drives are macsales.com and wiebetech.com. You can either buy their ready-made drives or buy the enclosures and install your own drive, which is very easy.

Someone else will have to help you with backup software. Good luck.

Powaqqatsi · Oct 30, 2003, 11:37 AM

Pff, you almost never get that kind of web deals here in Europe

chu-ka-pi · Oct 30, 2003, 06:12 PM

Oh boy!

I was about to start exactly such a thread! Lucky me I had the idea to make a search before posting!

Basically my question is the same : I have a 867 Pb G4 and I am looking for a good external firewire drive, for backup purpose.
(i.e. no need for cutting-edge performance, I don't do any video editing etc...)

I was thinking about a Iomega 120 Gb, but I have to say that I lack experience in this field. So I do not know if this would be a good choice. I was thinking about a Lacie also (mainly because some of their drive do not require an external source of power but of course I'd have to go with less capacity...)

Can some readers post their experience about various brand of external firewire HDD or provide some links where I could find some up to date reviews ?

Thanks in advance,

Chu-ka-pi
"Can I download a Powerbook G5 from bittorrent?"

chu-ka-pi · Oct 30, 2003, 06:18 PM

Oh boy!

I was about to start exactly such a thread! Lucky me I had the idea to make a search before posting!

Basically my question is the same : I have a 867 Pb G4 and I am looking for a good external firewire drive, for backup purpose.
(i.e. no need for cutting-edge performance, I don't do any video editing etc...)

I was thinking about a Iomega 120 Gb, but I have to say that I lack experience in this field. So I do not know if this would be a good choice. I was thinking about a Lacie also (mainly because some of their drive do not require an external source of power but of course I'd have to go with less capacity...)

Can some readers post their experience about various brand of external firewire HDD or provide some links where I could find some up to date reviews ?

Thanks in advance,

Chu-ka-pi
"Can I download a Powerbook G5 from bittorrent?"

chu-ka-pi · Oct 30, 2003, 06:24 PM

Oops! I'm sorry about the second post! (May a moderator delete one of them?)

Oh by the way, I forgot to say that for me, noise IS a BIG concern... Is there some brand/kind of drive I should avoid because of this?

Thanks,

Chu-Ka-Pi

nbnz · Oct 30, 2003, 06:46 PM

I have a Lacie PocketDrive which is a great drive, I think they now come in up to 60 or 80GB, not sure. Otherwise the Lacie d2 drives are meant to be very good. You can use the included (or free download) SilverKeeper, but I prefer to use Carbon Copy Cloner. I personally love the new Porsche designed Lacie drives which is on my current shopping list.

Salex_Ander · Nov 20, 2003, 11:07 AM

I'm in the same boat with needing an external drive to back up before I upgrade to Panther. But, with all the hoopla about data loss and hosed firewire drives, does anybody have any new recommendations? I know the LaCie Firewire 800 can be fixed with a firmware upgrade, but I'm looking for more info (good and bad) to help me make a decision.

capetown · Nov 20, 2003, 11:50 AM

I should receive mine on Monday.

I have only read good reviews, and it is really well price in the UK campared to Lacie and OWC drives.

Looks very nice, and uses the Oxford firewire chipset. Has 8mb buffer so should be really quick.

The firewire only version is design and preformatted for the mac!

Cadaver · Nov 21, 2003, 12:48 AM

I built my own external drive. I picked the mechanism I liked and found a nice small case to stuff it in. Might be able to put one together for less than buying a pre-built at retail.