[JoshuaZ]

Hello boys and girls, I've got some hard drive questions for YOU.

So I'm over here in Japan and annoyed by the extreme lack of choice when it comes to external hard drives. It seems as if there are only 3 or 4 companies making external HDs, and they all kind of suck. In design, in function, and in price. So I'm looking at importing a case or an entire setup from the US.

Heres what I want. Something that can handle a terabyte (either it comes with it or I need to add HDs later) and does both USB 2.0 and Firewire. Thats all.

Hard to believe that finding something like that seems near impossible in my area of Japan. I've been to 5 stores and can seriously find nothing worth while. Or nothing with firewire that isn't over $500 and ugly as sin.

[CharlesS]

Here's the case I have:

OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface eSATA,... (MEFW924AL1K) at OWC

Claims to support SATA hard drives up to 1 TB. Just put a Seagate in there and you're good to go.

[JoshuaZ]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

Here's the case I have:

OWC Mercury Elite-AL Quad Interface eSATA,... (MEFW924AL1K) at OWC

Claims to support SATA hard drives up to 1 TB. Just put a Seagate in there and you're good to go.

I like I like. Thanks for the input. I'll keep that in mind.

Has anyone had any experience with this puppy?

GMG RAID FW800/USB2 Enclosure - dealmac.com

RAID, USB 2, Firewire 400 and 800. Seems nice. Don't know about the company though.

[rotuts]

Im also looking to go this route. w timemachine etc.

Western Digitals has some 800's boxes w 1 TB for 300 $$ but they seems to have had bad reviews

is seagate the way to go for a TB? would the enclosure that has room for 2 HD's be better in the long run?

cheeers and thanks

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ 

I like I like. Thanks for the input. I'll keep that in mind.

Has anyone had any experience with this puppy?

GMG RAID FW800/USB2 Enclosure - dealmac.com

RAID, USB 2, Firewire 400 and 800. Seems nice. Don't know about the company though.

The product page for it says it uses an Oxford 924, which is pretty much the best FireWire chipset around, so you're in good shape as far as the electronics go. The only thing besides that that's important is whether the heat dissipation of the case is enough to keep the drive inside from overheating.

[JoshuaZ]

It appears to have a fan on it. I'll do some more research on it. Anyways, 1.5 TB might be a bit much for my needs...

[rotuts]

saw this:

Newegg.com - LACIE Big Disk Extreme+ 1TB 7200 RPM 3.5" USB 2.0 / IEEE 1394a / 1394b External Hard Drive Model 301199U - Retail

got it comming. good price and good company w I believe a seagate in there.

will report back

[MOTHERWELL]

I am thinking about getting that LaCiE Big Disk as well.

I need a huge HD and I don't want to get the G-Tech or any of the others that are actually 2 HDs set to Span (that might be the wrong choice of word, I am not sure about RAID, Span, JDOP)

Is there a ceiling that the disks are getting close to hitting? It seems like most drives over 1TB (or maybe all) are RAIDS or multiple drives (redundant?)

Converting my life to digital is making room in my apt (no more CDs, DVDs, Photo Albums) but filling up my HDs!

[rotuts]

Well all I can say Is I like the 1 GB LaCie

it has BTW the firewire 800

good luck!

[mduell]

Originally Posted by MOTHERWELL 

I need a huge HD and I don't want to get the G-Tech or any of the others that are actually 2 HDs set to Span (that might be the wrong choice of word, I am not sure about RAID, Span, JDOP)

Yes, some enclosures either do JBOD spanning or RAID0 striping to make multiple drives appear as one. Most people don't want them.

Originally Posted by MOTHERWELL 

Is there a ceiling that the disks are getting close to hitting? It seems like most drives over 1TB (or maybe all) are RAIDS or multiple drives (redundant?)

Single drives currently top out at 1TB, although they're continuing to grow every year.