[mac_and_cheez]

i apologize if this post seems elementary to most of you but i am just getting started and don't know much about anything really

i currently have a dual 1GHz G4 that is pretty much the same as when it was purchased...i am looking to add another hard drive (120GB or so) to the setup...i have looked online at different hard drives and what confuses me are all the acronyms (IDE, ATA, SATA)...aaaaarrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhh...i have no idea what i am looking at...

all i want to do is add another hard drive, move some files and programs from my current hard drive to the new one, and live happily ever after ...

any suggestions??? thanks

[bighead]

IDE and ATA, while technically different, are essentially interchangeable nowadays. This is the kind of hard drive you want to buy. It's got the nice big 40 pin ribbon cable with the big Molex power connector.

SATA is what newer computers, like G5s use. Your dualie won't take SATA drives without an interface card, so unless you want to buy one, I'd suggest you steer clear of those drives.

Without tiptoeing around it, I'd suggest a Western Digital 120 GB drive as your best bet. I've never replaced a dead Western Digital, but I've replaced plenty of dead Maxtors as well as a handful of Seagates and IBM/Hitachi drives.

Lots of places have the WD1200JB for sale. NewEgg has the OEM WD1200JB with a 3 year warranty, though it is out of stock until January 7th, for $84. Not a bad deal, and NewEgg rocks anyways.

Just my $0.02

[tooki]

For shopping purposes, IDE=EIDE=ATA=PATA=UDMA. Most will be labeled as ATA (or UDMA) 100, some 133. It doesn't matter which.

I've had no trouble with any brand of drive other than old Western Digitals (though I think they have fixed their troubles), but right now, I wouldn't consider buying any brand other than Seagate. Why? Because Seagate believes in their product enough to back it with a 5 year warranty, while most of the others only warrant their drives for a year (WD for 3).

I've got Maxtor and Seagate drives in my desktop, and IBM/Hitachi in both my laptops, and none have ever given me trouble.

tooki

[Link]

Steer away from people who give brand bias For the most part, as long as it isn't refurb and has a 3 year (or preferably 5 year) warranty, it will be fine, since you ARE regularly backing up.. right?

Drive death toll here:

Maxtor: 0
Seagate: 1 (within 6 months)
Western Digital: 2 (1 within 6 months - the one in my g4 made odd noises like a busted bearing and was replaced)
Quantum (Pre maxtor): 1 (probably due to power supply accident)

Ironic I've never had a maxtor go on me, not even the ~12 year old one in my thinkpad, hehe.

[mac_and_cheez]

well thanky thanky all...my questions have been answered

[spork]

Hello masters and gurus,
would all of the info in this post also refer to g4 533 dual? want a 2nd hd in the 60-80gig range to go with original 40g, going strong by the way. Any special requirements or is ordinary IDE/ATA?
thanks for the tips to those of us with less info.
rubber side down

[deboerjo]

In short:
IDE=ATA=ATAPI=UATA=PATA=EIDE = This is what you need
SATA = not what you need

The long version:
IDE: Integrated Drive Electronics
Technically, it refers to any hard drive controller architecture with integrated control electronics, including standards such as SCSI and SATA. Usually, though, the term IDE is used to refer to a particular type of integrated controller architecture, specifically:

ATA: AT Attachment
A 16-bit wide drive controller interface originally launched with the IBM AT back in 1984. It has been updated over the years, and didn't become an official ANSI standard until 1994. The 1994 version is known as ATA-1, and the current incarnation is ATA-7.

ATAPI:
Extensions to the ATA protocol that allowed for more advanced functionality for drives other than hard drives, originally intended to support CD-ROM, but also used for Zip, tape drives, DVD, burners, etc.

EIDE: Enhanced IDE
Western Digital's own trademarked brand name for ATA-2 (or ATA-3, can't remember), for marketing purposes.

UATA: Ultra ATA
Refers to ATA-4 and higher, and supports UDMA transfers, a considerable modernization that brought ATA much closer to SCSI in terms of performance.

PATA: Parallel ATA
Same thing as ATA or UATA, the term PATA is used to distinguish it from SATA.

SATA: Serial ATA
An entirely new serial interface, that physically has nothing to do with ATA. The only reason they call it "serial ATA" is that it builds on ATA's command protocol, for some degree of software compatibility.

[tooki]

Actually, SATA's command set is completely compatible with PATA's, which is why "dumb" converters between them exist and work with no trouble. SATA adds some commands, but they are only beginning to catch on.

tooki

[bbales]

Thanks for all the great info. I found this thread as I was about to post one, pleading for SATA knowledge. The time has come (the walrus said...) to get a new internal drive and I wanted to make sure I had all my letters straight, before buying.

By the way, in response to the brand bias remark, we've had multiple WD drives go bad in the Windows machine. I've never had a Mac drive go bad (knock on wood, of course). I'm probably going with a Seagate, b/c of the great warranty, as Tooki pointed out.

Thanks again. I don't think I've ever beeen disappointed in getting questions answered on these forums.