Big external hard-drive (1-2TB)

B

Beliblis

Registered
Hi,

I'm in the market for a big external hard-drive, which I want to use for photographs & digital imaging. Mainly Lightroom Catalogues & Photoshop.

Has anyone got any pointers as to what brand of hard-drive to get? I don't mind buying enclosure & drive separately. Or a docking station. "Off the shelf" is OK as well.

Ideally, the drive would be

- 2-3 TB
- 7200 rpm or higher
- USB2 (or 3) and FireWire
- large cache

Any pointers / recommendations?
 
You have an interesting opinion, but perhaps not too accurate:
Looks like OWC will ship just about anywhere....
http://eshop.macsales.com/service/terms/sale#s7
that's just a suggestion, so you could check with your own favorite online retailer - or check with the selection that Apple has for sale through their on-line store.
http://store.apple.com/es/browse/home/shop_mac/mac_accessories/storage
You can change over the selection there to your own country. Of course, you don't have purchase there, but it will also give you a good idea about good, compatible hardware, and you can use that info to look on Amazon, or wherever...
 
I have Western Digital My Book (1TB) mainly for backups (just taking backups on my MBP) and it works fine.
 
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@DeltaMac:
Of course, international shipping is always an option –*but I would prefer a retailer within the European Union. Parcels from outside the EU are often taxed (= more expensive), and in case of a return/warranty issue I have to ship back to the US (expensive again) and might be taxed AGAIN when a replacement hard-drive comes into the EU...
 
I agree with your point, but you stated that OWC is not available in Europe, which is not correct. If the shipping (and possible return shipping plus duties, etc) is prohibitive for you, then that's very important, but could be the only choice in some cases.
Anyway, large electronics retailers can be a good source for availability of gear, and then you can search for good prices on the internet to companies within EU.
 
@DeltaMac...
I really(!) appreciate your input, but don't want to get into "correct" wording. Otherwise one could argue forever about the difference between "in Europe" and "to Europe".

Of course, gear is abundant. But there's also some "lemons" around. For example, I remember LaCie's big drives caused people a lot of problems a few years ago. Don't know if that's resolved by now, or if any other manufacturers are known to produce bad quality.

Any experience with Buffalo or G-Drives?
 
LaCie makes lots of different drives. I have used them before, with no problems. I also know that others have experienced problems or complete failures, but that happens with any drive. None are perfect, after all.
I have no experience with Buffalo. G-drive made by G-Technology, which is part of the Hitachi company. Nothing wrong with that, and the g-drives are Mac-friendly. But, some users report problems with those drives, too.
My feeling is that every company that produces storage products, such as hard drives, may have reports of occasional problems. Users more often report problems, than those who have no problems will write praising the company and the product. Plus, the negatives are remembered more easily.
I am more positive by nature, so I like to try different products, without dwelling on the possible issues that someone may report. I have the impression that a large company wants to stay in business, and actually make a profit, and the likelihood that some product line is completely bad, and 100% junk, seems really unlikely without the company.
However, it doesn't hurt to make decisions based on product reviews.
I know, I'm jumping from one side to the other, but I go with what I like. I like Western Digital, Seagate, Hitachi, Samsung, and Toshiba. I think all those OTHER companies use the drives made by one or more of those 5.

G-Drives are Mac friendly. Does that make them a better product?
Apple typically offers the G-Drive for sale in their stores. Does that make them a better product?
You can find reports of failed G-Drives. Does that make them a bad product that you should avoid at all costs?
So, I think Apple sells a lot of those, and most buyers will likely be happy with the purchase, and you might expect a good product, too.
Is that a recommendation for the G-Drive? Probably... :D
 
Totally(!) agree with everything you said – and I guess I'll just go for "specs", choosing between my favourite brands (seagate, buffalo, western digital).

4 years ago, I had two LaCie drives fail on me within 1 month. And a company I used to work for at the time (image library) also had quite a few problems with LaCie...

That's why I posted my initial question here – to see, if anyone has any reoccuring trouble with a certain type of drive.
 
Just looking at docking stations & did a few searches on the web. I found a few with e-SATA connection, but nothing with a FireWire. Do they exist?
 
Sure! Here's two different manufacturers - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...op=And&SrchInDesc=firewire&Page=1&PageSize=20
And, NewerTech has at least one - http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/NewerTech/Voyager/Hard_Drive_Dock

And, the Icy Dock should be in europe somewhere - scroll to near the bottom of this page:
http://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_no...eld-keywords=firewire+hard+drive+dock&x=0&y=0

Try your favorite search engine -
I did a simple search for firewire hard drive dock - and found those above, along with others.
 
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