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| Author: | srnitynow [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Which external harddrive |
I'm buying a new harddrive for my karaoke songs. Thinking about 1000gb, have looked at 2 different ones, Maxtor for 159.99, or Verbatum for 139.99. I have NO CLUE, (other than size) what I'm looking for. Is there any specs that I should be looking for, that seperates one from the other. I'm running windows xp, on a dell laptop (inspiron 1000). Running compuhost, would like to be able to run videos in addition to karaoke. Will this make my computer faster, or just give it more space? Just tell me what else you need to know, and I'll get that info for you. I have 750mb ram. Looking for something to just plug into usb and GO. Any suggestions? Rosario |
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| Author: | Micky [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
That would be my first brand: http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard ... ffers.html Anything from Seagate is the way to go  Maxtor was bought by Seagate but make sure it's a recent model, the old Maxtor were bad!
Second recommended brand: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.as ... anguage=en If it's not one of those 2 brands, I'd stay away... They're not more expensive but offer better reliability and warranty 
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| Author: | RLC [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Now here I am sure you will get varied opinions. I have had good luck with both Maxtor and Western Digital, yet had 2 brand new Seagates die within 2 months of purchase. Seagate did replace them with refurbished drives but I have since steered clear of Seagate. You will want to look for 7200 rpm drives and I would look for a self powered rather than USB powered. Have heard that USB powered can sometimes have a hiccup, just what you don't want in the middle of a song. Oh yeah, an external HD won't make your puter any faster, it just adds more storage space. If you are looking for a performance boost as well consider upgrading your ram (double it if you can) |
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| Author: | LondonLive [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 8:56 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Micky @ Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:43 pm wrote: That would be my first brand:
http://freeagent.seagate.com/en-us/hard ... ffers.html Anything from Seagate is the way to go Maxtor was bought by Seagate but make sure it's a recent model, the old Maxtor were bad!Second recommended brand: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.as ... anguage=en If it's not one of those 2 brands, I'd stay away... They're not more expensive but offer better reliability and warranty I agree, I've been using a Seagate Freeagent for about a year and a half with no problems. Seagate's and Western Digital have always been my drive's of choice. |
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| Author: | Gryf [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 10:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Not much difference in drives anymore as they're all pretty reliable. I have several floating around. If you're getting a 1TB one you're going to get something that requires a power outlet while the 500GB passport style will require two, yes two, USB ports. What I went with for the cost was this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148353 1.5 TB, USB, firewire and eSATA. The eSATA is very nice for transferring files to/from my desktop. If you don't have an eSATA port on anything you're using then it's a moot point but a lot of laptop and desktop machines have them now. Yeah it's $40 more than the 1TB, but you get more bang for the buck ( $.10/Gb vs. $.15/Gb). |
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| Author: | Lisah [ Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
I use a WD MyBook and a Maxtor. I did have a Maxtor TB go bad on me in one month. They replaced it but the time I spent filling it to capacity was lost!! Best thing is to have a back up HD at all times, and keep both updated. That way if one goes south, it's just a matter of transferring files from the other to a new one and you haven't lost all the hours you spent getting your files on there in the first place! My WD MyBook is a 500gig and is about 2 years old now...still going strong! I bought some off brand once....Simpltech...it quit in 32 days! No warranty past 30days so beware!! Always check the warranty!! |
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| Author: | mckyj57 [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:30 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
You are going to find all of the drives will have anecdotal stories of them failing. I have purchased thousands of them, and have had good and bad luck with them all at various times. I always liked Western Digital and IBM as brands, but that is as much subjective as anything. I would go for the most bang for the buck. Also, speed of the drive is not of the essence as they all will be plenty fast enough to stream video and music. Speed of the interface and driver is most important, and since the 5-7 minutes you run a song at most won't make you get into any spindown delays under AC power, you should be fine with USB2.0. |
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| Author: | Gryf [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
mckyj57: It's not the streaming that always gives me fits with the USB interface, it's the taking all night to populate the drive. It's worth having the option for a fast interface for those times you're populating a machine or backing something up. Of course YMMV 
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| Author: | mckyj57 [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 7:18 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Gryf @ Tue Jan 20, 2009 10:09 am wrote: mckyj57: It's not the streaming that always gives me fits with the USB interface, it's the taking all night to populate the drive. It's worth having the option for a fast interface for those times you're populating a machine or backing something up.
Of course YMMV Good point. I am used to using good tools -- i.e. not Windows -- to perform syncs and copies. I can just start the job and go to bed, and it is all done in the morning. With Windows, which could stop for a prompt at any time, you can't do that. Still, USB 2.0 is plenty fast. The driver is as important as the drive speed and interface. |
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| Author: | ripman8 [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 5:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
I'm using a WD passport 160 gb. Have yet to have a problem with it, no hiccups whatsoever. All my music is backed up on a WD 2.0 My Book 500 gb. I agree, if you don't back up your music from a drive, you are messing with fire. |
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| Author: | BamaRob [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:22 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
What capacity is everyone using? I have been meaning to get one for awhile too and was actually looking at em too yesterday. I've just been a slacker and have no backup for anything on my laptop. Also, tabletop or passport style? Self Powered or USB powered? I was looking at 250 or 320, maybe 500. I figured 1 TB would just not be needed but I'm not sure. |
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| Author: | mckyj57 [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 8:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
BamaRobH @ Tue Jan 20, 2009 11:22 pm wrote: What capacity is everyone using? I have been meaning to get one for awhile too and was actually looking at em too yesterday. I've just been a slacker and have no backup for anything on my laptop.
Also, tabletop or passport style? Self Powered or USB powered? I was looking at 250 or 320, maybe 500. I figured 1 TB would just not be needed but I'm not sure. I fit everything on my 160G internal hard drive. 112G of karaoke songs at 192K, and about 14G of dj songs mostly at 192K. I have an external 320G that I back things up on, and it attaches to my personal laptop for a backup system. (That has never been used.) |
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| Author: | fsapienjr [ Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:01 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
I am a Systems Engineer, and have to agree with Gryf. Buy the best value drive you can, then buy two. As stated earlier, a free replacement doesn't make up for the time you spent populating the disc. Buy a spare, and ghost the drives, or some similar utility. Drives are cheap these days, an offline spare makes great sense. Felix the KJ 
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| Author: | ericlater [ Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
I have (3) WD's - a 320 and (2) 500's; one with firewire A Seagate 1TB A 250 Simpletech was my very first ext. Never I had a problem with it. I really like it and I got a good price on it back in 2006 at Circuit City In short, I haven't had problem with any of the drives and I've used them all heavily Compusa has a 1.5TB Seagate on sale right now for around $150 |
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| Author: | gmoney [ Wed Jan 21, 2009 7:41 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
If I were you I would add as much ram as I could afford ...we use a 1TB freeagents and My book no problems... |
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| Author: | eben [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
You may want to read this before purchasing anything Seagate. Click here |
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| Author: | Lonman [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 10:57 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
eben @ Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:23 am wrote:
They made an oops with an update. It happens. I still prefer their drives. Just don't install the update right off. |
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| Author: | stogie [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Here are some decent deals, I've been shopping recently for the same thing: Cavalry $110 http://cgi.ebay.com/Cavalry-1TB-USB-2-0-7200RPM-Ext-3-5-HD-Retail-New_W0QQitemZ170295940540QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_Storage_Internal?hash=item170295940540&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14_trkparms=72%3A1234|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50 I own one and I'm sure they use WD, maxtor, Fujitsu, Samsung or Seagate etc. inside their enclosures Western Digital from Newegg $120http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136321 Seagate $115 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148356 Anyone know why my links show up like that? |
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| Author: | Karen K [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:34 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
Probably should check Circuit City since they are now at 30% reduction in prices in their going out of business sale. May be some good deals there. |
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| Author: | Micky [ Mon Jan 26, 2009 3:03 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Which external harddrive |
eben @ Mon Jan 26, 2009 1:23 pm wrote:
Well, I guess someone will be loosing it's job  But who needs to do a firmware update on a drive that's working properly A firmware or Bios update is always risky!
I do have that 500G drive in my machine, in fact, all my computers are built using Seagate, I'm getting scared now 
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