At 2:19 PM -0400 7/27/2010, <[email protected]> wrote:
I currently run a G4 MDD with Leopard. I have a USB 2 card. I want to add an external hard drive large enough to do video work. Basically work on transferring home videos to DVD. Any suggestions as to what I should look for?
meritline.com, geeks.com, ecost.com, macsales.com, etc... all have great deals on drives. New, used (pulls), refirbs, etc. Even eBay is good for drives.
I like to avoid Western Digital mechanisms. Definitely avoid WD externals -- many of their models have firmware issues with Macs, and they've been less than forthcoming about fixing 'em. You can read the diatribes about such on the CarbonCopyCloner support forums (bombich.com).
While USB-only boxes are less expensive than ones with Firewire, but keep in mind that Firewire 1 (FW400) will give you better throughput than USB 2. IMO that makes them worth the premium, especially for video work. My fav box is a La Cie d2 Quadra. It uses a SATA drive internally and the interfaces are USB2, FW400, FW800, and eSATA.
Of course, since you're doing video work, you want a drive that's at least 7200rpm. There are 10,000 and faster drives available, but I don't think it makes much sense to have a drive that's faster than the interface (the weakest part of the data pipe).
HTH, - Dan. -- - Psychoceramic Emeritus; South Jersey, USA, Earth. -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
