Best External Drive for MacPro and iMovie

In using iMovie, I find my existing main drives filling up, and need to get a fast external drive which works well with the Mac Pro and the snow leopard operating system. I note that there is a new usb 3.0 standard, but my understanding is that it does not work with os10.6 without additional third party hardware. Any suggestions on best mass storage (external) for iMovie which is fast enough so that the video is not negatively impacted when preparing a movie?

geo.adi wrote:
Are you saying that MacBook Pro 15" has slot that is not good for eSATA connection?
on this site (http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/apple-macbook-pro-2007/4507-3121_7-32465635.html ?tag=mncolBtm;rnav)
it says "*Expansion Slots Total (Free) 1.0 ( 1.0 ) x ExpressCard/34 - SO DIMM 200-pin*"
and looks like you've said that what one need for eSATA is ExpressCard/34 slot.
I'm confused...
Perhaps you should ask your question in the Computing Hardware > Macbook Pro section of this forum.
Type 'Express Card' in the search box and you will find plenty of reading material.
Useful links?:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=12671141&#12671141
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/seritek2sm2e.html

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How to format an external drive for mac AND pc use

i want to format my external drive so i can use it on my mac and on pc's as well. i've gathered that the MS-DOS format is the way to go. my question is this: would this create any problems for my mac then?
can i partion one part for ms-dos and part for macos extended?
cheers
-j-

MS-DOS format (or FAT32) will be fine for both Mac and PC. However there is a 4GB file size limit with FAT32.
You could use a dual partition, however the HFS+ partition would not be readable by the PC unless you installed the third party MacDrive.
Look at this page for more information on a dual partition drive for Mac and Windows.
http://macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030613121738812
iFelix

Can i use my external drive for TM and files i don't want on my mac HD

my hard drive has a total of 232.57g which is not nearly enough space to save all my pictures, movies, etc. i've been using a 300g external drive to save my pictures, movies, etc. which is now full so i bought a maxtor one touch 4 750g to hopefully back up my computer using time machine, my 300g external drive, and whatever new pictures, movies, etc.
if i set up my new external drive for time machine can i still put the pictures, movies from my 300g external drive and whatever new pictures, movies, etc. on my new 750g external drive?
do i need to make a partition? if so can you tell me how?
should i not use time machine?
any information is appreciated

mac HD
capacity: 232.57g
available: 170.29g
iomega
capacity: 298.02g
available: 14.29g
one touch 4
capacity: 698.51g
available: 698.36g
thanks for the quick reply but i need to explain it better or ask, once all is backed up from my mac HD and my iomega external drive to my new one touch 4 i want to stop using the iomega since there isn't much room left on it
will i be able to add files directly to the one touch 4 without having those files saved to my mac HD like i do now?
or will TM remove my files the next time it backs up my mac HD since i won't have the iomega on anymore?

Use external drive for windows and mac

Hello,
I just bought a external 320Gb Western Digital Drive. I would like to use
the drive for windows and mac.I will not like to make partation on the drive
to use it on both operating systems. Is there any formating system with which i can use in both operating systems? I would like to use time machine feature on that drive also.
Thanx.

If you want to use a disk for both PC/Mac file storage and Time Machine, you will have to create two partitions. Partitioning is sort of like creating multiple virtual disks on the same physical disk. One partition should be formatted for PC (which the Mac can also use) and the other should be formatted for HFS+ (Mac only) which is what Time Machine requires. The Disk Utility application makes partitioning and formatting very easy.

Whats the best portable drive for use with iMovie?

I use iMovie on my macbook on my long commute to and from work. I have read that the best solution is to edit movies on an external drive and not the one on the mac.
What is the minimum drive speed (rpm) and minimum transfer (firewire 400 ? usb 2?) for this to work.
All the drives on the online apple store talk about transfering documents, photos and using them as backup devices and I am trying to be cautious about what I buy given a limited budget.
For example is the "Iomega 160GB Portable Hard Drive with Dual Interface" suitable ?
All advice gratefully received, thanks

I haven't seen that point.
I worked on my old iMac using just the hard drive for a while. Performance is not the issue, but space can be, which is why I moved to an external drive.
Drive performance is complicated. If you have enough memory, your internal drive will probably have better performance than an external drive. The SATA bus is a lot faster than the FireWire or USB buses.
On the other hand, if you are memory constrained and are using other i/o intensive applications at the same time, the external may perform better. You definitely want to avoid excessive swapping of your virtual memory while using iMovie or anything else. (and this is best handled by having sufficient RAM. I have 2GB.
In iMovie 08, once you have your video imported into an event, you can edit away, because iMovie is just writing pointers in the project file to the source files in the EVENT. Disk performance is more critical on import (front end) and sharing or rendering (back-end), but internal drives are more than up to this task.
Space is the issue. If you are shooting high definition footage, you can get event files of 20GB to 40GB+. That can eat up a laptop real quick.

What is the best external drive for Macbook Pro?

Migration Assistant is not moving files from my Macbook OS X 10.5.8 to My new Macbook Pro just purchased. Apple Support suggested I transfer thru an external drive. They suggested a 1 TB. They said it would be sufficient for migration and afterward for back up and storage of media and pics. What would be the best one for this purpose?
Thank You

Go to OWC and purchase a drive and an enclosure. Put it together yourself. Takes about five minutes and a screwdriver. Or you can purchase one already complete from them if you prefer.

Best external drive for F900 footage via BM Multibridge Pro.

Hey guys,
I am going to be embarking on another feature in the coming moth that was again shot on hdcam Sony f900 tapes at 1080 23.97. This is again however a low budget show and thus i need some advise. I am currently traveling frequently and was hoping to be able to cut on my macbook pro using downrezed dv footage on an external drive(downrezed via the sony jh3's firewire out), however because of the budgetary considerations i will need to use the same external to uprez to. I am planing on picking up(out of my own funds) a multibridge pro for the uprez and would like to break away from the dvcprohd codec i have been limited too on past projects and do 8 or 10 bit HD. Now i can do the uprez on my g4 or g5 via the hdsdi 4:2:2 on the multibridge but with what affordable external storage? Gtech's site quotes their esata drives as not being able to handle uncompressed HD and i was under the impression that esata was the preferred method for doing external storage. I would love to build one of Shane's external sata rigs but this is a low budget film where they would buy the storage for me to cut on and then keep it when i am finished. Ideas?

eSATA can handle it, you just need to have a large enough RAID stripe. A two drive stripe on a G-Raid can handle 3 streams of DVCPRO HD, but not uncompressed HD. Only 5 drive Raid arrays can handle uncompressed HD, but getting that option that connects to a MacBook Pro will be difficult. CalDigit has a 5 drive eSATA Raid called the S2VR HD, but the PCIexpress card doesn't garner the transfer times that the PCI-X and PCIe cards that go into G5 and MacPro towers can. I will be working with the CalDigit guys next week, I'll see what numbers they get.
Uncompressed HD on a Laptop is a stretch, IMHO. But you can always use the media manager to convert the footage to DV and edit that on your laptop. Hmmm...but then you'd need two drives. Hmmmm...
Shane

Best external drive for Air Tunes?

My eight month old Western Digital My Book Pro just died. I had used it to backup various files but mostly to house my 260 GB iTunes music folder. I use iTunes to stream music to my living room receiver, so I'd often leave it running all day.
While the drive itself is still good (I was able to remove the drive from the case and copy the data thanks to my local Mac tech guy), the circuit board that powers it apparently broke down. Could it have been all the heat generated by running it for such long periods?
In any event, my question is: What is the best external hard drive to run a large iTunes library off of? I've seen references to music servers, but I don't need any special connections or capabilities. I'm just looking for a reliable external drive that can stand up to running for hours at a time without burning out its circuit board. A good warranty and near silent fan would be nice too, as would an affordable price tag.
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I have to tell you that I have had more problems with Western Digital than Seagate or Maxtor. A long time ago, I bought a firewire external drive (ATA) from Club Mac. The Western Digital drive inside it died, but the case was still good, so I put a new drive in it. The great thing about the case is that it has a fan!! That puppy can run all day and it doesn't really seem to get very hot. I have a feeling that it would be expensive to buy a case with a fan in it now, but you could look for that specifically.
I also have one Seagate 400 GB external drive and a 500 GB Maxtor external and both have had no problems running all day. Last, I have built three external hard drives that are always on when the computers are on and they run fine. 2 of the cases were CompUSA brand and one was something from OtherWorld Computing. All are the kind that are made of aluminum, where the case acts as a heat sink. The case gets hot, but if it is sufficiently ventilated then there should be no problems. So far so good.
Hope this helps. If I were you, I would visit http://www.otherworldcomputing.com and just take a look at what's available. There are other great places like http://www.macgurus.com where they can give you very specific advice about hardware upgrades. If I were in your situation, I would go ahead and use the WD drive in a new enclosure and be sure to back up your music.
Good luck!
Jim

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Most reliable external drive for booting and imaging

Hey everyone.
I'm looking for an external drive to boot from and create/distribute Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and maybe a couple iMac images. The hard drives range from 200-500GB maximum capacity. I'm assuming I need a firewire hard drive. The more reliable the better .

Im not sure i quite understand.
Are you saying you have external hard drives already or are they internal?
because basically my suggestion is this;
DIY. Get a firewire Sata enclosure, and obtain Sata drives for it.
heres what i recently got and it works marvels for me:
FW400 Case:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198004
very similar to the macpro drive sleds, a sled pops out screw in the drive slide it back in no cables to mess with plug it in and your good to go.
HDDS:
i picked up a 7500AAKS 750gb, a 5000AAKS 500Gb from newegg.com
they also have extremely cheap 250Gb drives for under 90$
thinking of doing that for a future project, cant go wrong there!
goodluck! andhope that helped!

How to format external drive for mac AND pc use

hi
i want to format my external drive so i can use it on my mac and on pc's as well. i've gathered that the MS-DOS format is the way to go. my question is this: would this create any problems for my mac then?
can i partion one part for ms-dos and part for macos extended?
cheers
-j-

There are a couple of disadvantages with formatting a
disk as FAT32. Firstly, there is a limit on the file
size for FAT32. I think it like 2 GB so if you
capturing video the results will probably not fit
into this file limit. Secondly FAT32 will not be
bootable. I alway clone my system to a backup disk as
bootable. That way if anything goes wrong with my
system, I can just boot from my backup disk and fix
it.
The problem with doing this though is that the drive will not be usable with Windows (which was in the original posting) unless you use the third party MacDrive software on the PC.
iFelix

Format external drive for Mac and PC?

Can I format an external Drive to have 1 partition for OS X and another for my wife to use with her PC?
thanks!
ray

Yes, just use Disk Utility under OS X to create two volumes on it, one Mac OS Ext, the other FAT. Use a Master Boot Record partition scheme (also known as “fdisk”).

External Drive for ITunes and IPhoto

I'm out of space on hard drive and would like to use an external hd for all Itunes and Iphotos. Can someone help me in moving these to the external and to make this external the default drive for all things new to both ITunes and IPhoto? I'm a novice!

You post in a workstation forum, Mac Pro has 4 internal drive bays and easy to expand and upgrade.
But yes you can have any media library and folder on add'l drives.
How to open an alternate iTunes Library file or create a new one
Transferring iTunes Library
Moving your iTunes Music folder
Transferring your iTunes Library iLounge

External Drive For Windows And OSX

Hello!
I'm using an external USB/FW drive for back up. It's formatted as "OSX Extended".
1) If I copy the data off this drive, what format would I need to re-format it in, so as to be able to back up from both OSX and Windows?
2) Will I be able to reload the first set of data, once I re-format it in the other format?
Thanx!

I don't recall either of those being mentioned in the OP's question, Niel. Only "backup" which does not necessarily mean Time Machine.
You might mention how much it will cost to buy MacDrive: Standard is $50 and Pro is $70.00.
BTW, I know you can't use FAT for Time Machine nor bootable backups. But FAT is not limited for use as a backup drive using other utilities that haven't the limitations or reliability issues of Time Machine.

New external drive for mac and windows

Hello,
I am looking to buy a 500gb maxtor external drive. Partition it 250gb for winxp and 250gb for my imac. I am really looking to make these drives as backup drives. I currently have an old 250gb (not all used) formatted as os x entended. I use it for all my itunes, photos, movies... photoshop, you get the picture... I just want to drag and drop to that drive. The same for my windows.
Does this sound correct? Has anyone done it this way?
Another way, would be to have it formatted for windows and drop and drag into two different folders : win and imac. But then I will be losing the naming conventions from the os x? isn't that why and want to use os x extended?
Thanks for all ideas,
Charlie

Piece of cake!
For those who want to know:
usb connection to imac first. I started disk utility. Split the partition to two parts and formated only one partition as OS X extended. After done, copied my directories as a bkup.
usb connection to windows. I started computer management and saw that the usb disk had two partitions: the first was healthy but unknown. That was ok, I wanted the second partition to be NTFS and formated. Then copied my directories to that drive as well.
Connected back the imac and saw both partitions, imacbkup and winbkup. I forgot, just like what I do with the imac and winxp, I can see the c: drive via the mac.
Very cool and easy. Maxtor drives are very reliable and easy to use.
Thanks,
Charlie Cooperman
If anyone wants more detail info, you can email me at [email protected]

Best External Drive for MacPro and iMovie

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