Best external hard drive for backing up iMac?

I have a 20" Intel iMac with 500 GB hard drive purchased 1/07. I would like to buy an external hard drive for backup purposes and have been researching what to buy.
The best backup program for this purpose appears to be Super Duper, but I am having a difficult time trying to determine which hard drive to buy. In reading user comments I notice that none of the major hard drive manufacturers is exempt from severe criticism by some of their customers. I read many complaints of premature failures, lousy technical support, etc.
Can anybody recommend an externmal hard drive setup that will give satisfactory results? By the way, I am still operating with Tiger OS and have no plans to upgrade to Leopard in the foreseeable future.
Bob

Yes, ignore the software that comes with the drives, SuperDuper! will have to be downloaded from the Shirtpocket site, it costs about $28.00 but is well worth it.
(Actually, my friend fell hiking down the mountain and had to have stitches in her scalp, then got to the base and found that someone had broken into her car and stolen her suitcase, so yes, the mountain had an impact.)

Similar Messages

What's the best external hard drive for back-ups?

I have a Powerbook G4 and would like to buy an external hard drive for back-up purposes. It seems impossible to choose one because drives made by every company occasionally fail and only then do people write reviews on them. Every time I hear that LaCie, Maxtor and Seagate make the best hard drives, an equal amount of people say they suck and fail on a regular basis.
My question is:
Who makes a good, most consistently reliable hard drive that I can easily do back-ups with?

The problem with review sites is that your average Joe buys a drive, it dies, so he throws mud at the company without giving any thought to the fact that no factory can attain perfection. And of course this average joe wants the best possible price (in other words cheap as dirt) so the company's tech support is staffed by under payed workers in Bangalore.
Where I work part time we are selling a lot of Maxtor One Touch and Western Digital My Book drives and haven't had a single complaint. Its the kind of store where we get to know our customers (you know, the one where the prices aren't dirt cheap but the service is fantastic) so we'd hear about it if our customers weren't happy. I've had several Maxtor One Touch drives running 24/7 for about 2 years without any failures and I have no complaints about the WD drive either although I've had it for just a couple months.
I've also been very pleased with the items I've gotten from macsales.com. They also aren't dirt cheap (though good) and they have super support. No, make that stellar support.

What's the best external hard drive for iMac?

I'm very close to purchasing a 21" iMac. I've read about the 27" model problems, but nothing negative about the 21" model. Frankly, in the space I have, the 21" model will work just fine. I'll be replacing my MacBookPro laptop, which I will move to my work station at work, replacing my PC laptop (making totally Mac driven).
So anyway, I'm going to take the external hard drive I currently have at home and bring it to work also, leaving me with a need to purchase a new external hard drive for the new iMac. My question is: which external hard drive do you think is best to get. I'm getting at least 1T, and perhaps as much as 1.5T.
I've been reading about the Western Digital My Book for Mac, but there appears to be some new issues with the software and Snow Leopard. Anyone know anythign about this?
Also, some of the online descriptions indicate some hard drives need to be reformatted to work with Macs. Anyone know have any input on that? What about Seagate? Anyone have any experience with those?
Any input is greatly appreciated.

Most any drive will work with Macs, and Time Machine.
Most drives come formatted for Windoze, but most of them can be re-formatted on your Mac to work with it. See item #5 in the Frequently Asked Questions *User Tip,* also at the top of this forum.
Also note item #1 there for size considerations; and items #3 and/or 4 for using with other data and/or other Macs.
If you think you ever might want to put a "bootable clone" on it, be sure it's a bootable drive. Most PPC Macs can boot only from FireWire; most Intels can boot from F/W or USB. But some Western Digitals won't boot a Mac. Their list of which ones should and +should not+ boot: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1787. But note the disclaimer that they don't support it +*at all.+*.
In addition, many of them have a built-in sleep mode that cannot be disabled, and sometimes interferes with Time Machine backups: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/stdadp.php?pfaqid=1376
Depending on what ports you have, FireWire 800 is by far the fastest; FireWire 400 next, and USB slowest (F/W 400 and USB 2.0 are rated about the same for short bursts, but F/W is faster for sustained transfers. Also, your Mac's CPU has to do more of the work with USB, so actual throughput is usually less).
Many folks think USB is less reliable than FireWire. If you do get USB, be sure to connect it to a port on your Mac, not a keyboard (that may be only USB 1.0). Try to avoid hubs, too.
If you're using USB, it's usually best to get a drive with it's own power supply, as taking power from your Mac can be a marginal proposition. Portable FireWire drives without separate power supplies don't seem to have this problem.
Take any advice for or against particular makes or models with a grain of salt: all makers (of just about anything) can have a "run" of bad components, or a relatively few early failures. Plus, by the time any really good trends are noted, the model has probably been revised or replaced anyway!

I have a 2007 macbook and I am wondering what is the best external hard drive for my Mac?

What is the best external hard drive for a 2007 Macbook?

The Apple USB superdrive would be a great choice for you, ( http://store.apple.com/ca/product/MD564ZM/A/apple-usb-superdrive?fnode=5f ) I am not certain but I am pretty sure that it has the same form factor as the MacMini (Not thickness but all the other dimenetions) so it fits just under and looks like an extension of your mac.

What is the best external hard drive for backup on powerbook g4 17-inch?

i need to get a good external hard drive for backing up my files on my 2004 powerbook g4 17-inch. up till now ive been using thumbdrives, but i have way too much to backup now. i was thinking of getting the time capsule, but i don't have leopard version with time machine.
what would be an advisable backup to get without buying a new mactop yet?
please include model # if possible.
thanks in advance for anyone's input!

What I've done is buy the case and drive separately. The case I use is similar to this one: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEFW91UAL1K/ (looks like they don't offer this case with Firewire 800 anymore), and the hard drive is a Western Digital 3.5" Parallel ATA 320GB which Newegg carries at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136109. The reason I like a combination like this is that the enclosure uses the Oxford 911 chipset, and Oxford chipsets have a good track record working with our macs. The Western Digital drive comes with a 3 year warranty (many pre-packaged hard drives only have a one year warranty). It is very easy to install the drive ... you plug in the power and data connectors to the hard drive, and screw the hard drive to the case.
Whatever external hard drive you get, recommend one with a Firewire connection. Our Powerbooks can boot from a Firewire connection, however, cannot boot from a USB-only connection. Also, be aware that for a USB-only connection, if the external hard drive relies on power from it there may be a problem. This is due to the Powerbook putting minimal power out on USB. There are many people who have found that they've had to either get a dual USB cable, a USB powered hub, or an external power supply for their USB-powered external hard drive. The case I mentioned above has it's own external power supply. Firewire-powered drives don't have this problem.

What is the best external hard drive for the MAC Book Pro with Retina?

What is the best external hard drive for the MAC Book Pro with Retina?
I was looking at WD MY PASSPORT FOR MAC and Toshiba. I want something that will work best with time capsule! Suggestions on the best external hard drive would be greatly appreciated!!!

A Time Machine backup drive should be substantially larger than the system drive. If you have a 128 or 256 GB SSD then a 1 TB drive will suffice. If you have a 512 GB SSD then a 2 TB drive will suffice. As leroydouglas indicated any brand other than WD will do.
For 1 TB drives PlotinusVeritas gives some great suggestions here:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5602141?tstart=0
A 2 TB drive sold by Apple:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/H9378ZM/A/lacie-2tb-usb-30-porsche-design-p923 3-desktop-hard-drive
$130
A 2 TB drive just as good for only $92.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Toshiba-Canvio-Basics-3-0-USB-2-TB-Portable-Hard-Drive-M odel-HDTB220XK3CA-/231162655273

What is the best External Hard Drive for a Macbook Leopard 10.5.8? I need more memory for documents, pictures, videos, and music. Thanks!

What is the best External Hard Drive for a Macbook Leopard 10.5.8? I need more memory for documents, pictures, videos, and music. Thanks!

Hi, does your MacBook have Firewire, or just USB?
FW is far faster if you have that.
Avoid Bus powered ones.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
USB only...
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/eliteclassic

What's the best external hard drive for mac?

I recieved the email from Apple saying that my 1tb hard drive may fail becuase it was bought between October 09 and July 11. Anyways, im now looking for an external hard drive to back up all my stuff too. I know i should of thought about getting one a long time ago. I was just wondering what would you guys recomend as a good ehd. I was looking at the Seagate Backup plus 1tb one, and the Western Digital My passport for mac 1tb. Anybody have any bad experiences with those?

It's really just personal preference. I usually just recommend if you've got a 1TB drive in your Mac get a 1TB external drive for time machine. If you want to have a secondary drive after that for storing movies or anything you don't necessarily want to have backed up (you can also setup exclusions in Time Machine) or to save space on your iMac drive that works as well.
If you really want to get good backups a lot of people recommend the 3, 2, 1 model..... 3 backups on 2 different types of media with 1 of those being offsite.
I've got 1TB in my iMac, then I've got a 1TB external drive for Time Machine. Then I have two external 1TB drives I back my system up to (using an app called SuperDuper) that I rotate at a family members house. I'll periodically do a backup, drop it over at their house then bring the other drive back and repeat once a month or so. I've got another drive that I occasionally copy things I don't need access to or care to be backed up.

Choosing an external hard drive for back up

This is more for general advice than a specific question. Right now I have my hard drive partitioned and use the second as a backup with Time Machine. It will work for most situations but not all, such as a home fire or break-in (all my photos and music, lost forever!).
What I want to do is buy an external hard drive for backup and keep it at work. I would then bring it home every few weeks to update, but otherwise not store it in the same place as my computer. That way I would never lose more than a few weeks worth of stuff. So, a few questions, the nature of which will let you know how much of a novice I am at this.
1) Right now, Time Machine automatically updates once per hour. When I am using the external drive will I be able to set Time Machine up to only update my back up files when I connect the external drive. Is this difficult.
2) Any suggestions on what kind of external hard drive I should buy, or what features I should look for would be appreciated. I live in a remote area, so something I can get from futureshop.ca would be preferable.
3) My hard drive is about 280 GB. What size should I buy.
Advice on any of the above would be appreciated. Also feel free to toss in anything else you think I should know or consider.
Rgds
PF

Snowfog wrote:
This is more for general advice than a specific question. Right now I have my hard drive partitioned and use the second as a backup with Time Machine. It will work for most situations but not all, such as a home fire or break-in (all my photos and music, lost forever!).
What I want to do is buy an external hard drive for backup and keep it at work. I would then bring it home every few weeks to update, but otherwise not store it in the same place as my computer. That way I would never lose more than a few weeks worth of stuff. So, a few questions, the nature of which will let you know how much of a novice I am at this.
1) Right now, Time Machine automatically updates once per hour. When I am using the external drive will I be able to set Time Machine up to only update my back up files when I connect the external drive.
This is what I am currently doing among 3 different backup disks (1 Time Capsule, a WD500GB, and a Lacie 160GB). You won't have to "set" anything up other than attach the new drive and select it in the TM prefs. Then when your done, reselect your normal TM disk.
2) Any suggestions on what kind of external hard drive I should buy, or what features I should look for would be appreciated. I live in a remote area, so something I can get from futureshop.ca would be preferable.
Most any drive will do, as you partition it correctly to begin with.
*_How Should a Time Machine Hard Disk be Prepared?_*
For Time Machine to work properly, the hard disk must be formatted “Mac OS Extended (Journaled)” and its’ Partition Scheme should be either GUID or Apple Partition Map.
Time Machine is incompatible with disks partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR). Unfortunately, this describes nearly every hard drive you can buy because MBR is a Windows partition scheme. (Naturally, this DOES NOT apply to Apples’ Time Capsule.)
For some, Time Machine begins to perform as expected with a new external hard disk. But then the initial full backup or subsequent incremental backups fail. The user only later discovers the hard disk was still partitioned as Master Boot Record (MBR).
One article on Time Machine made this observation: “Virtually everybody will have to open Disk Utility and repartition the disk as APM or GUID. It doesn't really matter which one because the Time Machine disk will not be bootable anyway. APM allows a disk to boot a PowerPC, GUID allows the disk to boot an Intel processor but both are easily digestible by Time Machine on either kind of processor.” [http://www.girr.org/mac_stuff/backups.html]
It’s been recommended by many here that your reserve +at least+ double the size of your primary hard disk, that way Time Machine backups have room to grow as the size of your data grows. Additionally, the more space you give Time Machine the more history it can preserve. The less space you reserve for Time Machine the sooner older backups & deleted items will disappear.
One poster recommended this regarding multiple partitions: “If you do create multiple partitions (half and half would be a good place to start), make sure you use the first partition for Time Machine, and the second for your own stuff (the first one will be on top in the graphical representation shown in Disk Utility; you'll understand when you see the partition tab). This way, you can expand the Time Machine volume at any later time by deleting the second partition. Disk Utility allows this dynamic re-sizing of volumes, but volumes can only be expanded toward the end of the drive, when a volume that comes after is deleted to create the room.” [http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1712437&tstart=0]
Procedure
Connect the hard disk you wish to use for Time Machine backups.
Launch Disk Utility.
It will appear twice in the pane on the left. (Make sure you recognize that it is different from the 2 icons that represent your Macs' internal drive.) The upper entry represent the device as a whole, including the controller inside. The lower entry represents the hard disk contained within the device.
Click on the upper icon of the external hard disk.
Select the "Partition" tab.
For "Volume Scheme" choose "1 partition". (Choose 2 partitions if you intend on storing other data on the disk besides your Time Machine backups. Ensure that the two partitions have different names.)
Name the disk.
Format should be "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)".
Click "Options".
Select either GUID or Apple Partition Map. (See above for significance)
Click "OK".
Click "Apply". Then click “Partition”.
Once the external hard disk is repartitioned, select it again in Time Machine preferences and use it for your backups. If you chose to create 2 partitions, then select the first partition for Time Machine backups, and the second for additional files/folders.
3) My hard drive is about 280 GB. What size should I buy.
Any TM backup drive should be +at least+ twice as large as your Macs internal hard disk.
Let us know if this resolves your issue.
Cheers!

I am using a WD external hard drive for backing up my laptop with Time Machine, but I have to do it manually. How do I know when it has finished the back up? How long should it take?

I am using an external WD hard drive for backing up my laptop. I have to do it manually, so I can't set Time Machine to just do it for me. How do I know when it is done backing up? How long should this take?

Triple-click anywhere in the line below to select it:
tmutil compare -E
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C).
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V).
The command will take at least a few minutes to run. Eventually some lines of output will appear below what you entered.
Each line that begins with a plus sign (“+”) represents a file that has been added to the source volume since the last snapshot was taken. These files have not been backed up yet.
Each line that begins with an exclamation point (“!”) represents a file that has changed on the source volume. These files have been backed up, but not in their present state.
Each line that begins with a minus sign (“-“) represents a file that has been removed from the source volume.
At the end of the output, you’ll get some lines like the following:
Added:
Removed:
Changed:
These lines show the total amount of data added, removed, or changed on the source(s) since the last snapshot.

The best external hard drives for macs

Can anyone recommend a good external hard drive for a mac computer; preferably the IMac OS 10.5.6 desktop. Thanks!

Personal Experience with the One Touch Series:
Keep a VERY CLOSE EYE on that Maxtor One Touch!
I had two of the 1TB Firewire 800 models at one point. Hard drives failed on one of them within a month. Warranty replaced the unit but not the data. After a year, the tiny fans died and the drives overheated, resulting in total loss of both enclosures and all the data on them (within a week of each other).
Those things are not meant for continuous use. If you only use them for periodic backup purposes, and then shut them off, they may be fine.
Maxtor's setup software for the Mac was a PITA, too. The version included on the disc was worthless. Disk label indicated one version, actual version on the disc was an older, incompatible version. Maxtor sent a replacement disc. It was the same disc with the same problem. Finally located the correct installer on their website. That was a few years ago.
I'll never touch the touch series again as a result.
On the other hand, I've had a SmartDisk FireLite 60 GB (FireWire model) for my Powerbook for 5 years now with excellent performance. I have no problem recommending SmartDisk drives.
-mt

Best External Hard Drives for MacBook

I have been doing some research on the External Hard Drives for the MacBook and have been getting mixed advise about the best one for the Macbook. I'm wondering if anyone with actual experience and knowledge with External Hard Drives and the MacBook could offer any advice on one I should look into.

You are going to get a bazillion answers and little agreement so be prepared.
An external drive is two components, case and drive. If you buy a generic no-name you have no clue about what's in the case or what the drive is. Even if you buy a name brand like Western Digital or Seagate you still can't be totally sure. Would WD put a Toshiba drive in their external case? Probably not but you still don't necessarily know which model WD you are getting.
I approach it two ways. For archival backups I build my own buying the case and drive to meet my needs. OWC is my usual source. For expansion and usage I tend to buy name brand externals. At the moment I have several Seagate FreeAgent drives. What I don't do is make drive purchases based on price - that's a great way to buy a drive that will fail just when you need it.

Best external hard drive for Macbook pro and Aperture

Hi, any recomendations for an external hard drive for the macbook pro and aperture. I was looking for approx 300Gb !
Many thanks
macphi

Personally I have had poor luck with LaCie Big Disk peformance and support and don't recommend LaCie. However I do recognize that my sample of one is statistically insignificant.
The eSATA concept is interesting, but bleeding tech edge at the moment. For a solid solution that works now I recommend FW800 (forget USB) and RAID 0 technology. I have had great success with OWC and just bought their least expensive (in $ per GB) 640 GB FW800 US$370 RAID O drive setup: <http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/ME8R7640GB16/>.
Just this week OWC introduced RAID 0 +1 drives that have RAID 0 speeds but also provide mirror backups. Perhaps the very best solution but pricey.
EDIT: If you bought a 15" MBP instead of the 17" you forever lack FW 800. Go for a FW 800 or an eSATA Express Card solution when available. You could buy an OWC drive now and jusr run it FW 400 until you get an Express Card FW800 port. The OWC drive came with ports and cables for both FW 800 and FW 400.
-Allen Wicks

What is the best external hard drives for macbook pro?

I am looking to buy an external hard drive for my macbook pro urgently.
I was intending to purchase a time capsule but am really concerned with the reliability concerns of the time capsules where they stop working after 6 months to 18 months as posted on various forums.
I was considering purchasing a western digital external hard drive but they also receive a lot of negative feedback.
I have never used firewire previously but am interested in getting feedback as to how useful forum readers find this feature.
In terms of size am looking for 1TB approx.
Thanks in advance for your assistance as i need to purchase one immediately and i do not have time to research fully. Make, model number and approximate cost would be very helpful as well as where i could purchase hard drive in london. I am more concerned with quality rather than cost.

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What is the best External Hard Drive for video edition?

Hi guys, I'm looking for a good firewire external hard drive for video edition.
I have 2 HD already but the bigest is a Seagate and is a trouble cause this one have an auto sleep system that is impossible to put out and when I'm printing to tape this one fall to sleep and the video that I'm transfering get a delay horrible!!
I'm looking for a 1 tb or 2 tb external HD.
Can you recomend me something??
thanks a lot!

Gufa wrote:
Thanks Jouu, great prices but I need to know if those discs doesnt have the autosleep function!
Thanks
That was why I mentioned the 24/7 live Chat support, they (should) know the products they sell.
8^)
Joe

Best external hard drive for backing up iMac?

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