Buying a hard drive

I'm looking into buying a new [external] hard drive and I don't know what to look for aside from the capacity. I hope you guys can answer my questions below...
- IDE or SATA? What's the difference and what should I get?
- 8MB or 16MB? Obviously 16 is probably going to be better but is the difference worth paying more for?
- USB or firewire? Yeah I plan to have it external and I wonder if there's any major difference.
- Do the brands differ?
I have my eye on a 250GB HD for under $100 or a 500GB for $250, are those good deals?
Lastly, if it makes a difference, consider that I plan to hook it up to my PC first for some video editing projects. In the very near future, I plan to hook it up to my Intel iMac. I'll probably be using the same program to edit my videos (Avid Xpress) so when I hook up the hard drive to the Mac, will it be backwards compatible? (Avid deals mainly with AIF and OMF files).
Thanks in advance!

321estrellas,
IDE and SATA are different connectors. Most iMac models have Serial ATA (SATA) hard disks.
SATA is generally faster, but since you're talking about using it externally, it should make no difference as long as you make sure your enclosure matches the connector (IDE or SATA) of the hard disk.
Why? The limiting factor for speed is the USB or Firewire bus, not the hard drive itself. Both IDE and SATA can push data faster than the bus can transfer it. USB2 claims to push data at 480 and firewire at 400, but these are "burst" rates. Tests I've seen show that firewire has a faster sustained data transfer rate.
Given that your limitation will be the interface, USB or firewire, the cache size on the drive (8 or 16 MB) should not make a significant difference.
(Most firewire enclosures have USB interfaces, as well, so you could retain the choice of interface.)
Advantages for firewire: Faster sustained data transfer rate. Can be used to boot your Mac.
This is counterbalanced by the need to use data from a Windows machine. Unless you're going to make your Windows machine capable of reading and writing to HFS+ formatted disks, you'll have to either use FAT32 on the external (which has its own attendant problems) or wipe and reformat it to HFS+ when you attach it to your Mac to reap the full benefits. (If it will be used exclusively with your Mac, you'll want to use HFS+.)
Brands differ mainly on warranty length. As a rough rule of thumb, if the manufacturer is willing to back it for a longer time, you're getting a better drive. YMMV.
Data file format (AIF, OMF) isn't important as long as you're using the same program to edit the files; hard drive format, as noted above, is. Compatibility is an issue only if you're editing on both a Windows machine and a Mac, or if you're using incompatible versions of the editing software.
-Wayne

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Where can i buy a hard drive caddy and connector for a second hard drive for my dv7-7190eo?

Where can i buy a hard drive caddy and connector for a second hard drive for my dv7-7190eo?
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Gurra wrote:
Where can i buy a hard drive caddy and connector for a second hard drive for my dv7-7190eo?
Hi,
The right part number for the hard drive kit is 681976-001. The support website for the laptop is on HP Sweden so run the part number on google.co.uk (or your Swedish). I have found the cheapest on us amazon for $38 or £42.
Dv6-7000 /Full HD/Core i5-3360M/GF 650M/Corsair 8GB/Intel 7260AC/Samsung Pro 256GB
Testing - HP 15-p000
HP Touchpad provided by HP
Currently on Debian Wheeze
*Please, help other users with the same issue by marking your solved topics as "Accept as Solution"*

Looking to Buy a Hard Drive Enclosure - Opinions?

I'm looking to buy a hard drive enclosure to attach to my linux box, and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with the AEN-U35SE from Airlink (see http://www.airlink101.com/products/aenu35se.php ). It's fairly cheap at my local Fry's, but I'm wondering if anyone has had any issues with it, both with linux compatibility and cooling (they say it's fanless, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad). This would be attached to a server as bulk storage and wouldn't be under high usage, but I'm not wanting to doom my hard drive to certain death.
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Last edited by arew264 (2009-06-12 22:46:07)

combuster wrote:Just avoid coolermaster enclosures, they don't work on linux, got a x-craft lite 250 on some laptop review competition and it doesn't get recognized...
Shame on them, that or just plain cheap crappy chips they used to make it
On the issue of enclosures .... nothing I can recommend because so far I'm not happy with any I bought. On the compatibility side they are all ok but after a good period of time (1year or 1.5years) the the hd sometimes starts acting strange. It stops and restarts almost immediately, a problem that doesn't happen when I plug it inside my desktop pc. In one of the external enclosures I have narrowed the problem to the power supply.
I could plug a Y power cable and monitor the voltages with a multimeter, the 5V rail would be 4.5V when the disk acted strange but for some reason sometimes the rail was close to the nominal 5V (4.9V~5.1V) and everything would work well.
Because of this I have started to believe that the power supplies that have the 12V and 5V output are a big no no, there are several reasons for me not to like it specially because all of the 2 I have behave the same way >_<.
If possible I would get an enclosure that receives only 12V from the outside and then generates the 5V internally but I believe that is hard to find.
The two enclosures I have have are:
http://en.vipower.com/products01_01.php?ID=154 (this one as a bit expensive usb2 to ide)
http://www.tecforsis.pt/produto.asp?idproduto=16907 (cheap box usb2 to sata/ide)

Do i need to buy the same hard driver for my iMac or i can buy any hard driver 3.5?

Do i need to buy the same hard driver for my iMac or i can buy any hard driver 3.5?

You can buy any 3'5" SATA hard drive for the iMac. You can buy a hard drive at OWC.
Note that Late 2009 and newer iMacs have the temperature sensor inside the hard drive, so it's important to get one with that sensor. In this case, I recommend you to take your computer to an Apple Store or reseller and get your hard disk replaced

Buying external hard drive for iMac

I need some extra hard drive capacity to tide me over until I buy a new computer. The Internet has a tremendous selection, but I'm afraid to place my order until I can be sure that what I purchase will work with my iMac, and I can't get any company to answer my request for buying information, even though I state that a purchase will be made as soon as I receive a reply.
I have USB and Firewire. Some people say not to worry because any and all external hard drives will work with my computer. Other people say to be careful because only certain ones are compatible with my computer. Some say that any external computer will work, but to get a guarantee that it will work "just in case". What is the truth? I have downloaded information on selecting a hard drive. It has information on rpm, capacity, price,etc, but I see nothing about Macs versus PCs, which is really what my question is. Put another way, what do I need to know when the issue is compatibility?
iMac DV (Special Edition) Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hello,
Most drives are going to work with either a PC or a Mac. There is very little difference in the requirements for newer drives. Basically, the computers are designed to work with drives that meet certain standards. And, as long as the drive is built to those standards, then any computer should work with it (provided it has the right port to plug it into).
So, basically, you can buy the drive you want, and it should work with either computer.
The main exception is going to be drives with specific features that require software drivers. For example, if the drive has a button that you press to activate an automated backup of another drive, then that feature is going to require software to make it work. So, your ability to use that feature is going to specifically depend on whether there is a version of that software for the machine you want to use it with.
As for specific models. I can recommend two models:
My favorite so far, is the Other World Computing "Neptune".
I have a "Neptune 120 GB" FireWire drive from OWC (Other World Computing)
They are at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/owc-neptune-drives/
They are great, low-cost drives and work very well.
I got it with a 7200 R.P.M. Hitachi / IBM DeskStar drive. It is 120 GB in size.
The enclosure provides two FireWire 400 ports, and also provides it's own on/off switch.
The performance is great. It outperforms the internal drive installed in my Mac Mini. I haven't had a single complaint about the drive. So, that's pretty good
The drive does come with it's own power supply. So, you can use it with any computer (most computers don't provide enough power to run hard drives solely from the FireWire ports).
Mine is quiet.
It uses a fan-less design.
The inside chassis is made of steel, and is able to help dissipate heat from the hard drive.
It sometimes gets warm. But, I've never felt it being hot. Just slightly warmer than room temperature.
I had it running for over an hour yesterday (backing-up my main hard drive to it), and after a full hour of running constantly and writing files, it was just slightly warm.
I'd say it's a very good design, and dissipates the heat from the 7200 R.P.M. drive quite well.
Otherwise, I can hear the drive spinning if I specifically listen for it. But, don't ever hear it unless I am trying.
I have used the drive with Windows XP Home, and then later with my Mac. It's been used with both OS 10.3.x through 10.4.6.
It has been used with 2 different iMac G5 systems, a Compaq PC, a Hewlett Packard PC, a Mac Mini G4, and an iBook G4.
So, compatibility should be fine with just about anything.
If you want a drive with more options (multiple connection interfaces, etc.), then I would be comfortable recommending any of the models OWC sells. They know their stuff, and you can be certain that their products will work with a Mac. If you're looking for guarantee's, you'll find them on their sales pages for everyone to see.
For example, scroll down to the bottom of the sales page for the 80 GB drive here:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/NPFW7080GB/
And, you'll see that they clearly list both Windows and Macintosh computers as being compatible. You'll find similar statements on the pages for every product they sell. They point out specifically what each device works with or needs on their sales pages.
And they are great on the phone. So, if you have any questions, just call them. They are very helpful.
The other model I have used is not as nice, but I can say it is built very, very solid.
That one is a Maxtor Personal Storage 3100 External USB 2.0 hard drive.
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.5d2b41d3cef51dfe29dd10a1913460 68/?channelpath=%2Fen_us%2FSupport%2FProductSupport%2FExternal+Storage%2FPersonal+Storage+Family%2FPersonal+Storage3100
It has a 7200 R.P.M. Maxtor hard drive with a 2 MB cache in it. Mine is 80 GB (but it is available in larger capacities).
It is a good performer. But, it is slower than the FireWire Neptune that I mentioned above.
The durability of this particular unit is amazing though.
I purchased it used, and when I got it out of the box, my hands slipped and it fell about 6 feet onto a hard vinyl floor. No padding at all, a good solid and firm drop.
At that point, I knew that I had probably just wasted my money. I knew that if I plugged it in and it didn't work, that I would never know if it was defective when he sold it to me or if I damaged it.
But, I plugged-it in, and ran a full diagnostics on it. And, to my pleasure it worked great.
It didn't even suffer a single mark.
And, it is still working reliably today (on my wife's iBook G4).
I would personally recommend the FireWire "Neptune" from OWC the highest. But, I am impressed with the survival of the Maxtor. But, the Maxtor drive is noticeably slower due to the USB interface.
I hope this helps.

Need help buying new hard drive

I have a macbook that needs a new hard drive and need help knowing what hard drives to buy that will be compatible with it. It is a macbook pro 17inch model no: A1297.
Any help would be appreciated, Thanks

Any 2.5" diameter, 9.5mm thick SATA drive will be compatible. Currently they come up to 1.5 TB in capacity. I have a 1 TB Seagate SSHD (hybrid) drive installed in my primary MBP. The cost is a modest premium over a conventional HDD of the same capacity. Boot and shutdown times are significantly faster when compared to a conventional HDD, I can recommend this as an option.
If the bank account permits, an SSD will produce the overall maximum performance gains. Boot, shutdown and resource hungry applications will be noticeably faster. Casualyll use such as e-mails and text editing will produce no meaningful performance differences compared to a conventional HDD.
I am of the opinion that the cost premium is still too high for the benefits that they afford. Other have different views.
Ciao.

Looking to buy a hard drive, wondering which brand is the best

i'm trying to expand my computer. actually, my current hard drive won't mount and while i'm attempting to retreive the data, i still want to use my computer.
anyway, i found what i think is a really good deal on a hard drive, and i'm wondering if it's too good to be true. it's the western digital drive in this link...
http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=760061
is this just a crazy good deal or is there something wrong with this hard drive that i'm just missing? it seems all right, but if there's something sub par about it i'd rather spend the extra money and get a good drive.
thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

I'll vouch for the Seagate 500 that Jeff linked. I have one.
The 7200.10 series, and the 16gb cache brings SATA enterprise class performance and reliability to ATA.
As well, haven't had a Seagate ATA drive fail in over 8 years of use (own 5 of different sizes and series).
It's also dead silent.
The WD Caviar, as well, has enjoyed recent updates, also due to SATA development. The Caviar line is a favorite of many, and is seen as a reliable performer. The above linked WD drive description can be found on the WD clearance page:
http://www.wdc.com/en/buy/clearancedrives.asp?DriveID=251

Tips on buying new hard drive?

I'd like to install a new hard drive in my 800 mhz iMac G4, but I don't really know enough about hard drives to know what to buy. Would any internal hard drive work with my Mac or do I need to get a specific type of hard drive? Thanks.

Hello,
The iMac uses a standard desktop PC hard drive. It is 3.5" wide and in the iMac G4 uses the IDE connection (also known as ATA or Parallel ATA, ATA 66, etc) but not the SATA (serial ATA) connection as this is different. You should buy a 7,200rpm drive as these are faster than the 5,400rpm drive that came in the iMac 800MHz. You should also look for one with a cache of 8Mb or higher as this also increases the speed.
I've heard mixed reports from 800MHz iMac owners; some are limited to the 128Gb IDE limit found on older IDE Controllers and others are not. I'd advise sticking to a 120Gb internal drive to avoid disappointment. There is essentially no limit to the size of drive you can connect externally via Firewire.
Here is a list of suitable hard drives.
It's pretty fiddly to work inside an iMac G4 so you must be cautious. Always take anti-static precautions. Here are three options for guiding you through the procedure:
MacWorld
xlr8yourmac
Service Manuals
I've also taken a fair few photos which you can find here.
I'd advise reading the reports on the xlr8yourmac's drive database so get other people's experiences first.
You must replace the Thermal Paste when you close the iMac up or it will overheat.
It's probably worth replacing the PRAM Battery whilst you're in there as these have a finite life (once they fail to re-charge you may start to run in to snags - it's only a $5 part). You might also give consideration to upgrading the 'factory' RAM slot.
regards
mrtotes

Buying external hard drive question

I want to buy a external hard drive for my wife's G4 (w/ FW800). Is there any compatibility issues with the G4 and the hard drives that are being sold today? Thanks for the help.

Hi-
You might consider a firewire housed drive from OWC. They have guaranteed compatibility, a 2 year warranty (most others are only 1 year), and in the future, if you so desire, you can replace the drive mechanism inside the housing with a new one. You can't do that with others. Also, you have a wide range of capacities to choose from ( major makers are limited), and they include a nice bundle of helpful utilities software.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/usb/eliteclassic
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/800/
As advised, stick with the firewire interface. You will get the best data transfer rates, and be able to boot from the drive if the need be (can't boot from USB connected drive).
G4 AGP(450)Sawtooth Mac OS X (10.4.8) 2ghzPPC,1.62gbSDRAM, ATI9800, DVR-109,(IntHD)120&160,LaCie160,23"Cinema Display

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Best,
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As far as I know, that is the only list of compatible drives with the router. So, yes, that is the list I am referring to when I said "compatible drive list". There are very few 2TB or 3TB drives on the list. I would really like to be able to use a 3TB drive with a couple partitions, and that seems almost impossible with very few options. I have been reading around the last couple days and I hear lots of reports of people successfully using drives that are not on the tested compatible list. I just wanted to know more options from people like that.

Before I buy this hard drive...

Before I order this hard drive, I want to double check to make shure it will work, or should work, with my new white 2.0ghz macbook. Any replies appreciated.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145113

Seagate Momentus 7200.1 ST910021A 100GB 7200 RPM 8MB
Cache ATA-6 Notebook Hard Drive.
That Hard Drive is ATA whereas the MacBook needs
Serial-ATA
That's right. That's the wrong drive. I just got this one installed this week, but I see they are out of them again.
Here is a better deal for memory.
-Bmer
Mac Owners Support Group
Join Us @ MacOSG.com
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Note: I receive no compensation for product endorsements.

I am going to buy a new external hard drive and have some questions first

Although I asked this question several years ago, I would like to ask it again, just if in case technology in general or external hard drives in particular have changed in any significant ways.
I need to replace a 1 terabyte LaCie external hard drive that died on me after a few years.
1. I am afraid of buying another LaCie. What other brands are reliable? I heard that Western Digital is. Also another brand beginnibg with S (so helpful, I know).
2. Do I have to look for a drive that is MAC FORMATTED? I vaguely recall this term from years ago. I also remember another term that I was to look out for, but I don't remember what it was. Something like ”chronicled“ but obviously not that.
3. Should I get more than 1 terabyte? Right now I have an old, old 125 gigabyte LaCie that still lives, but it is so small that it is almost nothing
4. What do you think about buying external hard drives fron Costco as opposed to from the Apple Store?
~L

Ziatron, you wrote ”All you do is open the enclosure and the hard drive plugs in. (done.)“ What enclosure?
This is the enclosure I like, it needs a hard drive to work : http://www.cooldrives.com/ox93saiihadr.html
But there are many others.
looking at my two dead laCie ext. hard drives and they don't have ”enclosures.“ Just holes in the back to receive the cables.
A hard drive enclosure is a box or case the actual hard drive goes into. Look at the images in the link above. You can see what is inside.
This hard drive goes inside the above cool drive enclosure: http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Intellipower-Desktop-WD20EADS/dp/B001RB1TI S/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258862242&sr=8-1
You recommended getting a hard drive with a Firewire connection, but most of the hard drives have USB.
Well maybe, the better drives are Firewire.
Should that matter to me?
Yes, Firewire is "isochronous", basically meaning that you can pump "clocked" data though it in real time. USB works more like TCPIP, with the data chopped up into packets and later reassembled. (Thus, at a minimum, you have latency, that is, the wait for the data to be "put back together".) Second, the Firewire protocol allows more direct address to memory (including mass storage) with minimal intervention of the CPU.
Is USB a whole lot slower than Firewire if I am transferring materials?
Firewire is faster and _more reliable._
Take a look at the link below, "Build Your Own External Hard Drive". The enclosure I like is easier to use.
http://www.harmony-central.com/articles/tips/hard_drive/
http://macs.about.com/od/diyguidesprojects/ss/externalhdcase.htm
Also you need a Mac Pro to use eSATA, with a iMac use the Firewire port.

I want to buy a new external hard drive.

I want to buy a new external hard drive, I have an iMac now, I most likely will buy a mac pro this winter. I want to buy a hard drive that will be able to handle the highest quality video, AND work with my iMac now. Thanks
Andrew

And finally:
Make SURE you format the drive as Mac OS Extended, journalling optional but recommended.
Disk Utility Help: Erasing a disk or volume
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=DiskUtility/10.5/en/duh1009.html
In step 4, DO choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
WARNING: All your currect files will be erased.

Macbook butchers hard drives-New hard drive where to buy and how to install

Hey.
I have one of the last generation Macbooks and my hard drive died on me again. this the second hard drive and I only have the device for 1 year and 10 months.
Last time it fell under warranty but that has expired by now. So I am left with following questions:
1) Is it normal for a Macbook to kill 2 hard drives in less then 2 years? Could it be somthing about my Macbook specific or the way that I use it?
2) I don't really feel like spending at least 200 euro's at my Apple reseller to have a new hard disk installed... So I was wondering:
2.a which hard drives are suited for my type Macbook
2.b where do I find them / at which price (within Europe / Belgium)
2.C where do I find a manual about how to install it myself?

Hi Puck84,
Puck84 wrote:
1) Is it normal for a Macbook to kill 2 hard drives in less then 2 years? Could it be somthing about my Macbook specific or the way that I use it?
Hard drives do fail. That is an inescapable fact and a primary reason why backups are always recommended.
Two hard drives to fail within two years, although unusual, would have nothing to do with your Mac and more to do with the actual hard drive.
Puck84 wrote:
2) I don't really feel like spending at least 200 euro's at my Apple reseller to have a new hard disk installed... So I was wondering:
2.a which hard drives are suited for my type Macbook
2.b where do I find them / at which price (within Europe / Belgium)
2.C where do I find a manual about how to install it myself?
Replacing the hard drive in your model MacBook is very easy. Instructions on how to do so are even in the User's Manual that came with your MacBook. If you no longer have the manual, you can download it from here:
http://support.apple.com/manuals/#macbook
Additionally there are also excellent tutorials on youtube - just type something like "MacBook hard drive replacement" or similar in the search field.
Internal 2.5" SATA hard drives can be bought virtually anywhere and are very cheap - a 500GB internal 2.5" SATA hd, for example can be found on-line for as little as 50 Euros (maybe less).
I'm in the UK and whenever I need to buy internal hard drives I do so on-line from ebuyer.com:
http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Components/cat/Hard-Drives---Internal/subcat/2.5%22- SATA-Hard-Drives
Other similar sites are equally as good.
Da Vinci

Buying a hard drive

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