Recommendations for 1TB portable external HD

I'm looking for a 1TB @7200RPM portable external HD for my MacBook 7,1 [mini-DisplayPort and 2 USB 2.0 ports] and I'll be using it to transfer video projects to and from an iMac. I've been recommended to use something with Firewire 800 connections as it's apparently the most compatible with the iMacs that I'll be using. I'm unsure what model but I do know that none of the iMacs have Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 capabilities. I've also been recommended to use Lacie and Rockstor brands, but I'm fairly certain that was just because the University has a deal with these companies and isn't necessarily reflective of their quality and capabilities.
Any recommended products or advice?

Matthew Jackson wrote:
Hi, need an external portable HD for my new macbook. 160GB at least. Can anyone recommend a good one that maybe even looks nice?
Western Digital Passport. I have one (160GB) and it has so far worked off of a single port on every machine I've plugged it into. The white one matches the color and finish of the white MacBook. I've got the black one, although it wouldn't match the matte black finish of the BlackBook. You should be able to find it in Europe.

Similar Messages

  • Recommendations For MBP Portable External Drive To Back Up OSX & Windows

    Just like the title says folks.  I bought a new MBP a couple of weks back to use for work.  For work, it will be used via Windows 7 and any other time I'll be using it via OSX.  On a budget right now (150 or less), otherwise I'd be investing in a Synology NAS system to back up my Mac at home as well as the MBP.  Looks like most people recommend a Seagate or Western Digital.  I'm thinking of just getting a 500g to match the one in the MBP, unless someone thinks I should go for a TB and have some extra room.  Just wondering what you folks think? Is there one better to backup both operating systems?  It looks like the Seagate would do both.  I just don't understand all the difference between the different models of the Seagate as well the Western Digital.
    Also, is there any way to back up both at the same time?   Doubtful from what I've read here unless I'm in a virtual environment, which I'm not as I'm using bootcamp to run Windows. Would I use Time Machine on OSX and then manually backup when I run Windows.  Sooo confused!
    Thanks in advance for your help!

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
    http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?id=10554
    http://www.newertech.com/storage/

  • What is FireWire and what FireWire adapter do I need to use FireWire 800 for my portable external hard drive ?

    Hi guys, I'm new to Mac. I have a MacBook Pro 13" (late 2011) with Lion OS and Parallels 7 (Windows 7). My understanding is that there is FireWire connection / extension built in to the MacBook Pro already. I also have a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex portable external hard drive 750GB USB2.0 and 3.0 (that can be used for PC and Mac). It states that the portable external harddrive is FireWire 800 compatible. The questions are (1) how does FireWire works ? (2) how do I use or activate FireWire 800 ? (3) is there any setup / setting changes I need to on my MacBook Pro ? (4) what FireWire adapter do I need to purchase to connect my portable external harddrive to my MacBook Pro ? Is it expensive ?
    I read a few articles online but they are too technical for me. They mentioned something about FireWire adapter with 6 pins or 9 pins. Not sure what that means. I'm totally confused. So any help, advise or guidance will be much appreciated. In Layman's term would be better. Thanks.
    How about Thunderbolt ? Is it compatible with the above external portable hard drive mentioned ? Do I need a Thunderbolt adapter for it ? How do I activate or use Thunderbolt ?

    Thanks, Clinton and Alberto.
    The below link is the Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex portable external hard drive (product code STAA750302) that I have. It states that it features USB 2.0 or 3.0 plug–and–play connectivity and easily upgradeable to USB 3.0, FireWire 800 or eSATA. It only comes with a 18-inch USB 3.0 / 2.0 backward compatible cable.
    http://www.seagate.com/au/en/external-hard-drives/portable-hard-drives/standard/ goflex/
    Based on the above, my understanding is that I need to buy a FireWire 800 adapter to connect to the portable external hard drive so that I can use FireWire 800 with my MacBook Pro. Is this correct ? Do I need to get a separate cable as well or can I just use the 18-inch USB 3.0 / 2.0 backward compatible cable that was provided in the box ? If so, what sort of FireWire 800 cable do I need to get ? 9 pin to 9 pin ? 6 pin to 9 pin ? Or 4 pin to 9 pin ?
    https://www.lindy.com.au/online/arrshop.exe?anonymous=true&cat=b1

  • Recommendations for 1tb/500gb ext hard drive (Time Machine compatible?)

    Getting a Macbook Pro with either 320gb or 500gb internal drive. (If not when I buy it will eventually upgrade to 500gb). New to Macs. Looking for good, reliable(?) ext drive for system backups I guess with Firewire 800 connectivity as the Pro has that. Suggestions?

    There are 3 I will endorse with confidence they are:
    OWC Mercury Elite Pro Series
    OWC Quardra D2 Series
    G-Tech G-Drive Series
    All have similar feature sets and build quality. Although I have 4 of the Lacie's I wouldn't hesitate to use either OWC or G-Tech either. I would also recommend you read the following article about backup strategies from MacWorld, while I think the author goes a little over the top the point I'm trying to stress is the importance of redundant backups.
    Roger

  • Recommendation for Large (4Tb) External Drive for Time Machine

    I have a large library that I'd like to backup from my Mac Pro - 2T drives are not large enough - any recommendations on 4T drives for Time Machine?
    Thanks
    GJM

    People have said to wait for version 8.2 of Retrospect which appears to be here.
    http://www.retrospect.com/
    Maybe time to move to RAID6 controller. I've seen folks on MacGurus talk about large, massive storage arrays and backups.
    http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/BurlyRAID.php
    People have said that they backup RAID A to B. Or mirror two arrays.
    Did you not like SynchronizePro? From March '09:
    After months of trying and testing we have settled on Areca cards.
    http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9218286#9218286
    I have not heard of problems (very many) with SuperDuper and their support is always helpful.
    A linux NAS server running linux backup or even Windows Home Server. People even use Windows to run Retrospect (runs better). Anything you find will likely take some time to setup and configure in the beginning, this isn't your proconsumer type of need.

  • Does anyone have a recommendation for a portable name tag printer compatible with the iPad 2?

    I need to purchase one that will be compatible.

    I use brother printers for my company. they work great
    http://www.brother-usa.com/downloads/iphone-ipod-label-printing.aspx

  • Need recommendation for external DVD burner drive!

    I'm one of the officers for a film club at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Recently, I discovered that we had, in our offices, a fully-functional, if not somewhat dated, iMac G4. After getting the neccessary OS X upgrades (it's now running the latest version, 10.4.8), I need to upgrade the CD drive, which is currently just a CD burner drive. It can't even play DVDs, much less burn them, both things we need to have working if we want people in our organization to be able to use this computer.
    Since I don't want to physically remove the drive and replace it with an internal DVD burner drive, I'd like a recommendation for a good external one. I noticed that there's only one option on the Apple Store, the LaCie d2 DVD+/-RW Drive, and that doesn't look like it's been getting very good reviews. Does anyone have any other options I could choose from?
    iMac G4   Mac OS X (10.4.8)  

    Good point Keith. 
    I have no experience of this model but this one from OWC (a company who get very good press on these boards) promises iDVD 5 and 6 support. It's somewhat cheaper than the Lacie in the Apple store but doesn't have Lightscribe.
    mrtotes

  • Recommendations for external hd for Time Machine backups

    After having my 1TB G-Tech G-Drive Q desktop external h.d. crap out on me for a second or third time, this time for good, I give up on G-Tech. (I also had a faulty 500GB G-Tech portable which had to be replaced.)
    For many reasons, my iMac's Time Machine backups have to be stored on an external hard drive. Two or three times, the external h.d. has become corrupted or something and has had to be reformatted, losing all the previous backups and starting all over again. This time, since the external h.d. is toast, I have no backups at all.
    My MAIN question: Do any of you have a recommendation for an external hard drive - probably desktop, but not necessarily - preferably 1TB - which is RELIABLE?
    Is this h.d. corruption/repeated failure a function of Time Machine? The hard drive itself?
    What good is Time Machine if we lose backups all the time?

    limerick2010 wrote:
    Sorry to butt in, but I'm on the lookout for a solution to make a secondary, offsite back-up of my company's data. I was also looking at the usage of external hard disk for the purpose but am stumbling at a very basic question.
    If the first disk(say 1TB) runs out of space and I connect a new hard-disk, wouldn't Time Machine back up all the stuff previously backed up, all over again on the new disk?
    Exactly. Bt you're talking about two very different things: secondary backups vs. not enough room for primary backups.
    The whole point of secondary backups is having a second, separate set, so if something happens to the primary set (lost, corrupted, disk fails, etc.), you have another complete set. As noted in the link in my previous post, it's also a good idea to use a different app for the secondary set, in case there's a problem with the primary app.
    If your Time Machine disk gets full, you have three choices:
    Let Time Machine start deleting old backup(s) automatically, to make room for new ones. You don't need to keep them forever -- a few months should be plenty for most users.
    Get a new disk and start backing-up to it. Keep the old one "on the shelf" until you're sure you don't need the old backups any longer. You can always view and restore from them via the +*Browse ...+* option, per #17 in Time Machine - Frequently Asked Questions (or use the link in *User Tips* at the top of this forum).
    Get a larger disk, copy the old backups to it, and continue backing-up to the new one. See #18 in the FAQ.

  • Need recommendation for bootable External HD for CCC

    Hi !  I recently came to the forums to get info on how to effectively back up my mid-2010 MBP 500 Gb because according to Disk Utility I need to reformat my HD  
    I am currently only using Time Capsule to back up with Time Machine.  I had initially decided to drag my iPhoto library, itunes, and movies (along with some other user files) to a new Seagate 500 gb GoFlex portable External HD that I had.  But since I've done that, I've also done more browsing on the boards here and learned that I probably should be making a bootable clone of my HD (using Carbon Copy Cloner).  That sounds like a logical idea, and Im embarassed  I didn't know about it sooner.  So I plan to purchase the CCC immediately and do this before it's too late.  On their website they specifically say NOT to use Western Digital drives because some of them are not bootable.  I also saw some comments that the Seagates "go to sleep" and probably should be avoided.  I'm not sure how up-to-date those forums are so I am coming here for some recommendations/suggestions. 
    Before seeing those comments I had seen a few in the local stores here I was considering (WD passport, SeaGate backup plus, Toshibo Canvio Connect)...but now I'm confused. 
    Any suggestions for an External HD that I can use?  (also, I was thinking 1 TB was a decent size to get)?
    Thanks so much for your help ! 
    Christine

    chrstene96
    probably should be making a bootable clone of my HD
    Bootable clone is very important to have, and MUCH more useful than time machine in general.
    Forget about CCC,  Superduper does the same thing for FREE.  Download the APP SuperDuper (most use it).
    Some advantages of a cloned HD:
    In case of an internal HD crash and failure, there is absolutely nothing quicker to getting back to 100% operation than having a HD clone handy to either boot from, or within 20 mins. installing and removing the bad HD. Nothing to install software-wise, and a speedy immediate return to your computer use and productivity.
    If you do an option key startup at boot you can directly boot to your cloned drive externally and operate from same like normal.
    Sandboxing: With the help of the Cloned Drive, you can perform sandboxing, or the testing of new software, their updates and applications before they are installed on your Mac system. Moreover, if there are issues with the system, you can troubleshoot them by booting off the Clone. Many people test new APPS or experiment with a secondary clone and never worry about a failure or serious issue since the internal HD is untouched and the secondary clone can be wiped afterwards if any major issue occurs in testing. This is an invaluable tool in many instances.
    If you sell you computer for purchase of a new one, you can take the clone you have on hand and install same or clone it to the new internal drive of your new Mac.
    As it turns out one of the huge positive benefits of a clone is that people were seeing faster HD speeds; with APPS booting up from the clone than they had seen with the internal HD. The cloning applications in cloning the drive defragments the data to the clone and remove the “holes” in the cloning process.
    With a small portable HD clone you can take your ‘computer’ anywhere to most any other current Mac and boot from your HD clone and have your entire system and its data immediately there for use. In case one is across the world and their macbook gets stolen, or damaged, with another Mac you can be up and 100% in the time it takes to boot to the new or borrowed Mac!
    You can clone from your external clone to the internal HD/SSD in case of corruption.
    The best thing that can be said, ideally, when your HD crashes with all its data is “so what, I’ve got a clone right here” and you can return to normal operation within seconds (by booting from the clone) or minutes (by swapping drives).
    In separating out your system hub (OS) and your data hub, and storing them separately, is if you make only periodic clones (every month or so), and have a HD crash, the worst case outcome is that what is lost on your clone are some bookmarks and preferences since your data hub containing your vital files is constantly archived separately as it should be.
    Disadvantages of a cloned HD:
    A HD clone takes a rather long time to update since it checks all files for changes.
    Ideally you would erase and create a new clone of your updated system every 2 weeks or month, which would therefore leave a gap in data integrity and OS files and system changes.
    Autonomous constant data hub archiving fills this downside “gap” of HD clones, wherein which the worst that would be lost is a 2 week or one month window of application updates, or system changes irrelevant to your vital data.
    best options for the price, and high quality HD:
    Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or  $65 per TB on 2.5"
    Perfect 1TB for $68
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
    Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim and perfect
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
    2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package)    $117
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
    *This one is the BEST portable  external HD available that money can buy:
    HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive  
    $88
    http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Mobile-Portable-External-0S03559/dp/B009GE6JI8/ref=sr _1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383238934&sr=8-1&keywords=HGST+Touro+Mobile+Pro+1TB+USB+3.0+72 00+RPM
    Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"
    macjack My Swamp 
    It's usually not the WD drive
    If you're handy you can "roll your own" with a bare drive and an enclosure
    Its never the WD mechanical HD itself.      None of those posts on "data corrupted .....Mavericks...HD RAID arrays"  has any issue with the mechanical HD from WD
    (that being said WD quality is the worst and I refuse to buy them).
    Ill let you know when I find a HD enclosure that is worth more than 50 cents  and/or is reliable.
    (actually this one IS reliable:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Anker-2-5-Inch-USB-3-0-eSATA-to-SATA-Hard-Drive-Disk-HDD -External-Enclosure-/321085534744?pt=US_Drive_Enclosures_Docks&hash=item4ac23072 18  )

  • USB 3.0, fast, portable, external hard drive for HD video editing

    I'd like a 1TB or 2TB, bus-powered, fast, portable, external hard drive for HD video editing on MacBook Air i7 (2013).
    Any recommendations?
    Thanks!

    best options for the price, and high quality HD:
    Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or  $65 per TB on 2.5"
    Perfect 1TB for $68
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
    Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim and perfect
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
    2.5" USB portable High quality BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 2TB drive (have several of them, LOT of storage in a SMALL package)    $117
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48 /ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379182740&sr=1-4&keywords=2tb+toshiba
    *This one is the BEST portable  external HD available that money can buy:
    HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive  
    $75
    http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Touro-Mobile-External-HTOLMX3NA10001ABB/dp/B0062FZ2WS /ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1379185002&sr=1-1&keywords=hitachi+extern a l+hard+drive
    Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"

  • 1TB and 2TB portable external hard drives

    I have an iMac and a MacBook Air, both up to date in terms of operating system (Mavericks) and I need recommendations for portable external hard drives - one 1TB and one 2TB.
    I'm reluctant to use Western Digital because of the conflicts with WD SmartWare which comes with the hard drives.
    Looking for reliability. They will be used for Time Machine backups and I may pick up one more of each for SuperDuper clone backups as well.
    Thanks for any recommendations and buying advice.

    Funny how we all have different experiences with different drives.
    Like Thrifty One, I have had very good luck with a number of bare 3.5" WD drives, but would never own another one of there external enclosures. Currently I have a WD in my MiniStack, three in old Maxtor Firewire enclosures, three others that I use on a USB to SATA adapter and one that I put into my early Intel iMac several years ago.
    As for portable and 2.5" drives, I have one one older WD Passport, one Seagate GoFlex, the Toshiba from my Mini is in a Sabrent enclosure, plus a Samsung and a Hitachi that I also use on the USB to SATA adapter.
    Over the years I have only had one Seagate and one Maxtor that completely fail, plus one other unusable Seagate because it is really loud.

  • Is there a MagSafe 2 compatible portable external power source for the retina display MacBook Pro?

    I’m using a retina display MacBook Pro with the MagSafe 2 connection.   I would like to have a portable external power source to extend the use of my laptop on long field trips where I am away from power sources. Swapping batteries is not an option for this generation of MacBook Pros.  There seem to be many options for PC’s and even iPhones/iPads/iPods but the MagSafe 2 connection seems to be the issue.  I saw one link that suggested buying an Apple MagSafe 2 power adapter and performing surgery on the power cord (using components provided by the vendor) so that the adapter would run on their back up battery.  I was hoping for a more esthetically pleasing solution. Any suggestions?  Does this product exist and I just missed it? Clearly, if a MagSafe(1) compatible external battery existed I could adapt that using the MagSafe to MagSafe 2 converter.

    Sparon,
    I wouldn’t recommend using an underpowered AC adapter with your MacBook Pro. It sounds as though the best solution would be to get a different laptop bag with a sufficiently large side pocket.

  • Portable External Hard Drive / Steroids for MacBook Pro

    Hi.  I recently purchased a (Non-Retina display) 13-inch, Mid 2012 MacBook Pro.
    Processor: 2.5GHz Intel Corei5
    Memory: 4GB 100 MHz DDR3
    Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 384 MB
    Software: OS X 10.8.2 (12C54)
    I love my new laptop, but am not exactly tech-savvy.  I'm pretty computer illiterate, so I don't exactly know the difference between USB 2.0/3.0 or Firewire 400/800.  I know what I want to do, but I'm not sure if it's possible.  Basically, even though I love my MacBook, I'm curious if I can love it even more and want to know how to max out its potential.  Eventually, I want to:
    A.) install the maximum amount of memory and internal hard drive capacity possible.
    B.) get the largest, fastest, yet PORTABLE, external hard drive possible.  I've got a ton of music in iTunes, and I want to get my huge DVD collection digitalized.  Something in the TB range.  I keep reading mixed reviews on WDs and Apple's Time Capsule.
    Any help will be much appreciated,
    Mike

    Hi Myke,
    If you want to shop for a bigger hard disk or more memory, I recommend you go here: OWC / MacSales
    Their prices are about as good as you're going to find, but more importantly their Mac support is superior, especially if you are not completely confident in knowing exactly what you need to buy. Macs are particular about memory but if you buy from OWC they know what to supply and will guarantee it will work.
    The ultimate upgrade is an internal Solid State Drive but these get expensive in a hurry.
    The Time Capsule is not a portable external hard disk. If you want an external portable HD, shop for one at OWC.
    I have heard mixed reviews on WD also, but the same mixed reviews apply to all consumer grade hard disks these days, without exception. Basically, they are all cheap. Consider them disposable, which means you should always have a backup. Time Machine is included with your MacBook Pro and is as easy to use as plugging in an external hard disk. Time Machine does the rest. Use it! There is no excuse not to.
    USB is preferable to FireWire these days.

  • Portable External Hard Drive for MacBook Pro

    I have a mid-2012 MacBook Pro. Last week I had the 500GB hard drive replaced with a 240GB SSD. Now I'm looking for a portage 1TB external hard drive to store my photos, music, and everything else that was previously on my hard drive. I purchased a Seagate Back Up Plus from the Apple store last week after talking with a couple of different people that work there. But I'm not overly impressed with it and want to return it for something else. The main reason is that it seems to be more for backing up social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube and I don't use those enough to have this matter. I'm looking for a good and reasonably priced portable hard drive that I can use to store my things on that also can be backed up with my Time Machine. Reviews for this EHD are good, so maybe I'm wrong in wanting to return it. Hoping someone can help me out with pros/cons and offer some advice on something better.

    huge storage, low cost, high quality, very small and portable.
    BEST FOR THE COST, Toshiba "tiny giant" 15mm thick  2TB drive (have several of them, lots of storage in tiny package)    $100
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Connect-Portable-HDTC720XK3C1/dp/B00CGUMS48    /ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1390020791&sr=8-3&keywords=toshiba+2tb
    best options for the price, and high quality HD:
    Quality 1TB drives are $50 per TB on 3.5" or  $65 per TB on 2.5"
    Perfect 1TB for $68
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-Hard-Drive/dp/B005J7YA3W/ref=sr_1_ 1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379452568&sr=8-1&keywords=1tb+toshiba
    Nice 500gig for $50. ultraslim perfect for use with a notebook
    http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Canvio-Portable-External-Drive/dp/B009F1CXI2/ref=s    r_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1377642728&sr=1-1&keywords=toshiba+slim+500gb
    *This one is the BEST portable  external HD available that money can buy:
    HGST Touro Mobile 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive $88
    http://www.amazon.com/HGST-Mobile-Portable-External-0S03559/dp/B009GE6JI8/ref=sr    _1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1383238934&sr=8-1&keywords=HGST+Touro+Mobile+Pro+1TB+USB+3.0+7 2 00+RPM
    Most storage experts agree on the Hitachi 2.5"
    Hitachi is the winner in hard drive reliability survey:
    Hitachi manufacturers the safest and most reliable hard drives, according to the Storelab study. Of the hundreds of Hitachi hard drives received, not a single one had failed due to manufacturing or design errors. Adding the highest average lifespans and the best relationship between failures and market share, Hitachi can be regarded as the winner.

  • Portable external drive recommendations

    I'd like to use a portable external drive to store my referenced masters (about 15k jpeg images and growing), which I would back-up periodically to a 1 TB LaCie drive. Other than getting a drive with FW800 (compatible with my MacBook Pro), should drive speed (5400 vs. 7200) be a consideration? I've noticed that 7200 rpm drives generally max out at 500 GB (and are generally more expensive), but I'd like to get a 1 TB drive. Any recommendations or suggestions?
    Also, any suggestions for backing-up referenced masters from one external drive to another (frequency, approach, tools/software)?
    Thanks

    I buy memory and mass storage from OWC at
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/.
    Plenty of 7200 rpm choices available including 1-TB size, and yes I consider 7200 rpm worthwhile. I recommend drives that allow FW800, eSATA and USB for flexibility. Slow USB-only drives for backup only can save a few bucks, but drives are cheap and I like to be able to repurpose drives instantly if the need arises so I pay extra to maintain multiple connectivity choices.
    As to backup, I feel strongly that originals should be backed up before import into Aperture or any other app. Frequency of offsite backup depends on how important the image data is to you. Personally I do not erase CFs until the originals are both on the hard drive they will live on and backed up to an offsite drive (which can be as simple as a drive that lives in the car). The point is that one theft or one fire or one whatever cannot forever lose enterprise-critical photos.
    HTH
    -Allen Wicks

Maybe you are looking for