What is the best firewire hard drive for the Mac?

I want to buy an external hard drive for my G5, between 300-500 GB. What is the best kind and what should be avoided?
Is LaCie good?
G5 Dual 2.3 GHz Mac OS X (10.4.6)

I would have to say these are some of the best.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/
Our Recording Studios at Ball State University use them and the old director recommended them to a friend.
Also, I would make sure it has one of these chipsets in it: Oxford 911, 911+, or the 912. I have an external hard drive that has an Oxford 922 chip in it. It's fast, but it has like a 5-10 second lag before any data is moved... it really annoys me. The Firewire 800 is amazing though.
I am pretty sure these are IDE drives in enclosures. I am unsure about the SATA side of things. Check out www.barefeats.com for speed tests.

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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 portable hard drive for my mac

What is the best portable hard drive for my mac?

A lot depends on the size you want...physical size, I mean...see what they have at OWC, http://www.macsales.com I have thee of there drives and they are great...compatible and already formatted out-of-the-box. But it is still better to format and partition yourself to set them up your way.

What's he best portable hard drive for the Mac Pro?

What's the best portable hard drive for the MacBook Pro?

There is no best.
Look at OWC for some options. http://www.macsales.com/
I am biased against the ubiquitous low price Western Digital.
I had good luck with DiskGo Edge in the past.

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 a mac?

I am needing an external hard drive, because my laptop is becoming slow, and was wondering the best one to get. I would like it to be quite large 250gb-1tb. Any suggestions?

There are many that will work just fine. I've been very happy with the units from Other World Computing:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/
but there are other brands and vendors that are also quite good. If your MacBook has a Firewire port, a Firewire-equipped drive will give you the best performance.

Could someone please let me know the best external hard drive for a Mac Pro 17 in. ? Thank you .

Hi,
I am new to the community and need advice as soon as possible . I have been using the iMac hard drive , but need a external hard drive to put on the Mac Pro and dont know what kind to get . Could someone please let me know the best for the Mac Pro ? I was told to get the 500 MB external back up , but when searching for it on the internet I saw different ones that had other things with the 500 MB . Some had 300 or 200 something else along with them and I dont know which to purchase .
I will appreciate more than you know if you could help me with this , as the Pro is needing backed up now.
Thank you ,

I appreciate all the great advice here , but all this is overwhelming to me , as you all are so intelligent with these things and this causes me to feel more dumb about a Mac than I was already .
I paid for a One on One to learn these things , but I have a Immune Disorder and wasn't able to attend one class , so its not that I didn't try , I am just not able to travel . I don't like asking others for help , but at this point I don't have a choice.
I called Apple store and was told to get a External Back-up for the Macbook Pro to back up the info. on the device in the event it crashed . And another reason was "they " said to get this was I have a 2 TB backup on the iMac desktop and that using it to back up things on the Macbook would take up all the space of the backup on the desktop . I hope I am saying these things right for others to understand me as I said I don't know much about these things , at all really . I am wondering if I should have ever bought these products as it seems they are much harder to learn than I thought . I do admire all the brains you all have here and wish I knew just a little of what you all know.
Someone ask the kind of Macbook Pro I have , it was bought in August of 2011 , but sat all those times , was only updated when needed to be , as I was trying to learn on the desktop Mac and with this illness I live in bed more than up , so I couldn't learn on both devices . I should also say at this time I paid for an extra 3 yrs. to have the opportunity to call in for advice , but was only given 15 min. of talk time , and I can't complain as the Techs were very supportive , but the problem was and is I can't be out of bed long enough to learn things I need to with only getting to call Techs , maybe every 3 or so months and sometimes I didn't call for 5 or so months , now that has expired and I don't have a choice but to ask for help .
I know some might wonder why I went to the trouble to have these devices with being sick , but I would like to live some with what time I have left in life . I am not searching for pity here , just wanting to clarify what has happened and why I am having to bother others . With this out of the way now I can get onto the other things here.
I am afraid I might have messed up the backup on the Macbook Pro was trying to make a back up and clicked on something saying do not use this , meaning the device from the desktop again . I had connected the backup device from the desktop , trying to make a backup of things on the Macbook Pro and also cant get the Time Machine turned back on , once I turned it off .
I am sorry I have taken so much time to try and explain this to you all , but I am not computer savvy as you are and have had a hard time explaining all this .
I noticed also someone said this isn't the right forum for this , and would like for someone to point me to the right one if you don't mind.
I appreciate all the good advice here and all the trouble you all went to for me .
Thank you , thank you all .

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 is the best upgrade hard drive for a A1342?

What is the best upgrade hard drive for an A1342 (white macbook)?

Absolutely. I put a Samsung 840 in my early 2009 white macbook and it is the best computer upgrade I've ever done. I've also put an OWC SSD in my late 2009 iMac and highly recommend their drives. http://eshop.macsales.com

What is the best blue-ray drive for my Mac Pro????

What is the best blue-ray drive for my Mac Pro????
I wanted a BWU-200S but it says windows only i called apple
and all they could tell me was logitech....wouldn't tell me a model
or anything.
I would really like one that does all the formats and feature that the
Sony BWU-200S does.
I read that the BWU-200S might work in the mac pro it just only comes with
windows software. If anyone has tried this let me know please i need this soon.

This site makes Mac compatible Blueray drives:
http://store.fastmac.com/index.php?cPath=10252
The questions to ask them is:
1. Which applications can be used to burn bluray movies from it?
2. Which applications can be used to playback commercial bluray from it?
3. Does it let you burn DVDs from iDVD, iTunes and the Finder as well as CDs and CD-RWs?
4. Does it support both DVD-R DL and DVD+R DL for burning and playback?
5. Does it allow for booting from the system installer that shipped with the machine and running the hardware test that shipped with the machine?
6. Do you get to keep the original optical drive in case you want to troubleshoot if system issues are due to their drive?
Some of these may already be on the website, I just haven't taken the time to look it completely over.
Message was edited by: a brody

What is a recommended internal hard drive for a Mac Pro 1,1 (2006)?

What is a recommended internal hard drive for a Mac Pro 1,1 (2006) model? I would like to
add more hard drive space by utilizing the three available slots. However, from my understanding,
Apple does not produce hard drives for my older computer so I'll need to turn to a third party.

You are very much over-due for some new larger more efficient drives.
the most common best approach goes something like this....
SSD 120GB for system
WD Black 1-2TB for data (and put all your data and media files, all your home account sub-folders)
Backup. I use WD Green but use what you want. I have a small boot volume, TimeMachine, and 3rd that is a clone image of the boot drive volume.
Very fond of WD 10K VelociRaptor drives. Not much louder now than the WD Black 2TB, $100-200 for 250GB to 1TB.
You can use any size SATA 3.5" drive, most now are 1TB and up to 4TB.
You should have always bought Amazon or Newegg or outside of Apple, Apple can often charge 3x what those places charge.
Probably want to add or replace FBDIMMs you have, these are excellent and price in the last year has fallen.
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $29
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
WD Black 1TB $93
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Internal-Desktop/dp/B0036Q7MV0/
WD Green 3TB $149 - backup
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Green-Desktop/dp/B004RORMF6/
WD VR 10K 250GB $103 200MB/sec boot drive :
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V5A1BK/
Those last and last and make a nice boot drive.
SSD: Samsung 840 128GB
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-120GB-internal-MZ-7TD120BW/dp/B009NHAF06/
Over-due to upgrade and replace the graphic card most likely it sounds like also:
ATI Radeon 5770
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC742ZM/A
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-ATI-Radeon-5770-MC742ZM/dp/B003Z6QH6M
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/726537-REG/Apple_MC742ZM_A_ATI_Radeon_HD_5 770.html
Your OEM 7300GT isn't helping now and with Lion or the X1900 dust magnet and out of date too. If you have a functional 8800GT still working you are lucky and no need.

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!

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

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's the best replacement hard drive for an early 2008 MacBook

I asked this before, but I'm looking for the best bang for the buck on hard drives. Will a 7400 drain my battery faster? Is there a unit that is quiter than others?
I've been told that the Western Digital blue series has comparability issues, are there other drives I should stay away from?

First, there are no 7400 RPM drives. There are 5200 and 5400 RPM drives and 7200 RPM drives.
A faster hard drive consumes slightly more power than a slower one, all other things being equal. So, yes, it will cause the battery to drain a little faster.
Yes, there are some drives that are quieter than others, but this will differ even within the same make and model.
WD Blue drives or "green" drives conserve power by throttleing the drive's speed. They tend to have compatibility issues with Macs.
What drive is best for you depends a lot on what you want to do with the drive and what your storage needs are.

What is the best firewire hard drive for the Mac?

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