What kind of external hard drive should I buy?

I have a MacBook pro and an older iMac desktop at home, and several different PC's at school and work (dells for the most part).
The files I need to move around are very diverse, from .psd and .ai to google sketchup to CAD to mp3s and PDFs.
I need to be able to seamlessly move LOTS of files back and forth (and I would also like to use an external hard drive to backup my personal photos, portfolio of work, and itunes library). I am sick of moving files with my small 20g flash drive, and I want everything in one place on one external hard drive. The last WD passport I bought will not connect to PC, and I hate the built-in backup software.
Any suggestions? What hard drives have worked best for you PC to Mac users?

Well first off you really need a couple of external hard drives to backup your boot drive.
If you detest the corny and hobbled TimeMachine as much as I do, then you will likely prefer bootable clones instead.
So the clones will be GUID OS X Ext J formatted so OS X can boot from them, but the PC's can't read that format easily.
Also one shouldn't be taking risks moving their clones around and hooking them up to various malware infected PC's anyway.
Most commonly used backup methods
Ok, next your going to need one or two external drives for transporting files between computers of different platforms (one backup), however you need to format this drive into something that the Mac and PC can read equally and with no trouble.
The formula is rather simple, take the portable drive(s) to the oldest version of Windows your using and right click and format the drive there for exFAT (not FAT, not NTFS)
Now if you have a XP machine and exFAT is not a option, then it can be downloaded for free from Microsoft's web site.
It's important to format the drive on the oldest Windows PC because XP can't read/format GUID partition maps and Vista and Win 7/8 can. XP uses a MBR partition map instead.
The Mac can read/write to all Windows partition map schemes and drive formats, except writing to NTFS.
Drives, partitions, formatting w/Mac's + PC's
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

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What brand portable external hard drive should I buy?

Can anyone suggest what brand of portable external hard drive would be a good one to buy for storing my iTunes music and maybe photos on. My Macbook is now getting stuffed full of music and as I have an 80gig iPod I will need to move my iTunes on to a larger drive to make the most use of it and I probably need at least 100gig. I can get hold of the Lacie Porshe design ones from a local apple retailer, or order something else from the Apple store...Crossfire maybe? I want it to be really plug and go, be ready formatted for Mac, and be bus powered and fully portable.
I would be grateful for any advice.

I like my Acomdata too. It's 320GB and in this aluminum case...I call it "the ingot" because it's big and heavy and metal. However, it's not a treat to take places because it's so big and heavy. I'm thinking about getting an OWC Firewire drive based on a 2.5" drive because of the need for an external drive that's highly portable.
However, don't go the USB2 route unless you have Firewire on the external drive too. USB2 requires a lot of intervention from the CPU that Firewire doesn't. You will NOT be able to vidcap to a USB2 drive. However, no probs vidcapping to a Firewire drive. I don't know why Apple is moving away from Firewire...it's a superior system. If they moved to eSATA I would understand, but that's not where they are going. It's probably a cost thing, darn it.
Message was edited by: S. Michelle Klein-Hass

Going to upgrade to Lion. First have to back up computer. What external hard drive should I buy to back up computer using "time machine". Have 320 gb hard drive.

I am going to upgrade to Lion. First have to back up computer. What external hard drives should I buy in order to use time machine. I have a 320 GB hard drive. Don't have too much on computer.

patmc102 wrote:
I am going to upgrade to Lion. First have to back up computer. What external hard drives should I buy in order to use time machine. I have a 320 GB hard drive. Don't have too much on computer.
Buy an external drive 320G or larger (much larger is preferable). I do not recommend you use TM for this, instead download a copy of Carbon Copy Cloner and make a clone of your drive. Once this is done you have 2 choices, you can download and install Lion on your internal drive just as you planned or download and install Lion to the external clone, the 2nd method allows you to test the Lion install before committing to it. If the clone with Lion is to your liking then just clone it back to the internal.

Which External Hard Drive Should I buy?

What brand of external hard drives for the macbook do you guys recommend? Where should I buy it from?
I will be using it to boot from, so I want something fast. As for size, 250+ GB is plenty. I am more interested in how fast I can run OS X on it.
Thanks,
KANE

Depending on what interface you want, you have a variety of choices from Other World Computing. I bought one of the basic OWC Neptune FW400 drives mainly for backup, but it is also bootable on my older machine. The newer Intel machines can boot via USB 2, so that might be a good faster option for your MacBook, but they have some OWC Mercury drives that offer multiple interface options, so you have the flexibility of FW400/800 USB2/1.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEU7500G16/
http://eshop.macsales.com/
Get two of them, so you can make a regularly scheduled backup, using DejaVu, Retrospect, or CarbonCopyCloner, etc...

What type of external hard drive should I get?

First, I'm not sure were I should have posted this question but here goes....
I am officially 100% an Apple home environment now. I have an iMac, a Macbook Pro, and an Airport Extreme. I want to add an external hard drive and I need suggestions for what to get. I know the Time Machine router is available but I'm looking for a less-expensive option.
I want to add an external hard drive but I want to make it available to the entire home network so that both the iMac and Macbook Pro can write and access files on one shared external drive. I also want the ability to have both computers to be able to use Time Machine to back up to the external drive. External file access (i.e. via a cloud option/app) for accessing files from my iPhone or iPad is not necessary but would be appreciated.
Also, is it just as easy as hooking the external hard drive up to the network by USB cable to the USB port on the Airport Extreme?

There is no such thing as a Time Machine Router, however I think you are referring to a Time Capsule. Time Machine is an application for backing up. Time Capsule is something else entirely different.
If you want to hook up an external HD to an Airport Extreme that will work just fine as a network drive however DO NOT use it to back up using Time Machine, at best it's unreliable for using Time Machine.
Finally if you are looking for a good quality EHD I strongly recommend using OWC (www.macsales.com) Mercury Elite Pro series.
If you want to back up multiple Macs to a single EHD then you need the Time Capsule. You can get them refurbished from Apple. For example:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD032LL/A/refurbished-time-capsule-2-tb

How big an external hard drive should I buy?

I am being told (by my computer) that I need to backup all my files - that there is a problem with the computer's internal hard disk. I thinkn I should run out and buy an external hard drive (What? you don't ALREADY have one? I think I head you all saying ...)
If the internal hard drive is 999 GB, I heard (?) that I should have at least 3 TB for the external hard drive.
Havign an external hard drive would be a great idea anyway, not just for backing up files but to allow the drive in the computer to run more smoothly.
I am making "statements" here - but they are really "questions." Am I making sense? Can anyone confirm the truth of what I am saying here?

Just to get a backup of your system any disk larger than your present usage would work, however you may as well look to later requirements. 3TB should be good enough for a while unless you have lots of HD video.
As to making your system run more smoothly, that depends on what you will use the drive for, generally speaking I would not use a backup drive to store data that is "in use" and the backup, if the drive fails you lose both data and backup. Have a seperate drive for backups and if you want to off load "in use" data to an external drive buy a drive for that purpose and do not forget to also backup that drive.

Which external hard drive should I buy for data back up? Thanks

emac g4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
emac g4 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hello Seventree and welcome to discussions,
If I can assume that the title of your post is your entire question....
Make sure its Firewire - That way, you can boot up the eMac in the, unlikely, event of an internal drive failure / problem. You cannot boot PPC Macs from a USB drive.
Get the biggest you can afford. The external may well outlive the eMac! Many machines now " ship " with 500 Gig drives. That amount is only likely to increase.
Maxtor is one brand that seems to be well regarded among many here. I am sure there will be other suggestions for you.
Regards
Ian

What external Hard drive should I use for Final Cut Pro?

Hi:
I have a Mac Pro and I'm planning to work with HD. What external hard drive should I use?
PD: I have a NVIDIA on a PCI Express graphic slot.
Thanks,
Cabezon

You'll need to be much more specific; there are 20 or 60 different kinds of high definition. Some require nothing, some require superfast RAID, some require specialized hardware support.
bogiesan

What size external hard drive should I purchase

What size external hard drive should I purchase? I'm not tech savvy, so please speak slowly. I'm looking at OWC Mini Stack Classic to match my older Mac Mini. Do I need 500 GB, 1 TB or more? Plus, I have to add memory to upgrade to Snow Leopard. How much memory do I need and should I have an expert install it ?
Mac OSX version 10.5.8
Mac mini 3.1
Processor 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 2GB 1067 MHz DDR3
1 Processor
2 Cores
L2 Cache 3MB
Memory 2GB
BUS Speed 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version MM3.1.0081.B06
SMC version 1.35f0
Hard Drive
Format MAC OS Extended
Capacity 297.77 GB
Available 238.69 GB
Used 59.08 GB on disk

Good points raised by all.
In my mini configs - both older and newer flatter model - I have kept their ministack external drive on top of the mini; with 3 or 4 little rubber feet added to the mini's base to give it a bit more elevation from the surface they are sitting on and a bit better chance to breathe. I'm not impressed by the very small air intakes on the bottom and the hot air that often comes out the back or how warm the case feels. Especially in the heat of summer.
I do turn the ministacks on/off as needed (primarily for backups once a week) as they're not entirely quiet and sometimes seem to have a low hum vibration. Nothing crazy. I just like it as dead quiet as possible sometimes. Plus the fan does not turn off even if the mini and ministack drive have shut down. The newer wide & slim model does seem a bit quieter than the older model.
Check through system profiler to see if your system has 2x1GB or 1x2GB. Most likely it is 2x1GB and you'd need to remove both to double your ram. On the off chance it has a free slot; a single 2GB stick would get you to 4GB. Check on the cost difference between the 2x2GB kit and a 2x4GB kit. I have an older core duo mini that functions fine with 2x2GB of RAM and 10.6.8. But, if you plan to continue to use the mini for several more years as a primary machine including upgrading the OS to Yosemite; it might not be a bad idea to just max it to 2x4 8GB. Yosemite really likes RAM to maximize performance.
Along the lines of keeping the same mini and doing upgrades. The biggest speed improvements are made by replacing the original internal hard drive with a flash drive. Of course this is a more technical upgrade, you really need to take the mini apart more and you have to weigh the cost of the upgrades and possibly paying somebody to do them; vs the cost of a newer system which would have a significantly faster processor and other improvements.

Which external hard drive should I use to save my iTunes library?

Hi,
So I have collected so much music and movies in iTunes that my internal HD is practically full. (Library is over 500GB of 1TB and the rest is taken up with my apps and programs.) It's time to purchase an external hard drive to transfer my library to. Furthermore, I currently have a 2TB WD My Book for Mac that I am currently using for backup. The My Book is also full and Time Machine is deleting the oldest backups to make room for the current ones.
Here is where I need everyones advice. I am planning on purchasing a 3TB WD My Book for Mac. I am planning on purchasing more movies for iTunes. Which external hard drive should I use for what? Option A or B
Option A: Put my iTunes library on the 2TB external hard drive and use the 3TB for backup
Option B: Put my iTunes library on the 3TB external hard drive and continue to use the 2TB for backup
Also please give me your reasoning.
Thanks everyone for your responses!

Limnos,
So, let's go one step further with this. I read your reply to moving iTunes library to an external hard drive: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4594518?tstart=0 However, if I move the iTunes library, will this include all the movies and apps that I have purchased?
Thanks!!!!

When adding an external hard drive, should you hook it up to your iMac or your Apple Extreme router?

When adding an external hard drive, should you connect it directly to your iMac or to your Apple Extreme router?

That depends on what you are using it for. The advantage of connecting it to the router is that you can share the drive over your home network and/or over the Internet. That can be convenient but drive access is performed at network speed - slower than when connected directly to the computer. If you need/want to share the drive, connect it to the router, otherwise connect it directly to the computer.

HT1751 when i have moved all of my data to an external hard drive should i delete all of the library files on my laptop/PC

i have moved all of my data to an external hard drive should i then delete the copies on my laptop

What are you actually trying to accomplish? Backing up the library, or moving it?
If backing up don't delete anything.
If moving did you move the library files as well? Ideally you would copy the entire iTunes folder out to the external drive then shift-start iTunes to connect to the relocated library. This method makes it easier to move the library to a new drive or computer later and keeps everything together for backing up. Rather than delete everything rename the iTunes or iTunes Media folder first (depending on which approach you took) and make sure the library still works before deleting.
tt2

HT201250 which external hard drive should I choose/use as I am setting up Time Machine on my MacBook Pro 15 for the very first time?

Which external hard drive should I use/choose as I am setting up Time Machine on my MacBook Pro 15 for the very first time?

Any of these SATA HDDs that are at least the same size as your internal HDD (preferably larger capacity). In addition you will need an enclosure, preferably one with a Firewire as well as a USB connection.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/hard-drives/2.5-Notebook/
Ciao.

I want to move my music and photos to an external hard drive from my iMac. What external hard drive should I get?

I want to move my music and photos to an external hard drive from my iMac. What kind of hard drive should I get? Will it remove it from iMac and only be on external hard drive?

How to correctly move your media:
iTunes: How to move the library to an EHD
iPhoto: How to move the Library to an EHD
It is important that the External Hard Drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended (journaled).
And also make sure that all is working to your Satisfaction before Deleting anything Off your Mac.

What 1Tb external hard drive should I be considering for my new 27 in iMac.

I'm going to be purchasing a new 27in iMac soon. I have begun searching online reviews for a 1TB external hard drive. I may have narrowed the search down to OWC Mercury Elite and G Technolgyand maybe LaCie. Any help would be appreciated.

I'll second the recommendation for OWC (macsales.com); I also have a couple of LaCie's - there is nothing wrong, but I do prefer the Mercury Elite.
FWIW, most external hard drives come with some sort of software - there is absolutely no need for it. I plug in a new hard drive, wait until I see the icon on the desktop, launch Disk Utility and partition/format the drive to Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and (under options) GUID partition scheme. At that point, you can decide to have one or more partitions on it depending on what you want to use it for. In any case, that process will wipe the drive clean - when finished, the new hard drive will be ready for whatever you want to use it for.

What kind of external hard drive should I buy?

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