All kinds of SCSI drives out there. They do cost more though. For price per storage space, getting an internal and backing that up & removing would be better.
I hope you have a SCSI 2 or Firewire to make this fast.
Same manufacturers as internal drives though. Some don't even need an external power supply, though space will be limited to 100 GB(maybe 120). In addition, the guys that made Zip drives make external drives.
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nietzsche Deactivated User
5470 Posts 8/03
Posted - Mar 9 2006 : 11:01PM
Essentially, I'm looking for storage that will not deteriorate, eg CD ROMs.
I have been using external hard drives for archival purposes for years and they all have performed well under constant use. The brands that I recommend are Seagate, Acomdata and Lacie.
I wouldn't recommend Western Digital. I've seen no less than three of them fail in a relatively short span of time.
The USB 2.0 interface is fast enough, even if you plan on moving gigs of data. It takes about two and a half minutes for me to move approximately 4 GB of data. Some come with both USB 2.0 and Firewire connectiviy but they can cost more. Either one is fine though, just look for the best deal.
Excellent idea. I've been doing it for years with programs like "Autosave" and "Automatic Backup" that do it passively in the background at defined intervals.
All the major players make very reliable hard drives. In my experience, they rarely fail before the useful life of the product is over. I did recently have a Maxtor external fail on me - however, the drive itself is OK -- it's the *power supply* that flaked.
Hi Speed USB2 or Firewire are both fine for this purpose.
the external hds from Seagate,Maxtor,and Western Digital usually get very bad reviews on Amazon,most users complain they just die prematurely.Not sure if putting a internal hd in an external enclosure is a better option.
I run 2 Maxtors - the drives are fine, but like Snowman I've had a power supply (the thing with a little green light that sits between the wall plug and the drive itself) fail so may be a real problem. They supplied a new one with no quibbling mind, and its been working fine for a year now.
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nietzsche Deactivated User
5470 Posts 8/03
Posted - Mar 11 2006 : 7:53PM
I don't really plan on using the thing that much. Like I say, it's really only for backing up. So I would assume there shouldn't be any problems.
So you are just going to copy stuff on and disconnect? As long as you store it well, I don't see a major brand giving you many problems. Unless you are lucky enough to get the lemon.
Even the cheesy brands are fine I think. For instance, it just so happens I purchased one of these today. Fry's had a 40 gig, compact 2.5 inch USB 2 model by "Wolverine" for $99 with a $40 rebate. I wanted a small one that didn't require a power supply to shuttle large files between home and office and between computers.
After connecting it to XP, the drive was identified as a Toshiba. I'm sure it's the same ones they used to put in notebooks. It works fine.
I run a Seagate that does auto back-ups. So far the only "complaint" I have is that occasionally it can get VERY loud if you leave it on all the time. But like you are planning to do I only turn it on when I want the system to back-up.
I am going to buy a LaCie today as a means of expanding the memory on my Apple.
My second internal drive is a Western Digital. At first it worked fine, but twice I heard a springy "bing" and my computer completely locked up. A powerdown is needed, Ctrl+Alt+Delete does nothing. Upon powering up again, the CHKDSK has always checked the WD drive. No errors are found, but I am getting a non-Western Digital external to back up that data.
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pinc_noiz Deactivated User
758 Posts 6/05
Posted - Apr 2 2006 : 3:43PM
last week I bought my fourth ext.HD, all from LaCie (500G BigDisc): bought my first one three years ago, and never had a problem this latest one has no forced cooling, so is extremely easy on my ears (my first three use fans, but no noise problems there also) LaCie has an 'Automatic Backup' software which works perfect for me
Hazel Heart Interview
Posted - Mar 9 2006 : 9:01AM
