External hard drive solutions

C

C-O-L-E

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Im currently using a external 500 gig hard drive thats almost full, i have a 750 gig hard drive in my computer that I try to keep nothing but applications, music, documents and things of that sort on and absolutely no video or photo content on. I filled up this 500 gig drive pretty quick (bought it in september) and I'm doing more and more photo and video work so I know I will fill up another 500 gigs or so over the summer. I want something substantial that can sit on my desk and be something i spin when I'm using lightroom and fcp etc, then use my other drive as a field drive with my lap top. I know I've seen landis mention a toaster drive that sounds pretty nice but I'm not sure what exactly I should be looking for. What do you guys recommend? I have thunderbolt but everything thunderbolt seems pretty dam expensive these days.

Spark notes-

Whats a good cheap way to back up all of my shit a couple times?

 
firewire 800 lacie hd. i cant remember what they are called but like a 1tb is 150 or so. i have a 2tb lacie rugged xl that runs esata and it was 200 but thats only cause it uses esata firewire is more expensive and thunderbolt is too expensive still. you can get thunderbolt to express slot 34 so you can run esata but might be spendy too
 
Toaster drive with two slots, each with a 2tb drive, running raid1. It will not only give you lots of space but peace of mind too.
 
Cheap yes, but you get what you pay for. Right now my toaster only has one functioning slot due to apathetic baggage handlers at the airport. It also adds a good 7 lbs to my luggage with a small Pelican case.

I highly recommend G Tech. I've had nothing but great experiences with them. Lacie gets mixed reviews; I've had bad luck with them, while others swear by them. Avoid Western Digital at all costs. Of all the hard drives I've worked with over the years, none of them crash as frequently and are generally as unreliable as Western Digital drives.
 
Agreed. However, an often overlooked, but equally/greater performing, and cheaper, brand as G Tech is OWC (who also use Hitachi drives). I have the OWC Merucry Elite Pro Qx2 connected to my MBP by eSATA and I couldn't be happier (running RAID 5).

worth a look.

otherwise, if you aren't looking to spend money on a RAID system, I have numerous laCie Quadra's that have served me well over the years as both backups and main storage/editing drives. as mentioned by slantypoo, they do have a wide ranged of mixed reviews...

hope this helps somewhat.
 
Slandy and goodie what you guys are recommending looks awesome but its a bit to pricy and i have a 500 gig variation to what evan was suggesting but i want something i can build up ward with. I think I'm looking more along the lines of what 1337 is talking about. You have any links to anything specific you'd suggest like that 1337?

 
Pro tip: raise your budget.

The toaster is super cheap, but its a huge pain in the ass. The harddrives don't fit snug and wiggle. It's cheaply made and the cables barely stay plugged in. Backups aren't fast at all unless you have two eSata plugs on your computer. Otherwise the backup drive connects via USB 2.0, thereby stripping eSata of it's speed during backups.

If you're working on a desktop and never have to move your workstation from location to location (e.g. college), it works as a quick fix. But after a couple years of fiddling with it you'll likely wish you just saved the extra bucks in the first place. It definitely isn't a system you can "build up" with. That would be a RAID configuration, or a DROBO (although I've never worked with a DROBO so I can't vouch for it).
 
Ok, got it. can you suggest anything raid thats going to be cheaper then what you mentioned? something sub $350 with like 2 tb?
 
I was going to suggest something like a RAID enclosure because i've been looking into them myself and have found the toasters to have some bad reviews.

OP, what connections do you have on your computer? It's a laptop, no? Just curious as to what would work best/most efficiently for you
 
that raid setup looks really nice.

The only thing I could see being better is finding a raid setup that allows daisychaining with a firewire 800 + thunderbolt. That would give you very impressive write speeds on both drives. It will be pricey though...

I also just realized that I've been editing via usb 2.0 this whole season. LOL didn't even notice any speed issues.
 
I have not read the whole thread, but I would like to give my 2 cents.

Like 2 months ago I purchased a 1TB Lacie D2 with eSATA, UUSB 3.0, and Firewire 800. It has yet to fail. I have not run it to much due to I have not really been editing much lately, but it has worked great so far. One thing I dont like about it is that it shuts off if you arent using it for 15 minutes. Not a huge pain in the ass, but its anoyying sometimes.

I also purchased a 500GB Lacie Rugged without Firewire or any of that good stuff. I bought this as a back up, and a HD for my travels. Its small, light, and works for me.

I have heard nothing but good things about the G Tech hardrives, but the Lacie have worked well for me.
 
IMO, that seems like a much more expensive scenario than buying a RAID system that allows replaceable drives...and I think G-Tech is overpriced...
 
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