External Hard Drive Recommendations

[jkpescador]

I'm looking for something that can go back and forth between an iBook and a desktop PC. Anyone currently doing this?

[pzarquon]

I've pointed several friends to the Maxtor (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11098722&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=) "One Touch," which is PC/Mac compatible, firewire and USB, and if you're lucky is still on shelves at Costco. The trick is to format it in a way that both Macs and PC can read it (FAT32?). I think a default Mac formatting will be unreadable on a PC.

Of course, once it's mounted on a Mac or PC, you could also just share it via networking.

[jkpescador]

I've been reading Lacie reviews and wow they are either really good or really bad which scares me.

The external hard drive is basically to store digital pictures for now and share them.

This is getting scary as I probably need to sketch out my network in the near future. Will I need a ups and backup server too. ;)

[Glen Miyashiro]

I've pointed several friends to the Maxtor (http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11098722&whse=BC&topnav=&browse=) "One Touch," which is PC/Mac compatible, firewire and USB, and if you're lucky is still on shelves at Costco. The trick is to format it in a way that both Macs and PC can read it (FAT32?). I think a default Mac formatting will be unreadable on a PC.How quiet is it? I have gotten increasingly sensitive to noise from my computer gear at home, and silent running has become a big plus in my buying decisions lately.

[kimo55]

I have three separate LaCie 500 GB externals plugged into my G4. I hear absolutely nothing from them. No sound or any noise whatsoever.

[craigwatanabe]

I believe the Lacies have no cooling fans. I have a bytecc and it can accomodate standard hard drives. It's small (about the size of a 1-1/4" paperback book) and quiet and is built in a solid aluminum case. It also has a switch in the back.

The problem with fanless external hard drive cases is they tend to get warm. A friend of mine has a Lacie (Porche design) and his hard drive fried. Lost all of his information that was stored on it.

My Bytecc case (same as MadDog BTW) gets a bit warm too so I'm thinking of drilling some vent holes or at least slapping on some heat sinks to the casing as the hard drive conducts it's heat directly (no air gaps between hard drive and case) to the aluminum case for cooling.

[Glen Miyashiro]

What I really want is a network storage device, something that plugs directly into my network, runs all the time, isn't attached to a specific PC, and can talk to both Macs and PCs. And is whisper quiet, and has at least 300 GB of space. :rolleyes:

[jkpescador]

That sounds good Glen.

[craigwatanabe]

There out there but network storage is very expensive at this time. Cheaper to find an old P3 with a NIC card and a USB 2.0 port and network that computer. Most mobos allow for up to four IDE devices. With one hard drive as the Primary Master running it's OS you could run three more additional hard drives internally and network that computer to be "seen" by all on your network.

You can also run a printer to that computer and network that device as well any other USB device hooked up to it. Heck maybe you can call it a Server. :eek:

[Glen Miyashiro]

Hmm. I was at CompUSA the other day and found two products that seemed to fit the bill for my needs.

The Maxtor Shared Storage Drive (http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.ba88f6d7cf664718376049b291346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Products/Network%20Storage/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage%20Family/Maxtor%20Shared%20Storage&productview=Overview) looks good, but it's only configurable via Windows.

On the other hand, the LaCie Ethernet Disk (http://www.lacie.com/caen/products/product.htm?pid=10592), being a LaCie, plays well with both Windows and OS X.