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[andyg]

What are some of the best external firewire drives? Also what features/specs should I look for (size, rpm, etc.)

I'm a home studio guy who is about to eat up the remaining space on my current drive (which is an EZ Quest). I haven't purchased a new drive in over a year and that's why I'm asking what the current opinion is...Thanks

[Greg Youngman]

All the brands seem to have their lemons.  I just purchased some Maxtors.  Places like Staples and Best Buy are running specials.  They're cheap.

[compasspnt]

We've had great luck with these;

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/fw800-drives/

[PookyNMR]

I would second Terry's comment on the OWC drives.  I've had nothing but good performance from them.

[djui5]

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEF W912AL2/


I bought this bastard...stuck 2 WD 250GB drives in it, wrote some stuff to it and turned it off.

I turned it back on today and it's clanking really loud...won't show up on the desktop....etc etc.

Don't know if it's the drives or the enclosure...

[Greg Thompson]

Seagates seem to have the best warranties on their drives.  
I stand by a company that stands by its product.
I've had trouble with Western Digitals.

[overeasy]

I would have to say STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ACOM DATA drives. I've seen 3 of them lock up and die.

[PookyNMR]

djui5 wrote on Tue, 03 January 2006 18:08

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEF W912AL2/ I bought this bastard...stuck 2 WD 250GB drives in it, wrote some stuff to it and turned it off. I turned it back on today and it's clanking really loud...won't show up on the desktop....etc etc. Don't know if it's the drives or the enclosure...

It's the drives.  There seems to be a problem with the latest batch of WD 250 GB drives.  I had one do the same thing to me.

Also, (note to all) don't forget to "eject" your volumes before you disconnect the FW cable or turn off the device.  Failure to do so could result in lost data, damaged FW ports or damaged drives.

[djui5]

PookyNMR wrote on Thu, 05 January 2006 10:12

It's the drives.  There seems to be a problem with the latest batch of WD 250 GB drives.  I had one do the same thing to me. Also, (note to all) don't forget to "eject" your volumes before you disconnect the FW cable or turn off the device.  Failure to do so could result in lost data, damaged FW ports or damaged drives.

Thanks! Guess I'll be sending those back. What sucks is I have information on them..


damm.

[Jan Folkson]

Just got wind of a bunch of guys that used to be with Quantegy that formed their own company called Avastor.  Drives come with internal power supply and carrying case.

A bit pricier than the consumer stuff but I'm really getting tired of all those power supplies.

http://www.avastor.com/

[Jonathan Heimberg]

I've got two Maxtor One Touch drives, a 250 and a 300.

My 250 has traveled more than 300,000 miles with me in my suitcase, my carryon, in plastic baggies, been inspected by the TSA who knows how many times... and it still kicks butt.

Loved it so much i bought the 300.

Fry's always has great deals on these.

[compasspnt]

I Just bought some of these

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlis t&A=details&Q=&sku=325205&is=REG&addedTr oughType=categoryNavigation

for an upcoming production.  (That's why they are now out of stock!)  Hope they are good...will report.

By the way, whatever happened to 10k rpm drives?  They were the rage, then suddenly everything is 7200.

Is this a positive harbinger spelling the potential death knell for 192?

[Jonas as]

I've had two of those maxtor one-touch drives die on me.
Both where 250Gb disks.

One of them at the very end of a productive day in the studio, just as I was going to back up.
not good.
Beware.

[djui5]

compasspnt wrote on Fri, 06 January 2006 04:56

By the way, whatever happened to 10k rpm drives?  They were the rage, then suddenly everything is 7200.

SATA happened.

There's no need to spend money on 10K drives for backup, and you can get SATA 10K drives internal to work off of. I have one, and it's great

Way cheaper than SCSI......

[wwittman]

I've had mixed luck with almost every drive manufacturer.

I've sworn off Western Digital after one too many catastrophic crashes...

Maxtor has been spotty as well..

Mercury seems to be fairly reliable although every once in a while one refuses to mount somewhere but I have yet to have one actually CRASH, which is great.

Lately I've been having the most luck with LaCie's, but I admit that some people have told me they've had trouble with them. But so far *I* have them all purring away happily.