Best avenue for external mass storage?

USB will kill ya!! Firewire is the way to go but even these are sometimes just not as fast as internals...

However I think you should be satisfied with an external firewire drive...they're fairly quick...

I think Firewire is faster than USB 2.0 I am fairly sure of that...

The only problem is you do not have a powered firewire port on these sagers...so you have to look up myrkats post where he did something with the PS2 port to get power to his firewire drive (when you're on the move and you dont wanna carry the power adapter around).

last i remember:

firewire: 400 Mbps
USB 2: 440 Mbps

USB 2.0 has a theoretical maximum of 480Mbps, and Firewire400 is 400Mbps (there is Firewire800 and will ultimately be a 2400...)

Anyway, USB2.0 has NEVER hit it's maximum in any test I have done nor any benchmarks I have seen (at places like Anandtech, Tom's, etc.)

Firewire consistently spanks USB2.0 in external HD tests (and any other test, but FW seems to only be used for external HD type things - there are some exceptions I won't go into here).

As for starting out with ANY type of external HD there are TWO main paths to take:

1) Buy a PRE-MADE rig. Either USB2 or FW. Basically, it's the HD + Enclosure and all the stuff you'll need.

2) Buy a HD and buy an Enclosure seperate. Usually do not save any money, but you have control of WHAT kind of HD is inside.

I like the smaller 2.5" HD's and enclosures (Bason Computer has some nice options), but 3.5" HD's are bigger and cheaper.

As for SPEED, anything above 5400 is probably not going to be noticed on a 400Mbps/480Mbps connection, so don't go all-out for speed.

I suggest Western Digital "JB" models (yes, they are 7200) but the liquid bearing and 3-year warranty along with the 8MB on-drive buffer makes them a NICE drive!

One last note on the 2.5" enclosures: while they run off the BUS power (FW or USB) Laptops do not provide ANY (Firewire) or ENOUGH (USB2) juice to reliably run the drives. Get a ps/2 power tap or an external AC power brickette.

The 3.5" drives/enclosures all need an AC brick/brickette.

-myrkat

I recently acquired a WD2500 (250GB, 7200, 8MB cache) self-contained external from CompUSA. The price there has dropped (on sale weekends) another 100 bucks (with rebates) since I bought it a little over a month ago!

Cons:
Comes with, and requires, power via an AC adapter.
No on/off power switch. Have to plug\unplug AC.
Not as small or portable as 2.5" portables.

Pros:
If perception is any criteria, this baby is FAST, fast, FAST, fast, FAST! (I run the combo via Firewire, not USB, per everyone's recommendations.)
Tons of storage.
Neon pink and blue lights in the clear case.

Although I hate extended warranties, as the salemen said, these aren't "intended" to be portable, but if you bust it ("just fell off the desk officer!") the warranties will replace it, not repair it. Whatever.

Good luck!

Yes, High-Speed USB 2.0 has a higher theoretical throughput, but firewire does indeed push 1's and 0's faster, and does it with less overhead and fewer worries about what other devices are connected and whatnot. I would definitely go with Firewire, given the choice. Firewire 800 is also on the horizon, and I believe the first products are starting the trickle out. This will theoretically be twice as fast as the current Firewire, but is not well tested or accepted yet. I believe it is supposed to be backwards compatible if you find a Firewire 800 product you like.

If you are going to go with a "do-it-yourself" solution (buying an external enclosure and bare drive seperately) you can probably save yourself a few bucks, but there are ready made options out there. Whichever route you go, i would recommend getting an enclosure that has two ports - one to connect to the comp, and the second one so you can daisy chain additonal devices if necessary. It really sucks when you bring home a new toy and then realize you have to go back to the store to buy a hub because your all out of ports.

Tomshardware.com just did a big write-up on several different external storage solutions, which you can read here. They include a write up on the first external serial ATA drives, which seems like a nifty concept (though of course the technology is too new I think for anyone who is not comfortable in the role of "early adopter"). 2.5" drives are ever so cute and portable, and as myrkat said they can run off the bus power, so they have their place (even if I too have my doubts about laptops providing enough juice on their lonesome to power them) but considering how much more capacity you can get for the same price in a 3.5" drive, I think thats where the scat is at. Check out the WiebeTech 500 GB external enclosure. if you seriously need a lot of external space, this thing is capable of software raid, and it even looks kinda snazzy and has decent built in cooling for the drives. Wiebetech makes some other kinda nifty external device type products, though I think they can be bit on the pricy side. Good luck!

I mean what kind of speed differences are there? Are the differences so big i would notice them playing an MP3 or would only notice it when transfering gigs at a time?

The combo Firewire\USB lets you have it both ways. The 250GB WD2500 (7200RPM) "was" on sale for $229. Your links add up to $360 if I read it right. Just an FYI.

Local Sunday news COMPUSA ad insert. Prices are only good for 4-5 days, and locally, until they run the special again. If you're near a big city might be worth keeping an eye out for. Mine retailed for $429 and with instant and mail-in rebates I'm paying about $300+.

Yeah, that's the one. Surf http://www.pricewatch.com/ for Hard Drives\Firewire 250GB. They have similars for around $300 and up.

without question opt for the firewire, at least until usb 2.0 matures a bit...

I bought the Western Digital combo Firewire/USB and love it. 120 gigs 7200 rpms. I have been importing/exporting DV with it through the USB port of my 8890. It has worked flawlessly. I haven't tried the Firewire because my DV camcorder is hooked to it. I paid $250 at Circuit City. My friend bought one a week earlier and got a $100 rebate from WD. I can go to my other computers and transfer files so easily with it. I recommend it highly.

It has its own ac adapter? so its still stuck to the wall?

USB 2.0 is totally workable, but remember alot of the people on this forum are performance junkies so we would opt for firewire. If you do connect with USB 2.0 try to make sure it is the only device connected to that USB controller (usually, 1 controller goes out to two ports) and try not to go through an external hub. The more devices are sharing that controller, especially if they are not of the same type (there are low, mid, and high speed devices) the more of a performance hit you will take.