Best avenue for external mass storage? - Page 2

and always use the SAME PORT - I've noticed that windows wants to REINSTALL the drivers if you plug it into a different port the next time you fire up your laptop (does this with mice, jump-drives, etc).

USB is what I like to call the "LEAST COMMON DENOMINATOR" - something you are usually forced into using because someone else isn't up to speed.

-myrkat

Seems like everyone's keen on the Western Digital line (I upgraded my DVR with an internal 120GB, and I love it). What's the verdict on the Maxtor line of external HDs? Was checking out their 120GB version (it only had USB 2.0, not firewire, though there's apparently a firewire version, too) - Best Buy has it for $180.00. There was also a pretty sweet Seagate 160GB drive (w/ firewire support), though it was a whopping $300. (Both were 7200rpm, btw).

there's some strange voodoo surrounding WD. they seem to always be the first(in the past 5 yrs anywho) to release the next biggest capacity, drive mechanism, cache increase. i have surprisingly never heard of a WD horror story in lieu of drive failure. i personally have experienced, what i would consider, premature(2 years and 4 years) drive failure in a maxtor and IBM Deskstar. i'm WD all the way these days...until they give me a reason to reconsider....

I had 3 drives of their bearings fail All 7200 RPM 100 gig drives, back in the day before the 8 meg cache. So they arent perfect, but they are still a good company fixed things alright, took a while though... I hope they have gotten better. Can you just buy the drive and enclosure seperatly right> THe drive doesnt make adifference as to firewire or usb right? Thats the enclosure right?

correct. I went to ebay for my purchase. I got a 160 gb wd internal ide 7200 rpm hard drive. I then searched for 3.5" enclosure and searched through those. The reason I bought the enclosure from ebay is because after all was said and done i spent olnly $110. Other companies wanted to charge me $80+!!!! for the enclosure alone. The enclosure I got supports firewire and usb 2.0 It is not a characteristic of the hard drive. I have no problems and i think it is actually quite fast hooked up to usb 2 so if that is all u can get dont worry because its still really fast. Only thing i suggest is if u buy and internal drive and make it external like i did, get an enclosure with a fan. My enclosure gets real warm and i fear i might burn up the drive because it is just a solid aluminum case without a fan

External HDs/2.5 and 3.5

I run both a 2.5 external (40MB) for my misc junk and a 3.5(80) for my MP3s (I have about 50GB of music). I went with buying the cases and drives seperately and have had only 1 minor problem.

If you use a 2.5 on the USB remember that the port can only put out 500mAMPS, so if you want it to run reliably without external power you have to make sure the drive is as low voltage as possible. Mine is a 700mAMP so external is a must to get it to complete its spin up. Also, I wouldn't tap into another USB port or the keyboard line for the external power. I do when I have to, but it puts a strain on my system and shuts it down during high processing times. (old system-will have to see with the new sager when it arrivers)

last note-for music and video, the USB 2.0 will run pretty seemlessly.

That's what this guy said back a few posts (but not as clearly as you).

-myrkat

Roger

I know that, but I was also trying to imply that they do make 500mAMP hard drives that "in theory" wouldn't need external power...but then the box it is in probably draws power too....

just a fyi..

compusa really does have one of the best warrenty/replacment options of all other stores. what ever you might say about customer service or pricing or whathave youthe replacment process really is pretty easy to deal with.

I used to work at a compusa... and in the 2 years i was there i did several differnt jobs; software sales, upgrades, tech, and loss provention. for a while if you needed a game, or a vid card/upgrade, i was the guy ^^; but lets not get too far off topic here.

the thing about compusa warrenties is you have to know how to work the system. and while im not advocating malicious play, a 20$ rpl plan on a 200$ vid card comes in quite handy 2 years down the road when that once brand new vid card is slowing down. for instance: i go through cdburners like no tomorrow... im sure many of you do the same.. i bought a 12x drive when the came out for around 150$ i abused that poor little drive and when it finally would only write at 2x i cashed in my rpl warrenty. and boom brand spanking new 42x. then again it always helps when you know people who work in the store ^_-

so to make this long story just a bit longer. yes you fell for the salesmans pitch, but in the next two years if you have any problem with that beast of a harddrive youll get a brand new one. reminds me...i have a dv cam whose warrenty expires around december...hrm...

-Emyrs

em,

i hope this wasnt your compusa but i got a pc from them about 8 yrs ago. first pc i had in ages. i had problems with that computer from the get go. granted they were probably all inflicted by me because i had no clue how to use a comp at that time (cd drive is a cup holder deal) but i got the 3 yr warranty on it. I cannot remember what went wrong but i remember the pc would not power on. it had some powe rproblem and it took those guys over 2 months and some very threatening phone calls before they finally gave me a new one. just my bad experience.


also, i just got myself a dvd burner from bestbuy and got their 3 yr planm because i feel i will burn it up. i know my dad has had good experience with them exchanging a 2.5 yr old printer for a brand new one. I just hope it goes the same way with me. btw, did anyone see the imation 8x dvd burner for $300. I just spent $300 for my damn 4x burner. This technology crap pisses me off the way prices drop. i thought that whole period was all over. sorry to whine here i had to get it off my chest.

anyway, sorry for the totally off topic post. hopefully it wont get deleted

Ah,,,
hrmm...
i guess it really does help to know people in the store ^^;

then again ive heard really bad things about different compusas. i worked at the store in sandiego and while it wasnt the best job, if you took away the shifty managers and underhanded things going on (boy do i have stories) then it rocked. i mean a job is a job...but when you have a good time laughing with coworkers it can be great. jobs would be wonderful if it wernt for upper managment and the 'work' part ^^

and now. back on topic =D

-Emyrs

Extended warranties can be great sometimes. Like when I bought a '94 T-Bird back in '99. I opted for the $1300 2 year warranty. About 6 months after I bought it the transmission died. They charged me $2200 for the replacement but because of the warranty I ended up paying only $25 and they even gave me a free rental car for the week. I also had a few other minor problems where the warranty covered most of the costs over the two years. It really wasn't a bad deal for me.

But then I had a compaq laptop where it was experiencing overheating (although I didn't really realise it at the time). I called up circuit city and they sent it in to be fixed via the entended warranty. They claimed there was nothing wrong with it even though it was FUBARed. (It basically would throttle down the processor instead of turning on the fans. So every 5 minutes it would go from fast to slow then back again to fast.) After talking to the 4th level of customer service via phone at circuit city they informed me there was nothing they could do for me. When I asked to talk to their supervisor they told me they were as the highest level of person in the building. If I had felt more inclined I might have been able to get a new laptop, but instead I sold it to my sister for half the price I paid for it. Heh. 2 years later (3 years after I purchased it, 1 year after the warranty ended) the backlight for the LCD died and made the laptop a peice of junk. Compaq wouldn't replace just the backlight and so they wanted to charge me $700. Basically, extended warranties are only as good as the store that backs them up. Whenever I get an extended warranty I ask the sales person if they get a commision for selling the warranty. If they say they do I wont buy it. Plain and simple. If they say they dont and I know they do I wont buy from that salesman period. Several stores require people to sell so many extended warranties per period. Just because it is a big money maker.

Anyways...I hope this isn't to far off topic, but go buy yourself a external firewire/USB 2.0 combo drive. They are cheap and usable on 95% of computers out there.

Careful here, T-Bird is an AMD Athlon Thunderbird on computer forums .

lol, how do tell if i have an automatic or a manual transmission on my Athlon?

Check the BIOS

LMFAO

I usually use SUPER unleaded for maximum performance of my AMD T-Bird... oh wait, maybe that's what fried my motherboard?

-myrkat

Should have spent the extra few cents/litre to go 'Full Service', myrkat...