I'm looking for a reliable storage solution for my photographs. I'll probably put some additional documents on the hd, however I am most concerned with the photos. I've looked at the seagate, as it has rated moderately well with most reviewers (mostly for its price point), however, it has its faults.

I don't really want to spend more than $150 however I will look into slightly more expensive options if it means better software/hardware and faster and more reliable data transfers/storage.

My current computer only has about 50 gigs on it...so I'll be looking for a minimum 300 gig hd to allow for growth.

What are your suggestions?

1/3/2008 4:13:47 PM

get mirra, they guarantee your data. might be slightly costly but if you want to make sure you have your stuff i would go this route.

1/3/2008 4:23:15 PM

i'm looking for one, too.

1/3/2008 4:23:30 PM

the Seagate Mirra looks pretty cool. I assume that it can be used as general storage in addition to its backup functionality? everything i read about it just talks about it as a backup solution

1/3/2008 4:28:56 PM

yep. i use my bosses at work and set it up for him. its easy as cake and works great and they back it up on their servers.

1/3/2008 4:30:44 PM

I've noticed some hd's don't allow you to alter data once you've copied it over...

while I will be transferring mostly finished images, I'm sure at some point I'll be using them for projects. It'd be nice if i didn't have to transfer it back to my computer just to edit it and then transfer it back to the external drive...hmm...

1/3/2008 4:34:34 PM

why not buy an enclosure, a drive, and the software independently? go with a 7200.11 series seagate with the 32mb cache and a decent enclosure (i use cheap ones that do both USB and e.sata, and never have trouble with them)...i don't know what to recommend for the software, though

1/3/2008 4:37:23 PM

I'd like to use mine for backup as well. any PC software recommendations? Maxtor OneTouch any good?

1/3/2008 4:39:34 PM

Seagate mirra's only have one year warranties and are pretty pricey. Seagate FreeAgent products have 5 year warranties and are more reasonable. Sure drive enclosure+drive is much cheaper, but if you're concerned with reliability go with a complete package with a good warranty like that.

You'd probably be fine with seagate drive + decent enclosure though.

1/3/2008 4:44:07 PM

I have SATA hard drives, but no eSATA.

1/3/2008 4:50:35 PM

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Seagate-300GB-External-SATA-External-Hard-Drive-ST3300601XS-RK/sem/rpsm/oid/162963/catOid/-12976/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

300gb Seagate
includes PCI eSATA card
$109

1/3/2008 5:01:01 PM

^ Good deal, but 1 year warranty. Think that's one of the seagate products that actually uses maxtor drives maybe?

1/3/2008 5:52:22 PM

^^^ eSATA is just an external bracket that connects to an internal sata connection.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9282 - $3.86
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9281 - $4.95

^that's why i build my own
1-year limited warranty and typically most external hard drives are older generation drives
**DON'T FORGET TAX, which puts it at the same price as this:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148140

VANTEC NST-360SU-BK 3.5" eSATA + USB2.0 Aluminum External Enclosure - Retail - $41
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817145167

Total = $126 + 5 year warranty + upgradable + 20GB + eSATA PCI bracket SHIPPED

SyncToy
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/synctoy.mspx
WinBackup 2
http://www.liutilities.com/products/winbackup/
WinBackup 1.86 (free) [you may need to google: winbackupfreedr.exe]
http://www.vnunet.com/computeractive/downloads/2149347/winbackup-1-86
Acronis True Image 11 Home
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/
Windows Live OneCare
http://onecare.live.com/

[Edited on January 3, 2008 at 6:09 PM. Reason : .]

1/3/2008 5:55:51 PM

bensbargains.net

1/3/2008 9:11:19 PM

i just got the 250GB passport portable hard drive for about $120. It's a 2.5" laptop drive in a very small enclosure. It's only 5400rpm, but its also only powered by the USB port so its nice as a very portable solution. Not to mention it weights a few ounces and can fit in a shirt pocket. Doesn't overheat and I can work right from the drive with no issues.

It has a 3 year warranty and from other reviews, it's a pretty robust system. I mainly use it as extra storage for my laptop for projects that I'm currently working on while mobile. Although, I do offload and archive old files. Remember, no matter how reliable you may think your online storage is, it will ultimately fail and having concurrent backups that you do often will go a long way, this means DVD's or other off line mediums.

1/3/2008 11:33:24 PM

i just want blu-ray/hd-dvd to become affordable soon so i can (realistically) back up my 1.5tb worth of data/photos/information/whatever without going through a billion DVDs

i mean, that'd be roughly 34 blu-ray discs versus roughly 350 DVDs

1/4/2008 10:53:27 AM

I got a Seagate FreeAgent 320 for my birthday in Oct. and a FreeAgent Pro 320 for Christmas. Really like both of them.

1/4/2008 10:56:45 AM

^the Pros (eSATA) or not?

1/4/2008 11:09:46 AM

best deal i found so far:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3094182&CatId=136

1/4/2008 11:15:05 AM

^after shipping (for me at least), newegg is cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148237

that is probably going to be your best deal for a reliable eSATA external hdd

1/4/2008 11:29:31 AM

i'm hoping the local tiger direct has one in stock. if not, i'll go newegg

1/4/2008 11:48:23 AM

western digital 500gb 7200rpm 16mb - $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073

irocks usb/esata enclosure (with esata bracket) - $30
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817201023

1/4/2008 1:14:32 PM

also, the fantom titanium-ii 500gb external (usb only) is $80 after 3 rebates ($120 - $20 - $20 - UPS rebate for shipping):
http://www.onsale.com/shop/detail~dpno~7204567~descr~Titanium-II+500GB+External+USB+2.0+Hard+Drive.aspx

newegg reviews on the same device are pretty good, and it supposedly has the same western digital drive i listed above in the enclosure:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822204034

i've never bought from onsale.com, but pricegrabber reviews (221 of them) gives the seller a decent score (4.23/5 over last 3 months, 3.54/5 lifetime):
http://reviews.pricegrabber.com/onsalecom/r/2270/

[Edited on January 4, 2008 at 2:14 PM. Reason : links]

1/4/2008 2:10:58 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817716019
+
whatever 300+gb drive is on sale

1/4/2008 10:40:30 PM

The Pros are eSATA.

1/4/2008 10:46:52 PM

Staples occasionally has some good deals, if our store actually keeps things in stock. Outside of that, just getting an OEM hdd and external enclosure and use USB2 is a good way to go. The Vantec listed above is a good enclosure to use. I have one of their older interface models and it was nicer than others I've used because it had an on/off switch so I could turn it off when I wanted to and only turn it on when I needed it.

[Edited on January 4, 2008 at 10:50 PM. Reason : ]

1/4/2008 10:47:25 PM

just in case anyone was interested the Seagate FreeAgent Pro is on sale at Best Buy and Circuit City, i'm about to go pick one up

$189 for 750gb at CC but BB has to Price Match so either one

1/6/2008 11:33:06 AM

I'd stay away from Fantom Drives. I have two of them at work, both 250GB versions. They work good for the first month, but then start cutting out after that. After 20 mins of use, they would have the horrible clicking sound of death then die. Cool them down a bit and they'll work again.

I had about 180GB worth of data to remove from the drive and it took a week to get it all off. Sent one of them back in for RMA, the new drive did the same thing after a month. The 2nd one was out of warranty. Just not a reliable storage solution at all.

1/6/2008 1:20:52 PM

Do the freeagent Pros come w/ the eSATA bracket?

I looked at the 500gb for $147 today at BB but didnt bite.

1/6/2008 9:42:50 PM

is there a way to interface eSATA with a laptop?

answered my own question:

http://www.cluboverclocker.com/reviews/interface_cards/Vantec_eSATA/3.htm

[Edited on January 6, 2008 at 10:04 PM. Reason : ]

1/6/2008 10:02:21 PM

Quote :

"I'd stay away from Fantom Drives. I have two of them at work, both 250GB versions. They work good for the first month, but then start cutting out after that. After 20 mins of use, they would have the horrible clicking sound of death then die. Cool them down a bit and they'll work again."

that one in particular has pretty good reviews...though i actually just bought two, simply for the sake of popping out the WD drives, as they're cheaper that way

1/7/2008 10:04:28 AM

I would get a nice e-sata case with a fan in it and a big drive and build your own.

I've had my 500gig for a year connected to my dvr w/o a failure and it probably sees more data transfer than any personal pc does (its also constantly on except for power outages).

[Edited on January 7, 2008 at 11:22 AM. Reason : .]

1/7/2008 11:21:57 AM

Seagate FreeAgent Pro's come with USB 2.0, eSATA, and some even have a Firewire card you can swap out to use that instead.

1/7/2008 1:52:08 PM

anyone know what the best external enclosure for a laptop harddrive is? i got an enclosure for regular harddrive but i need one i could connect a laptop harddrive to

1/7/2008 1:54:09 PM

^does it come w/ the actual eSATA bracket? my computer doesnt have one and it save some hassle if it came w/ that.

1/7/2008 1:54:32 PM

^^ are you looking for an external enclosure for a laptop hard drive? ide or sata? i've got an ide one laying around

1/7/2008 1:58:10 PM

i'm about to go walk a dog around lake johnson...when i get back i will pm you(^ and ^^), since this isnt my thread...i dont want to thread hijack...i dont know off the top of my head...i'm guessing its ide...sata is too advanced for me

thanks, should send a pm within an hour or 2

1/7/2008 2:05:54 PM

my anatec came with the bracket.

i didn't need it though if you're willing to pay postage i'll mail it.

1/7/2008 2:10:37 PM

No Danny, it only comes with the eSATA connector at the base of the HD enclosure.

1/7/2008 2:12:03 PM

^so no cable either? wtf

1/7/2008 3:14:00 PM

Their website says the Pro's come with a USB cable but no eSATA cable.

[Edited on January 8, 2008 at 7:18 AM. Reason : ]

1/8/2008 7:16:55 AM

Ok, I'm getting ready to go buy a external hd TONIGHT... found out last night that 40% of my hard drive "disappeared" in the last month (I honestly couldn't tell you what is on it now that takes up so much space) but I'm basically at 100%.

I had a friend tell me this morning she loves her My Book and Best Buy has some decent prices today (plus a 12% off coupon that I have that expires tonight) but in doing a little research I've heard some awful things about losing it all in the first month.

So my questions are:
Mirra. What's it going to cost me and is there anything I need to know? This is the first I've heard of this type.

Seagate FreeAgent. Better than MyBook?

MyBook... most of the user reviews are positive, a few are awful. What's the TWW consensus?

Thanks!

1/14/2008 6:51:46 PM