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Recommendations for good external hard drive solutions?
f0dder:
ive never had trouble with my usb2 drives dissapearing or hiccuping (i have ide externals in lian-li racks).
-mouser (June 08, 2006, 12:44 PM)
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Might just be the "icy box" enclosure, then... or perhaps some really weird conditions. I haven't been able to isolate the things that makes it reproducable, but it happens every now and then :(
superboyac:
fodder, I hear you about that s-video connection. That's what the Addonics products use. they don't use that figure-8 thing. Do you know of a ahrd drive bay/enclosure company that uses the figure-8 connector? If you do, please let me know.
That's good that you've had good experiences with Maxtor, I've heard that they've been very reliable in recent years. I'll admit, my problem with maxtor was way back in 1999, but I've held a grudge since.
Addonics seems to be the only company that makes enclosures that can be used both internally and externally. It's a great idea, I just wish I had more options to compare features.
f0dder:
I think some of the recent maxtor enclosings use the figure-8 connector - I can try asking my friend what drive he recently bought; I know for sure he got the 8-con, but can't remember if it was maxtor.
That's good that you've had good experiences with Maxtor, I've heard that they've been very reliable in recent years. I'll admit, my problem with maxtor was way back in 1999, but I've held a grudge since.
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That's quite understandable, losing a drive is never fun. Especially not since you tend to lose irreplacable data the first time it happens. The only drives I've, personally, had really bad experiences with are the IBMs. I thought I had a maxtor dying on me, but that was an ATI driver problem that caused symptoms that were exactly equal to a dying drive - clicking noises and everything :-| (and no, no reallocated sectors after I re-formatted it with Maxtor's tool).
Addonics seems to be the only company that makes enclosures that can be used both internally and externally. It's a great idea, I just wish I had more options to compare features.
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You must ask yourself what you really want and need. These days I'd probably go for external sata - it's as fast as if you connected it internally, it has hotplug, and it's movable. Plus you don't get the vendor lock-in that drive trays give.
FZimmerman:
I used to use removable drive bays in my computers, but since the advent of USB2, I use an inexpensive external drive case and occasionally hook it up to my computer to mirror the internal hard drive.
This has the advantage of portability (can hook up to any computer), and allows for a much smaller case size for the desktop computer (don't need extra 5 1/4" bays). I prefer the smaller computer cases now, such as the Antec Aria or Aspire X-QPack, which are compact enough to carry on longer trips, and look nice on the desktop.
What has not been mentioned in this thread is the software needed to do the backup/image. After trying various products, both commercial and free, I settled on one called CasperXP. It runs from the Windows desktop, so no need for boot disks. The latest version has a SmartClone feature, so after the drive has been imaged once, the next image only covers those sectors which have changed. This can reduce imaging time down to 10 minutes, which makes it convenient to do the backup more often.
With this combination (USB external and CasperXP software) I have been quite happy for the last few years.
XMinus1:
XMinus1: I'm pretty sure those iMation drives aren't flash memory but rather micro-harddrives...
-f0dder (June 08, 2006, 12:35 PM)
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Yep, you're right, it's not flash, I misspoke: it's some sort of tiny disc drive.
Amazing that one can be made so small...
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