Best External hard drives at DVinfo.net

Jim Sofranko · January 12th, 2006, 09:45 PM

I would like to edit selects onto an external 250GB or larger hard drive for a project. Then send the selects on the drive to the editor. Will my 2.5Ghz P4 with 1GB of RAM be up to this task?

Any recomendations on the best portable firewire drives people have been using sucessfully lately?

Many thanks in advance.

Jim

Glenn Chan · January 12th, 2006, 10:53 PM

The oxford 911 chipset seems to have the best reputation.

Lacie, and I think OWC drives use that chipset. Maybe Maxtor OneTouch (wait for hot deals on them).

Or you can buy an enclosure with that chipset in it... eBay may be cheap for that (new enclosure).

2- Avoid the prolific USB/IEEE chipset. It needs flashing out of the box, and even then it's not great. It doesn't play well with other IEEE devices on the same bus.

Brian Duke · January 12th, 2006, 11:44 PM

I have a 500GB G-Raid and I love it. works great.

Kevin Wild · January 13th, 2006, 12:09 AM

I second the G-500. Fans are good things for harddrives that spin often. I've had a lot of good luck with the Lacie 500's, but can't imagine they last as long without fans.

KW

Tim Borek · January 13th, 2006, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian Duke

I have a 500GB G-Raid and I love it. works great.

Are you connected via Firewire 400 or 800? Windows or Mac?

Kevin Wild · January 13th, 2006, 08:13 AM

Either works fine for me. I try to go 800 when I can, but always have the 400 being used to daisy chain other equipment/drives.

KW

Jim Sofranko · January 14th, 2006, 10:07 AM

What is the advantage of the G RAID setup over say, the One Touch Maxtor?? Faster? More robust? Durability? I'm leaning toward the G RAID as per the recommendations here but I want to be certain I have all my ducks in a row.

I am concerned about durability. I plan to be physically be moving this around in my car to bring to the editor to dump the files there. I need the external drive to be a stabile storage device compatible with my home pc and the editors pc system. I simply wish to pull out the needless footage before sending off the selects to the editor.

Will I need a second firewire card in addition to my 400 and should I get two 800's? One for the camera dn one for the external drive?

I may end up going with two smaller units (250GB) rather than one larger unit to efficiently increase the work flow between the editor and myself.

Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance.

Gary Bettan · January 14th, 2006, 02:52 PM

The advantage of the G-Raids are that they are RAID. So they can handle the full maximim potential of the FireWire 800 spec. They are extremely reliable because they are cooled. Heat is the enemy of your hard d rive, and most exernal units lack adequate cooling.

You can daisy chain multiple G-Raids.

Best news of all - G-Tech just announced major price drops!
G-Tech is kicking the year off with a big bang! They announced new lower pricing on the company’s award winning line of G-RAID FireWire 800 storage solutions for content creators. In contrast to other manufacturers of FireWire storage that choose to focus primarily on price, G-Tech has made price cuts without sacrificing G-RAID’s renowned quality.

“The popularity of G-RAID has enabled G-Tech to negotiate lower pricing on the same high quality components that we have always used,” commented Roger Mabon, President of G-Technology, Inc. “G-Tech’s innovative design coupled with the best components available has secured G-RAID’s place as the highest performance and most reliable dual-drive FireWire 800 solution available. While I expect that our competitors will continue to focus on price over quality, G-Tech will continue to focus on making the highest quality storage solutions at affordable prices.”

G-RAID 320GB now $355.00
G-RAID 500GB now $495.00
G-RAID 1,000 GB now $1,095.00

Click here for more info http://www.videoguys.com/gtech.html

Gary

January 12th, 2006, 09:45 PM	#1
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	Best External hard drives I would like to edit selects onto an external 250GB or larger hard drive for a project. Then send the selects on the drive to the editor. Will my 2.5Ghz P4 with 1GB of RAM be up to this task? Any recomendations on the best portable firewire drives people have been using sucessfully lately? Many thanks in advance. Jim

January 14th, 2006, 02:52 PM	#8
Gary Bettan Sponsor: Electronic Mailbox Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Glen Cove, NY Posts: 758	The advantage of the G-Raids are that they are RAID. So they can handle the full maximim potential of the FireWire 800 spec. They are extremely reliable because they are cooled. Heat is the enemy of your hard d rive, and most exernal units lack adequate cooling. You can daisy chain multiple G-Raids. Best news of all - G-Tech just announced major price drops! G-Tech is kicking the year off with a big bang! They announced new lower pricing on the company’s award winning line of G-RAID FireWire 800 storage solutions for content creators. In contrast to other manufacturers of FireWire storage that choose to focus primarily on price, G-Tech has made price cuts without sacrificing G-RAID’s renowned quality. “The popularity of G-RAID has enabled G-Tech to negotiate lower pricing on the same high quality components that we have always used,” commented Roger Mabon, President of G-Technology, Inc. “G-Tech’s innovative design coupled with the best components available has secured G-RAID’s place as the highest performance and most reliable dual-drive FireWire 800 solution available. While I expect that our competitors will continue to focus on price over quality, G-Tech will continue to focus on making the highest quality storage solutions at affordable prices.” G-RAID 320GB now $355.00 G-RAID 500GB now $495.00 G-RAID 1,000 GB now $1,095.00 Click here for more info http://www.videoguys.com/gtech.html Gary __________________ Check out http://www.videoguys.com 800 323-2325 We are the video editing and live video production experts! DV InfoNet members save 5%! Use Coupon Code DVINFO5OFF

January 12th, 2006, 10:53 PM	#2
Glenn Chan Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 4,750	The oxford 911 chipset seems to have the best reputation. Lacie, and I think OWC drives use that chipset. Maybe Maxtor OneTouch (wait for hot deals on them). Or you can buy an enclosure with that chipset in it... eBay may be cheap for that (new enclosure). 2- Avoid the prolific USB/IEEE chipset. It needs flashing out of the box, and even then it's not great. It doesn't play well with other IEEE devices on the same bus.

January 12th, 2006, 11:44 PM	#3
Brian Duke Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hollywood, California Posts: 899	I have a 500GB G-Raid and I love it. works great.

January 13th, 2006, 12:09 AM	#4
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	I second the G-500. Fans are good things for harddrives that spin often. I've had a lot of good luck with the Lacie 500's, but can't imagine they last as long without fans. KW

January 13th, 2006, 08:13 AM	#6
Kevin Wild Major Player Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 540	Either works fine for me. I try to go 800 when I can, but always have the 400 being used to daisy chain other equipment/drives. KW

January 14th, 2006, 10:07 AM	#7
Jim Sofranko Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: West Shokan, NY Posts: 217	What is the advantage of the G RAID setup over say, the One Touch Maxtor?? Faster? More robust? Durability? I'm leaning toward the G RAID as per the recommendations here but I want to be certain I have all my ducks in a row. I am concerned about durability. I plan to be physically be moving this around in my car to bring to the editor to dump the files there. I need the external drive to be a stabile storage device compatible with my home pc and the editors pc system. I simply wish to pull out the needless footage before sending off the selects to the editor. Will I need a second firewire card in addition to my 400 and should I get two 800's? One for the camera dn one for the external drive? I may end up going with two smaller units (250GB) rather than one larger unit to efficiently increase the work flow between the editor and myself. Any thoughts?? Thanks in advance.