External hard drive search at DVinfo.net

Jesse James · December 24th, 2007, 12:15 AM

Groping around in the dark here like a teen with a new date.

Need to get an external hard drive. 250 gig will work but would like 500 gigs if I can spare the beans. Editing video with GL-2 and Adobe Premier.

Have USB 2.0 and Firewire using PC card on two laptops. Get a USB drive or one with USB and Fireware capability to take advantage of the Firewire?

I see Western Digitals a lot but recent complaints about drives crashing make me leery of WD units.

Thanks for any help.

Kit Hannah · December 24th, 2007, 02:20 AM

Okay...
I purchased one of those Western Digital World Edition Terabyte drives the other day (networked) and the thing literally was the worst drive I have ever used. It was easy to get going, but it took 5 hours to transfer 70 GB, My firewire drives take about 20 minutes to do that. I would say steer clear of the network edition. I took it back the next day.

My buddy came with me and bought the WD Terabyte, but it was the regular one that hooked up via USB. Other than the partition being FAT32 (4GB file size limit = bad for video) he reformateed it to NTFS and loves it. Said it is blazing fast. They do the FAT32 thing so it is compatible with Mac OS.

So...
I would just get an internal hard drive with a decent external case. Buy it yourself. If you wanted to go with a 2.5" drive, you can get those in all different flavors (sizes) up to 200+ GB and a small firewire external case for around $10. Firewire is advantageous because if you have a 6pin > 6pin, you don't need any other power - computer powers it through the cable.

You could also go usb, but it will require a plugin of some sorts for power.

If you wanted to go full size 3.5", get an external case ($20 or so) and a 500 GB WD or Segate internal hard drive ($100 ish) and you'll have a nice little external storage unit for not a lot of money...and it will be pleanty fast.

And if you really want to get fancy for a bit more money for higher speed, grab yourself a PCI ESATA card and case with the hard drive. It's just about the same as connecting a SATA drive inside, but only external.

My 2 cents

kit

Jesse James · December 26th, 2007, 01:43 AM

Thanks Kit. Looks like a USB version like your buddy since I'm editing on a laptop using a PCI Firewire card. Next laptop will have seperate Firewire port.

That eSATA setup sounds interesting.

Kit Hannah · December 26th, 2007, 04:10 PM

Hey Jesse,
If you really want a portable solution, this is what we use:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146035

They also have a USB version only:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146034

with a 2.5" Hard Drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145159

This setup works out perfectly for us...

Kit

Cole McDonald · December 26th, 2007, 04:34 PM

USB 2.0 has higher "potential" burst speeds than Firewire, but Firewire has a higher sustained transfer...doing video is all sustained reads and writes.

Firewire will end up faster for you...and if you can get Firewire 800, it's even happier.

Michael Jouravlev · December 26th, 2007, 05:58 PM

I have two of Buffalo USB/FireWire external drives, the only difference is that mine are 500GB each. They have both USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, and they also include cables, both USB and 4-to-6 pin FireWire. They have both 4-pin and 6-pin FireWire ports, so you can use these drives with either a laptop or a desktop. My desktop has two 6-pin FireWire ports, so I use these drives in FireWire mode and have no problems capturing DV or viewing DV AVI in realtime. Haven't tried working with HD. The drives styled similarly to Dell Optiplex or some HP boxes, so they look nice on the table.

Daniel Browning · December 26th, 2007, 06:20 PM

So-called "Hi-Speed" USB 2.0 is only 60MB/sec, yet recent drives have average sustained write speeds of nearly double that: 110 MB/sec, such as the Samsung Spinpoint F1. That's why I use eSATA (150 - 375 MB/sec).

An eSATA+USB2.0 enclosure allows to use to eSATA when you're around your own computer and USB2.0 when you give the drive to someone else.

If you don't have eSATA already, installing it is easy. $20 will get you a PCI card with some SATA ports and a $10 adapter turns them into eSATA.

I've had terrible experience with firewire: a wide variety of devices have lost connection and fall apart despite the most delicate care and usage.

December 24th, 2007, 12:15 AM	#1
Jesse James Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: SoCal Posts: 65	External hard drive search Groping around in the dark here like a teen with a new date. Need to get an external hard drive. 250 gig will work but would like 500 gigs if I can spare the beans. Editing video with GL-2 and Adobe Premier. Have USB 2.0 and Firewire using PC card on two laptops. Get a USB drive or one with USB and Fireware capability to take advantage of the Firewire? I see Western Digitals a lot but recent complaints about drives crashing make me leery of WD units. Thanks for any help. __________________ Jesse James Owner/Producer Jesse's Hunting & Outdoors

December 24th, 2007, 02:20 AM	#2
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	Okay... I purchased one of those Western Digital World Edition Terabyte drives the other day (networked) and the thing literally was the worst drive I have ever used. It was easy to get going, but it took 5 hours to transfer 70 GB, My firewire drives take about 20 minutes to do that. I would say steer clear of the network edition. I took it back the next day. My buddy came with me and bought the WD Terabyte, but it was the regular one that hooked up via USB. Other than the partition being FAT32 (4GB file size limit = bad for video) he reformateed it to NTFS and loves it. Said it is blazing fast. They do the FAT32 thing so it is compatible with Mac OS. So... I would just get an internal hard drive with a decent external case. Buy it yourself. If you wanted to go with a 2.5" drive, you can get those in all different flavors (sizes) up to 200+ GB and a small firewire external case for around $10. Firewire is advantageous because if you have a 6pin > 6pin, you don't need any other power - computer powers it through the cable. You could also go usb, but it will require a plugin of some sorts for power. If you wanted to go full size 3.5", get an external case ($20 or so) and a 500 GB WD or Segate internal hard drive ($100 ish) and you'll have a nice little external storage unit for not a lot of money...and it will be pleanty fast. And if you really want to get fancy for a bit more money for higher speed, grab yourself a PCI ESATA card and case with the hard drive. It's just about the same as connecting a SATA drive inside, but only external. My 2 cents kit Last edited by Kit Hannah; December 24th, 2007 at 12:45 PM.

December 26th, 2007, 01:43 AM	#3
Jesse James Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: SoCal Posts: 65	Thanks Kit. Looks like a USB version like your buddy since I'm editing on a laptop using a PCI Firewire card. Next laptop will have seperate Firewire port. That eSATA setup sounds interesting. __________________ Jesse James Owner/Producer Jesse's Hunting & Outdoors

December 26th, 2007, 04:34 PM	#5
Cole McDonald Trustee Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Sauk Rapids, MN, USA Posts: 1,675	USB 2.0 has higher "potential" burst speeds than Firewire, but Firewire has a higher sustained transfer...doing video is all sustained reads and writes. Firewire will end up faster for you...and if you can get Firewire 800, it's even happier. __________________ Web Youtube Facebook

December 26th, 2007, 06:20 PM	#7
Daniel Browning Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 949	eSATA + USB2.0 enclosure So-called "Hi-Speed" USB 2.0 is only 60MB/sec, yet recent drives have average sustained write speeds of nearly double that: 110 MB/sec, such as the Samsung Spinpoint F1. That's why I use eSATA (150 - 375 MB/sec). An eSATA+USB2.0 enclosure allows to use to eSATA when you're around your own computer and USB2.0 when you give the drive to someone else. If you don't have eSATA already, installing it is easy. $20 will get you a PCI card with some SATA ports and a $10 adapter turns them into eSATA. I've had terrible experience with firewire: a wide variety of devices have lost connection and fall apart despite the most delicate care and usage.

December 26th, 2007, 04:10 PM	#4
Kit Hannah Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Fresno, California Posts: 528	Hey Jesse, If you really want a portable solution, this is what we use: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146035 They also have a USB version only: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817146034 with a 2.5" Hard Drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145159 This setup works out perfectly for us... Kit

December 26th, 2007, 05:58 PM	#6
Michael Jouravlev Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 209	I have two of Buffalo USB/FireWire external drives, the only difference is that mine are 500GB each. They have both USB 2.0 and FireWire interfaces, and they also include cables, both USB and 4-to-6 pin FireWire. They have both 4-pin and 6-pin FireWire ports, so you can use these drives with either a laptop or a desktop. My desktop has two 6-pin FireWire ports, so I use these drives in FireWire mode and have no problems capturing DV or viewing DV AVI in realtime. Haven't tried working with HD. The drives styled similarly to Dell Optiplex or some HP boxes, so they look nice on the table.