I'm looking to purchase an external hardrive. just a little weirded out on which one to buy.

i'm looking at the Smartdisk

or

LaCie


any ideas on something small and good...

i really want the firewire.

thanks!

We went with the Western Digital:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/4578...5_Portable.html

It does not look like it offers FireWire though...I have heard that Lacie drives can be somewhat unreliable. That could just be a rumor, but I have seen & read it a few different places on the forum.

~ Charles

my problem is that my powerbook doesn't power up usb hardrives. i'll need like an adapter. that's annoying.
yeah i've heard also that laCie drives can give problems. I have to LaCie external drives and have had no problems.

thank you!

I like the USB 2.0 powered Western Digial drive- I've given it quite a beating and it's still working really well. It's also so compact it could fit into my purse if I needed it to. I have three lacie drives and the only problems I've had have been related to the power supply.

I my Lacie drives -- I have 3 of them! I have the 500GB Porsche design for my desktop and 2 rugged 160GB for my notebook.

Next up on my wish list is something like this one.

The biggest problem seems to be that B&H can't keep enough Lacie drives in stock!

LaCie is pretty unreliable in general. The externals tend to die from heat and power supply issues more often than their counterparts from the actual hard drive manufacturers.

Allan, you might want to look into the OtherWorldComputing external drives for bus-powered options:

http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

Good luck!

We like these. I know they are not technically portable, but they are small enough to be. Once we fill one up, it just goes on the shelf. Maybe good for your needs??

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.as...amp;language=en

They do support firewire, but you must have access to power.

You can save yourself some cash and build your own super easy if you're into that sort of thing. Just buy an external enclosure (usually between $30 and $50 for a good one) plus the bare drive - put drive in enclosure and plug in. Just like the boxed solution. Usually this also gets you a better warranty as it's normally a 3 year on the bare drive, but a 1 year on a pre-boxed solution. Just an idea.

thanks for all your responses!

i just got back from BH and bought this one: LACIE RUGGED $205 with tax!



pretty nice...tripple interface. firewire 400/800 and usb!
i just want it as an extra backup when i'm on the go. my powerbook goes to sleep while in use. W E I R D! i don't think it'll last too long. let's see!

i should've posted yesterday.

That sounds like a cool idea to build your own , and definitely cheaper!

thanks again everyone. I'll post on here if it fails on me...LOL

Don't forget Maxtor (which is now owned by Seagate). Their external firewire/USB drives have performed well for me for several years. But they do require AC power. They don't run NEARLY as hot as LaCie.

+1 I had to get a new AC adapter, but it was still under warranty so it was free.

My big monster for home is a firewire SmartDisk Crossfire. My portable for my day time photo/tech job is a Firelite firewire. And my portable for photo biz is a new WD Passport. I love them all! My only complaint with my new Passport is my PowerBook doesn't have enough USB power, but I called their customer support and they immediately said they would send me a free power boost USB cable. So that was very nice of them. Love the size and look of the Passport, and so light.

I actually use my Ipod for my external HD when im on the road. It serves 2 purposes for me so I don't have to carry an extra HD with me.

Cool. You'll be so happy with it you'll buy more. And then you'll have to get some of these so you can quickly distinguish between your wedding folders and your album folders, etc.