External Hard Drive Advice Options

[percusski]

First post here.
I am running Logic version 6.4 off an Ibook G4 with an extra gig of Ram. I need an external hard drive that is relatively portable to hold music samples etc thus freeing up the Mac's hard drive.It should not be slower than
7,200rpm and have firewire connectibility, I would guess a minimum of 160gb.
Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[lepetitmartien]

Welcome

Should it be self powered or powered via firewire ?

Size wise, 160 GB right now is small, save if you're envisioning a 2.5" drive. Now Finding both 7200 rpm and a large capacity without making it yourself I see only Glyph which is expensive and most the hardware is available from other sources so it's a good source only if you're a professional and need the extra service they provide.

Have a read in this thread here and this one, when checking online, stick to Oxford (912, 922, 924) bridges especially if you work with Pro Tools.

I'll dive later on in the forums to find more hints, I remamber there was a thread with the dream drive for laptop somewhere…

[update]

A good enclosure can be as much as 20% faster than a LaCie equivalent (3.5" single HD porshe design, some members did the test). I'd check carefully the shops I gave in the threads and the shops you have access in the UK, eventually build your own one with an enclosure and choose the drive yourself.

Now in the LaCie range, the Little Big Disk is very sexy, as a RAID 0, the 5400 rpm is not an issue at all and it's powered by firewire, tripel interface…

Keep us updated, it's a difficult question with no perfect, eyes shut buy for now save for a premium price.