Brand name: Seagate
Model: ST3300601C
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 300GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Nope
Price: 229
How good is it?: I rate it a 9. Haven't had any trouble with it since I got it, and it's been sturdy in the club. Love it.

Brand name: Acomdata
Model : External Hard Drive E5
Firewire, USB or both : Both
Capacity: 80 GB 7200 RPM
Size: 2.5' (laptop size)
Powered by USB/Firewire port?: Nope
Price: 94.99
How good is it?: 100 bucks for 80 gigs, prert nice for me. i wish it had more space so i give it a 8.8!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: DUal Option
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 320 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price:150 on sale
How good is it?: its just for backup it does the job fine

on a side note i think we should specify if we use it for backup only or if we gig with it

Brand name: Hitachi

Model: HTS-541010G9AT00 (5400RPM)

Firewire, USB or both: both (I use the Firewire port)

Capacity: 100GB

Size: 2.5" (Macally PHR-250CC Firewire/USB2 enclosure)

Powered by USB/Firewire port?: Yes

Price: Total of drive and enclosure was a little under $200 a few months ago...prices have dropped a bit since then.

How good is it?: First sample died after a few weeks (lots of bad sectors). Replaced by store, and second sample has been fine since then (five months ago now). (I suspect first drive may have been severely bumped or even dropped off of table by housemate while powered on). Drive seems to run quite cool even after extended use. The music I DJ with in SSL is on this drive. Absolutely no problems with this drive so far.

Brand name:Maxtor
Model:M01H250 75
Firewire, USB or both:USB 2.0
Capacity:250
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:No
Price:$150
How good is it?: It serves as my backup and I've yet to have any problems w/ it.

Brand name: Lacie
Model: 2,5" ext with porsche design
Firewire, USB or both: both
Capacity: 80 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2,5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes
Price: about 160 € (applestore)
How good is it?:
It work perfect for me.
Small, Silent and Powered by Firewire
No Problem since I bought it (about 20-30 gigs)

Brand name:Lacie
Model:2.5" porche design 7200rpm
Firewire, USB or both:Firewire
Capacity:170 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Yes Firewire
Price:$190.00 (Compusa)
How good is it?:It's very quiet, very fast and never crashes or stutters. I highly recommend it.

Brand name: Hammer Storage
Model: 400GB
Interface: USB & Firewire
Capacity: 400GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No - 12V power brick
Price: Don't Remember
How good is it?: Very good. I've hauled this all over with no problems at all for more than 6 months.

Brand name: Simple Tech
Model:
Interface: USB
Capacity: 400GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: 12V inline (like most laptops)
Price: $219
How good is it?: No problems yet. Case gets hot but when I talked with tech support was told that is normal.

Brand name: Seagate
Model:9W3638-556
Interface: USB
Capacity: 100GB
Size: 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: Unknown (had it for a while)
How good is it?: Very good. Power demand is a little high so you can't use anything else on the bus with it but very stable.

Brand name: Disk 2 Go
Model: 60GB
Interface: USB
Capacity: 60GB
Size: 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes
Price: Unknown - had for a while
How good is it?: Very good. I've hauled all over for more than a year with no problems whatsoever.

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: 80GB
Interface: Firewire
Capacity: 80G
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No - uses inline power supply
Price:
How good is it?: Lousy - heat related failure because the drive overheated when stacked.

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: 160GB
Interface: Firewire
Capacity: 160GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No - Inline power supply
Price: Unk
How good is it?: Runs VERY hot. When stacked one drive suffered a failure and this one nearly did.

Definitions:
Power Brick - (power plug on brick)------(plug to device)
Inline power supply - (Plug on cord)-------(power supply)------(plug to device)
----- is the cord

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB only
Capacity: 120 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): laptop size
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yep. powered by usb port
Price: around $100.....costco!
How good is it?: excellent so far! i got it mainly to put my background music on so i don't clutter my internal drive too much.

Brand name: Fantom Drives
Model: Titanium
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $99 (after $30 rebate)
How good is it?: so far i've only used it with Final Scratch v1.5, and i'd have to say it was really slow loading folders...but i can't really be sure if that was a hardware or software issue. Also, it's currently standing upright...that may bring up diskspin issues. What can I say? I bought it cuz it was cheap

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: One Touch II
Firewire, USB or both: USB & Firewire
Capacity: 250 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price:
How good is it?: Very stable! I Have dropped it several times and accidentally lost the power to it. No problems with it at all. The HDD also has a nice turqouise glow like the Numark TTX table.

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: One Touch II
Firewire, USB or both: 400, 800 & USB
Capacity: 300GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $279
How good is it?: Terrible. I've had dropouts galore with this drive. I was pulling my hair out at gigs until I switched to using the internal drive. It has 2 FW800 ports and I think one of them is bad. It sometimes does not recognize the drive when I plug it into my Mac unless I switch to the other port. I've tried the FW400 port as well as the USB one and still got dropouts in SSL. Access times in iTunes and SSL was delay and latency proned. Not recommended.

dang GaFFle, were u able to return that injured baby?

Brand name: HP
Model: MultiBay Removable HDD
Firewire, USB or both: HP Multibay Interface/IDE
Capacity:80GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 5400RPM
Size - 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Powered from Multibay socket
Price: $40USD from Ebay for Multibay caddy. $170 for Hitachi HDD
How good is it?: Excellent. No dropouts whatsoever as it is directly interfaced to the IDE controller as slave device. Fit's any HP Business series notebook with Multibay type CD/DVD removable drives. I also purchased an external HP USB2.0 Multibay which is connected to my home PC allowing me to hotswap the drive to and from PC and notebook. This is by far the best 2nd HDD storage system for SSL as you don't end up with an extra box to attach to your notebook.

Brand name:Lacie
Model:D2 Extreme
Firewire, USB or both:Both
Capacity:160G
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Firewire 800
Price:$149.99, Talked 'em down @ Guitar Center
How good is it?: Awesome. Just as fast as an internal. You should add speed and cache. It's 7200rpm w/ 8MB cache. Only drawback is the external power supply. It does have hardware to be rack mounted. I will be getting them soon.

Brand name: Glyph
Model: GT050
Size: Desktop
Fire....:Fire wire
Capacity : 250 gigs
Price: approx $350.00
How good.... Fucking incredible! I have 2 of them, they are my workhorses.

Brand Name:Nexstar Blk
Size:IDE WD 250g
Port:USB
Price:Case:39.99 Drive:93

Never had a problem best thing instead of wasting more money on a Lecie or those already made.

I'm gonna be using the hard drive of whatever DJ I decide to rob

Brand Name: Simple Tech
Model:
Size:250g
Port:USB
Price:$120

No Proplem So Far and i have it for about 6 months now.
Run Hot a lil but thats normal.

Brand Name: Samsung
Model: MP0603H (60GB)
Size: 2.5" in alu-case w/o ext. Power
Port: USB2.0
Price: 80€

Brand Name: Western Digital Portable
Model: WDC WD80
Size: 80GB, 2,5"
Port: USB 2, 5400 UPM, 2 MB Cache

No ext. Power Adapter needed
Never had a problem with

Brand name: Storcase
Model: Rhino
Firewire, USB or both:
Capacity: 160gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5?
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Both, fw 800, fw400, usb 2.0
Price: 2 and some change
How good is it?: very quiet, very stable, very fast, very nice. Excellent support. Excellent company.

Brand name: Lacie
Model:
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: n/a
Price: $130
How good is it?: huge capacity, cheap price! no fan. only USB 2. needs power cable for power, not usb powered, and its easy to break the pins on the power cord.

Brand name: Seagate 100GB
Model: Portable/External
Firewire, USB or both:
Capacity: 100GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: $130
How good is it?: Works really well. Used it on 3 different computers (2PC & 1 MAC) and works great. Quiet, relatively cool, very sturdy feeling. Enclosure quality is very nice.

my boy thats also a dj and knows everything about computer stuff like tec stuff he says the Fantom & Apricornis the best for when used with serato & best to keep 1/2 ur drive free for best preformace.

Brand name: LaCie
Model: d2 Extreme
Firewire, USB or both: both
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: $174.99
How good is it?: awesome, no lag.. works great

Brand name: Western Digital My Book Premium
Model: WDG1C4000N
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 400GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $280
How good is it?: Had USB drop outs, switched to firewire, been flawless ever since. However, I am sure it was my crappy CompUSA USB 2 PCMCIA card that was the dropout culprit.

Ya well I know computer stuff very well also and only using half your drive is a huge waste of space. You really only need minimum 2 gigs of free space and everything will still run fine. I know what I am talking about I am Graphic Designer, Video Editor and Remix Music. I have 6 harddrives and equaling 3 Terabytes.

Brand name: LaCie Rugged All-Terrain Hard Drive 80GB
Model: 301014
Firewire, USB or both: 1x FireWire 800 (9-pin) port; 1x FireWire 400 (6-pin) port; 1x mini USB 2.0 port
Capacity: 80 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):
3.5 x 1 x 5.7 in. / 90 x 25 x 145 mm (WxHxD)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: YES
Price: ¥23,690 (JPY) From Apple Store - Shinsaibashi/Osaka
How good is it?:
Awesome. I would only get another HDD if it was the same model with more space. Super fast, very small, and really lightweight. Gets great reviews ! Need I say more? This little puppy is HOT!

is it ok for the drive to going outside? working how does it for the sareto? thanks im news

Brand name: Lacie ,Design by F.A. Porsche 250GB
Model: 300703U
Firewire, USB or both: Firewire
Capacity: 250 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2,5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Firewire
Price: HK$ 1,280
How good is it?: Works Nice

Brand name: Lacie
Model: d2 with Triple Interface
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 250 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB (Can't get firewire to work on my Powerbook =()
Price: $200 US
How good is it?: Dropped it a few months after I got it from a 3 ft. nightstand, while it was on and totally crashed. Tech was nice enough to send me another, which I protect like a baby.

Brand name: Maxtor

Model: One Touch II

Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0

Capacity: 500 GB about 400GB used

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):??

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB

Price:After Mail in Rebate $250.00

How good is it?: Promblem with the maxtor, is that you need to have all the music on the hard drive, if the hard drive is not used, it goes into hibernation... Which i get USB Drop Out, Since switching to all the music on the Maxtor, No problems for the last month... Fingures crossed :o)

Brand name: Beyond Micro

Model: Value

Firewire, USB or both: Both

Capacity: 250G

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB

Price: 140can

How good is it?: No problems yet but gets VERY HOT

correction

NOT powered my usb/firewire

Brand name: Western Digital

Model: Passport

Firewire, USB or both: USB

Capacity: 120 GB

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB

Price: $130... newegg.com (got it for my bday)

How good is it?: small, fast, quiet, and runs perfect so far

Brand name: Western Digital

Model: Passport

Firewire, USB or both: USB

Capacity: 120 GB

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:WDXC3200JBR
Firewire, USB or both:Both
Capacity:320GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):Desktop Size
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:No... External power supply
Price:179.99 (was on sale)
How good is it?: so far so good I have had no problems. (Clear case with color changing lights...)

Brand name: Nexstar 3 (Seagate 7200.9 inside)
Model: Nextstar 3
Firewire, USB or both: eSATA & USB
Capacity: 300 Gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: no
Price: $160 (50 for box, 110 for HDD)
How good is it?: Very nice - silent (no fan, just alum. box), fast (SATA!) and good looking.
Cons. - external power supply, weight about 1,2 Kg

Brand Name: HP Personal Media Drive
USB
Capacity: 400GB
Price:399.00
How Good Is It: Awesome So Far
Model: HP 400

Brand name: Fantom
Model: Titanium
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 300GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $120
How good is it?: It works really well, although a bit noisy at times.

Brand name: Enermax (WD Scorpio 120GB inside)
Model: EB205U
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 120GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yes
Price: $105 for Drive...$20 for enclosure
How good is it?: Best investment I made. Drive fits in my pocket, comes with a great protective neoprene sleeve, and doesn't need an external power supply.

[b]Brand name:G-Technology
[b]Model:G-Drive Combo
[b]Firewire, USB or both:Both USB 2.0 Firewire 400
[b]Capacity:250 GB
[b]Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5 Desktop
[b]Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Yes
[b]Price:$249.95 Canadian (a buck a gig!)
[b]How good is it?:Fantastic. Very fast, very easy to use, especially with iTunes.

Using the Same, It runs great so far, very fast!

Brand name: Lacie 250gb
Model: HD-001-LC
Firewire, USB or both: USB2
Capacity: 250
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB2
Price: £83.41 Including VAT at 17.5%
How good is it?: Could do with more space. Good apart from that. As I understand, some external hard drives shut down when they detect sudden movements, but this one does not. If you drop or move it suddenly, I think your luck will be out but if you lookafter it like me then you will be fine.

What hard drives go in to this hibernate mode? I need one that works constantly when in use. Cant have it shuting down on me. Looking at the Western Digital 500gb or the Maxtor 500gb.

Brand name: Sarotech
Model: Hardbox
Firewire, USB or both:
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:
Price: Case - 90 something $AUD
How good is it?: Great, robust metal case with internal power supply and no fan. Nice.

Brand name: Storcas
Model: Rhino JR
Firewire, USB or both: FW800 (2) USB2 (1) Comes with FW800 to 400 Cable
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: NO
Price: 200
How good is it?: Best Ever, just bought another one. Used LaCie Before and it crashed after 6 months!!

Have you forgotten eSATA ports? They're faster than Firewire 800 and USB 2.0.

yes however no need for that w/ serato as well as what laptop supports eSATA w/o an express card???

Even with an express card, the connector tends to be easily knocked out...

Supposedly, eSATA ports should be standard on laptops soon.

ha, doubt it, eSATA is used prodomitley with desktops, it would be better suited as an option with an express card. I would only use a eSATA drive with video because of the large file sizes. When i back up my FW800 it only takes 2 hours for all 250gbs. I can live with that.

Seagate 400 External HD "I-Rock" Off Ebay. 180.00 Sealed & Shipped. Love it got like 300 or so albums and about 5000 Singles the pie shows a dent. it sleeps but I change tracks often so It doesnt affect how I spin at all.. 180 is cheap. considering you can proably fit about 6000 albums.

a pic...
i115.photobucket.com

My seagate 80GB external I got last Christmas just took a dive. It said it was not formatted and I had to reformat, then the seatools on the support page reported multiple read errors. I'm hoping for a replacement from them.

.mp3's are not big enough files for you?

esata standard prediction:
pcworld.com

USB to esata dongle:
www.devlib.org

I have a Seagate 400gigs but it's compatible w/ my pc but when i use my mac laptop it doesn't read it. Can someone help? I tried transferring songs into my laptop but then it deleted everything in my external HD.

Is it formatted as NTFS? PC's can read NTFS and FAT32 formatting; Mac's only read FAT32. NTFS is superior.

Brand name: Beyond Micro
Model: Mobile Disk
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 300GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: external
Price: $108.99 excluding shipping (tigerdirect.com)
How good is it?: Ive only had it for a couple days but so far so good.

Brand name: LaCie
Model: mobiledrive MS-DOS (FAT32)
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 100GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB or 5V in
Price: AUS $200.00
How good is it?: do not know; it's a LaCie? (read: not a Maxtor)

For all you guys with the SLEEPY DRIVES, no need to worry anymore! This bacth file tip has cured all my problems with my adored Seagate!

scratchlive.net

Check towards the bottom, I describe a little bit about setting it up so that you can carry it on the external drive. Its working great on windows, MAC guys, please report and let us know if it works on the APPLE.

Enjoy!

I will update the SSL User Wiki resource in a bit, but its all right here as well:

ssl-wiki.help.bootlegs.de

Brand name: LaCie
Model: Mobile Hard Drive, Design by F.A. Porsche
Firewire, USB or both: Both USB 2.0 & FW
Capacity: 80Gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): .65 x 3 x 5 in
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yes
Price: US$ 139.99 (Apple Store)
How good is it?: I Love this thing!! It's a great capacity and its size makes it easy to stash away. I could probably have gotten the same thing but in the 100Gb version. This is keeping me happy.

Brand name: Simple Tech x2 (I'm about to buy another one!)
Model: Simple Drive External Storage
Interface: USB 2.0
Capacity: 400GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: 12V inline (like most laptops)
Price: $179
How good is it?: No problems yet. Rock solid drive, I own two of them, and love them. The only thing about them is that they run kind of warm.

Brand name: WD Passport USB
Interface: USB 2.0
Capacity: 80 GB
Size: 3 x 2.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USD (no external power source needed)
Price: $129
How good is it?: its bomb and mad tiny and very easy to bring anywhere and its great that it doesnt need a power source.

Brand name: HP Personal Media Device HD3000s
Interface: USB 2.0
Capacity: 300GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: NO
Price: $200USD
How good is it?: It's cool, I use it to gig with. Another plus is that it has a built in temperature sensing fan.

I just got it about a week ago, I'll probably turn it into strictly a bootable back up. And probably cop something more portable with firewire!

Brand name: Iomega

Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0

Capacity: 320 GB

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: NO

Price: $100

How good is it?: Just picked it up tonight, so we shall soon see... Seems to be pretty good though. No set-up or formatting so it was just pretty much plug and go, and my laptop easily picked it right up, ready for use. It's a 7200 RPM HD, so it should be pretty quick. The price was very good for a drive of this size though.

Brand: Seagate, Random Enclosure
Interface: USB
Capacity: 160 GB
Size: 3.5
Powered: NO
Price: $99

Good? Good as Cool Benas.

Beans* lol

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: WD Caviar 7200
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 320 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: External power
Price: about $150
How good is it?: So far Western Digitals have been the best hard drives I've used. I built the external HHD tho, it's cheaper that way. I bought a Mad Dog Aluminum anodized case then bought a regular internal harddrive and put it inside the case... simpe!!

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:My book Pro
Firewire, USB or both: both
Capacity:1TB (TeraByte)
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:firewire
Price:565
How good is it?: It's the best investment I've made since scratch live.

1TB? good god man!!! are you ever going to even phase that thing? haha. I thought 320GB was alot... haha

Thats like carrying a big, BIG Bible... Isn't? lol

I roll with 920 Gigs, and I don't feel that I have enough.

Brand name: Walmart brand Disk-go
Model: Edge 80 gd
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 80 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: External power
Price: about $80
How good is it?: Great, It carries my music only and I use it during my gigs without a hitch. No sleep problem either. The case is full alum. I have a western digital “My Book” that is only used as backup for music and family pics at home in case this one fails. I do keep 3 gb of music in my internal drive as backup. I also carry my Ipod in case Serato crashes I can play a quick mix or a song let Serato/laptop re-boot.

Brand name: Western Digital
USB 2.0
Capacity: 120GB
7200 rpm
Works great. So far no problems. But I do forcast that I'll be getting a larger one very soon; especially since prices are falling. Now seeing the storage and creative possibilities, I'd like to jump into something atleast 500GB or more.

DG

yah that's way too much for me.. I'm good with 320, atleast for now till the music pile up somemore...

BTW is that 920 Gigs of pure music or are you running other stuff on there too? cuz if that's the case then that's different

Its pure music.

Where in the hell you find 920 gigs worth of tunes?? LOL! Sounds like you throw the party down though.

shoot... 320GB is more then enough for me to throw the party down... hehe

Assume that you play five hour gigs. If you rotate songs quickly you might play 200/250 tops? I normally do 150 on average.

Carry a few sets of 150 songs and you should be carrying a tiny ipod or small HD. :)

I have one of these:

infrant.com

I use it for backing up my Externals that I bring to parties. I would suggest getting the NV+ since its newer. I filled mine with (4) 500Gig drives and with some sync software I bought, backups are a breeze and you can even use it to stream music on your home network.

damn idle! that's a beast! (does it make growling noises too :)

I had one from www.caloptic.com but had to return it. Transfering data to it was way too slow for some reason so backing up took forever. It was a good unit but unfortunately I decided to replace it with a new Computer instead.

I can fit 4 drives in my current PC, and it does more than just store data... the price is almost the same. Think about that.

I makes some lo pitch fan noise... its cool cause it reports if a drive is too hot.. it has one button backup and it can control my UPS if theres a power failure. but it sucks because all that space I realize its a magnet for duplicates....

true but if yo put 4 drives in your PC will it fit in a backpack? (not that you should walk around with a RAID array) :)

Yeah man... not sure where you are taking an N-Raid setup to. In a backpack.

Please don't say "to my gigs..."! LOL

lacie 80 gig firewire external hardive for mac 17inch powerbook g4 no problems.

haahah.. no way... that thing stays home... ...

I have and external Sata 2 250gb drive I just built. I will post back with results...

Wish me luck!

Just thought I would share this. I found a free fat32format utility. It only took seconds to format the drive on my Windows XP home built.

www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk

Steps:

1. Download the zip file
2. uncompress the zip file
3. copy the fat32format exe file into your Windows/system32 folder

Usage:

at the command prompt C:\ as an example:

C:\fat32format "drive:"

drive: is the drive you want to format without the quotes.

Western Digital ( My Book ) 250 gb premium edition ... Firewire & usb ..... I Love It ..

Been working with Windows & Macs for well lets say a long time. Seagate offers the best (smallest failure rate) and most affordable drives and carry a 5 year warranty to boot. Who else carries a 5 year warranty...says alot.

2 - 320 Gig 7200RPM 16 Cache SATA with USB External Cased Seagate Drives.

FYI - Maxtors have a very high rate of failure (Now Seagate purchased them out but drives are inferior hence only a 1 year warranty)

just my 2 cents...

Brand name:Newer Technology
Model:MiniStack v2
Firewire, USB or both: both
Capacity:250gig
Size - 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:firewire and external power
Price:160

Brand name: Seagate
Model : normal hardrive with some kind of external case
Firewire, USB or both : USB 2 (and 1.1 compatible)
Capacity: 320GB 7200 RPM
Size: 3.5'
Powered by USB/Firewire port?: Nope
Price: $200
How good is it?: works great, but sadly my laptop has only a USB 1.1 connection, so i can take up to 40 seconds for a 5 minute song to load. i also got a whole heap of porn on it, so that is taking up valuable music space. other then that, its great

Brand name: Maxtor
Model:
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 100 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Power Cable
Price: $90.00 (Staples)
How good is it?: So far so good. Just started using it.

lacie 250 gig, 1 firewire 800, 2 firewire 400, 1 usb 2.0

I had that it crashed on a gig I had!!! Thankfully Lacie sent me a replacement (which i exchanged for my current one):

Look Ma, no case! allows any 2.5", 3.5" or 5.25" SATA or IDE Drive to be attached to comp via usb2.0

www.granitedigital.com

HD without a case = bad idea. :)

Yeah, it's bad enough the amount of beer and liquor that is around my gear, let alone around a naked hard drive. ESD ? Not to worry.

Brand name: Bytecc
Model: ME-320U2
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: Your choice (currently using WD 120GB 7200RPM)
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Power Cord
Price: Case-$32.99 HDD-$50.00
How good is it?: Works just as good as one installed in my PC. I can easily take apart the case to swap drives. It can also take dvd/cd rom drives. I've had it for 3 years now. Same Hard Drive inside. Only works with IDE drives.

Mapower - Wps 2.5HDD Encl Cmbo
Containing a Toshiba 100GB 2.5" 16MB 5400RPM U100 Hard Disk

Currently connect to my powerbook via firewire.

Sorry, I didn't follow the rules. Please delete my previous post.

Hard disk enclosure & disk.

Brand name: Mapower/Toshiba
Model: Wps 2.5HDD Encl Cmbo/100GB 2.5" 16MB 5400RPM U100
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: Whatever size disk you decide to put in it. (In my case 100GB)
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes (But not if mini FW or from USB hub)
Price: £34 for the enclosure, and £61 for the disk I put in it.
How good is it?: It's pretty reliable, only takes a few seconds to load 320Mbps MP3's

Brand name: Firelite
Model:???
Firewire, USB or both: firewire
Capacity: 120 GB
Size: 2.5"
Powered by USB/firewire port?: yes, also when using a hub.
Price: $110
How good is it?: its great!!! No problems at all, and it is so small and portable. has never crashed on me (knock on wood) even when I play corrupt files.

Brand name:seagate
Model:320gb external drive usb2 8mb cache 7200rpm
Firewire, USB or both:usb
Capacity:320gig
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:no
Price:£89
How good is it?:its ok,i dont take it to gig's any more ,as my last usb drive died half way in to my set! and will now cost me £200 to get all the files back!...........as it was'nt back up! i'm a fool i know.

Brand name: IcyDock
Model: I dunno
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 250 GB 7200rpm Sata wd caviar
Size: 3.5
Powered by USB/firewire port?: no
Price: case was $70, hdd was $50 or so
How good is it?: love it

Brand name: Glyph Drive
Model:5000 GT
Firewire, USB or both:Firewire
Capacity:120 gigs
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): desktop size
Powered by USB/Firwire port?nope
Price:$200.00 about a year ago...they sell them on www.sweetwater.com
How good is it?: Its really sturdy kinda big...but very fast and reliable...so far

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: 200gb One Touch III USB 2.0
Firewire, USB or both:
Capacity: 200gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by: USB
Price: $79.99 after a 40.00 mail in rebate at circuit city
How good is it?: Man i have no complaints. The model I have has a rugid rubber outer casing. Figured that would work out well when moving around. And Maxtor is a reliable brand from my experience. This is my forth, and my other 3 are still running strong.

this is DJ Kell-O-G in Chi Town I am using the I/O Magic 80 GB Ext Drive . works real good!! no problems so far

Peace...

Brand name: Seagate
Model: 500gb eSata External Harddrive
Firewire, USB or both: neither, eSata
Capacity: 500gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by: power source
Price: $300
How good is it?: as fast and as reliable as an internal drive. holla!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Essential Edition
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:NO (Separate Power Cord)
Price: $180.00 (AFter Mail in Rebate)
How good is it?: So far so good. Ripping all music into it now. Time will tell. Google softwarw on it useless though

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: My book
Firewire, USB or both:Firewire
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:NO (Separate Power Cord)
Price: $220.00
How good is it?: Works perfect- does not heat up at all and no stutter!

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:Can't recall
Firewire, USB or both:USB
Capacity:120
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):Laptop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:USB
Price:120
How good is it?: Built it my self, bought the drive bought the case, slap it together. Nice tiny package to carry around vs. those big arse drives. plusno need for extra power source. Never had any issues. Got a 120, a 100 and a 160 gig.

Brand name: Lacie
Model: ????
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 160GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): both
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: power supply
Price: 100 bucks
How good is it?:great no problems so far and having a power supply helps with my batt life

Brand name: Acomdata
Model: E5 Series
Firewire, USB or both: Firewire 400 only
Capacity: 320GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: no, includes power supply
Price: $100 @ Comp USA
How good is it?: 10/10

Brand name: SEAGATE
Model: 2.5 external
Capacity: 100GB
Size - 2.5"
Powered by USB
Price: 200
How good is it?: 10/10

Brand name: LaCie
Model: 500gb Big Disk tri-connection
Capacity: 500gb
Firewire, USB or both: FW 800/400, USB 2.0
Powered by Power supply
Price: Cant remember.. had it for 3-4 years and the price has dropped alot on it
How good is it?: 10/10

Brand New: Western Digital
Model:160 Gb with no power cord
Usb Only
Non-Powered
Price: $179.00
How good Is It?: The best one that i've use yet!!!!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport 120GB
Capacity: 120GB
Size - small as hell
Powered: by USB
Price: 100
How good is it?: seems to do the trick, havent tested it out to the fullest yet. so far its been very impressive.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: My book
Firewire, USB or both:Firewire
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:NO (Separate Power Cord)
Price: About $220.00
How good is it?: Works great portable and very easy to transfer music to it.

I have a 250gb Porsche Lecie and it's been nothing but trouble. I think Lacie has Maxtor drives inside?

Brand Name: LaCie
Model: 300703U
Firewire & USB: Both
Capacity: 250 GB
Size - 7.4 x 4.4 x 1.4 inches ; 11 pounds
Powered By - Power Supply
Price - $109
How good is it? = 9/10

I got the same one, however, I can't get XP to format the drive, I seem to get an error every time I try and format...Geez!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: My book
eSATA, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firewire port?:No, uses Power Cord
Price: About $212.00
How good is it?: OK. Bigger than Lacie though. Not much heat, lots of ventilation. Better than Lacie power cord.

Brand name: LaCie
Model: 300794U Big Disk 500 (7200 rpm)
Firewire, USB or both: USB2.0, Firewire 400, Firewire 800
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No - two piece cord (mid-cord wart)
Price: $230 (February 2007)
How good is it?: Very pleased. It's extremely quiet (not that it matters when the music's playing, but good for editing video or doing audio work). It's also built like a tank, which makes it a bit heavy, but that's an ok trade-off for me. Fully metal enclosure and a removeable mono-foot attachment that makes it very stable in a vertical orientation. Also comes with rubber feet you can add to use it in horizontal orientation.

thanx for remiding me...lol! i jus saw this post n decided to go n get a new 7200rpm hard disk! my present one is

philips but hard disk inside is hitachi..i found tht out...250gb
5400rpm...cost 79 pounds....i change the outter casing to cooler master sooo its become slightly smaller!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: MyBook Pro Edition II
Firewire, USB or both: Firewire 800/400 and USB 2.0
Capacity: 1 TB in RAID 0 or 500GB in RAID 1
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Dual 3.5" drives
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: external power (4A of current!)
Price: $400
How good is it?: At first, kick-butt. Then the fan kicked in, it sounds like a leaf-blower. Then I applied a firmware update to fix the fan problem. The firmware failed and the drive is unrecognizable! This POS is not ready for primetime. I am recovering my files and returning this brick.

Brand name: maxtor
Model: onetouch
Firewire, USB or both:
Capacity: 120 Gig
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: usb
Price: i think it was about 80 dollars

How good is it?: cool.. never had issues.. it has this one button that you press on it, and it opens any program you assign the button to. i think thats a cool feature.

i use a 300 gb sata seagate but it loads slow so i transfer my music to the internal until after a show

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:My book Pro
Firewire, USB or both: both
Capacity:1TB (TeraByte)
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:firewire


How good is it?: The Best to date........

Brand name:seagate
Model:Barracuda 300gb 7200 rpm IDE
Firewire, USB or both: Both, but mainly run firewire
Capacity:300gb
Size - 3.5" in NEXSTAR 3 enclosure
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: no, external plug required
Price: 100cdn for drive, 50cdn for enclosure
How good is it? Awesome, no worries, has never failed. Enclosure keeps it nice and cool and vibration free.

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:My book Premium
Firewire, USB or both:Both
Capacity:320 gig
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):3.5 desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:No
Price:169.99 sale on best buy
How good is it?:Its pretty good, used it during prime time but i also havent used anything else but it works great get me through the night. Easy to work with

I use a macbookpro and my wd hardrives went bad (passport)120g (ibook)250g. i currently use my 120g internal drive. is there really a neccessity to have an external as long as its backed up somewhere else

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:PASSPORT(120G) I BOOK(250G)
USB
Capacity:120G , 250G
Size
Powered by USB IBOOK BY POWER SUPPLY
Price: $150=PASSPORT
$ 130 I BOOK

Brand name: Western Digital
USB
120 Gig
100-120$

it's black with a green light in a ring... my girlfriend thought it was a "mini x-box"

haha.

it's all good... nare none-a problem with it.

Brand name: Seagate
Model: Barracuda 7200
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 500 gigs
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Power supply
Price: $149.99 after $20 rebate
How good is it?: It makes very loud grinding sounds for the first 2 minutes of start-up, but I guess that's it running it's scan. It came with an Ultra case which is plastic and feels cheap, but has a built in fan. It works flawlessly thus far in home use and I hope as well at my gigs. I was going to get a Lacie, but this was $30 cheaper and has a 16mb buffer as apposed to an 8mb on the Lacie.

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:My Book
Firewire, USB or both:No firewire/ USB 2.0
Capacity:250 gb @ 7200rpm
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):Like a book
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Power Supply
Price:70 pounds incl Vat
How good is it?: Pretty good, its not bad at all for the price.doesnt make any noise..really queit.power on/off button is there.design isreally simple and queit easy to use.

Maxtor (when i'm performing)
300 gb
Model: one touch
7200 rpm
firewire only
when i got it, it was around $320

Western Digital
for backing stuff up
2 500 gb MyBook drives

they are OK. there are better drives out there, but you can't beat this one for the money
i paid about $200 each

I have the USB model.

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: One Touch
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 120 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: $149.00...back then...3 years ago
How good is it?: Great so far. But due to new music every week...need a bigger external!!!

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 160 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: $129 (after rebate)
How good is it?: I told myself I would never use a non-powered USB 5400RPM external...but I gotta say...i did three 5-hour gigs also remix hotel....on a PC using Vista with the latest beta....and IT RAN FLAWLESS....


but for my other gigs (outdoor car shows...bigger tradeshows):

Brand name: Western Digital(internal) w/ AMS Venus Enclosure
Model: ??
Firewire, USB or both: BOTH
Capacity: 320 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: External Power
Price: $99 for the HDD $59 for the Enclosure
How good is it?: I trust Western Digital Drives....and the enclosure has a built-in fan....

I have a Lacie and Maxtor...the Lacie holds 250 GB and the Maxtor holds 500 GB...I would like to use both at the same time. Any suggestions?

a hub

I have a Lacie 250GB. Its kinda slow. Anyone reccomend any other externals?

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: MyBook Pro II
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: External power
Price: $300+ CDN
How good is it?: As good as any other USB drive.

Western Digital makes the highest grade platters and components for hard drives period. I would not recommend external devices while using Serato. Right now I'm going to build up several crates with no more than 50-70 songs each on my internal drive - just updated regularly with more popular songs as released. My laptop power mode is set to "Always On" so my drives won't shut off. Keeping my WD idle for a couple of minutes in a long mix will make it sleep and it takes several seconds to wake up: A. Crash Serato, B. Stutter current track, then load. Chances I'm not willing to take.

Just Picked up a 500Gig Western Digital MyBook Premium Edition Drive,

How do I reformat an external HD so its NOT FAT32?

what do you want it formatted as?

Assuming Windows XP:
Start > Control Panel > Administration Tools > Computer Management

Under the 'Storage' tree, click 'Disk Management'

On the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see a listing of your drives, just right-click the external and select the 'Format...' option. From there you'll see the 2nd drop box is the option for NTFS.

BTW those brand new drives should already come with the NTFS system.

Ya as soon as I posted this bulletin i realized how to do it! helps if i look first i guess,

and It didnt come ntfs, it was Fat32 thats why i wanted to reformat!

you may think that this is a dumb question, but what is the advantage with NTSF?

i keep mine Fat32 so i can go back and forth with MAC and PC.

Brand name: maxtor
Model: onetouch mini III
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0, wish it had firewire as well but not available..
Capacity: 160 Gig, 5400rpm
Size - 2.5" (laptop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yes, no external psu needed. 100% USB bus powered. comes with an extra usb port for additional power only if you're using an older computer that doesnt supply enough power through USB
Price: $99 on sale at Fry's. normally $149

The backup software it came with is great. i have it set up to sync with my Music folder on my Macbook Pro with the touch of a button. I always use my internal drive with SSL, but this makes a great no-brainer backup solution. Read and write speeds are about 17MB/sec sustained, good enough for me. and it doesn't fall asleep. I really wanted a firewire/usb combo solution, but the price was too good to pass up so i picked it up to see if it would at least meet my needs and so far so good.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: WD Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 160 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5" laptop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes
Price: Dont really remember, quite similar to competing products...
How good is it?: 5,400 RPM, Got 2 of them, they're silent, fast enough, no data loss so far. I renamed one of them and a lot files/folders did not show up in the directry tree, although the space on disk was reported beeing used. After disconnecting and reconnecting the drive, all files reappeared.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: My Book Premium
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 500 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5" desk
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No, own powercable
Price: Don't really remember..
How good is it?: Seems quite slow Compared to my Seagate drives, but fair enough for backup.

Brand name: Seagate
Model: Pushbutton Backup
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 400 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5" Desk
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No, own powercable
Price: Don't really remember..
How good is it?: Seems faster than the My Book, got 2 of these, no trouble, no dataloss. Quiet running, ugly looking ;-)

Lacie blue lego bick with loads of room.

brick

Brand name:Lacie
Model: blue lego brick
Firewire, USB or both:Cable USB 2.0
Capacity:300 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):112 x 188 x 44 mm
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:ext pwr supply
Price:£76
How good is it?: the best, it looks cool and works well.

Brand name: Glyph
Model: GT 050Q
Firewire, USB or both: Both with FireWire 800 & eSATA
Capacity: 250g
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): H 1.7" x W 8.6" x D 9.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: no self powered
Price: around $260
How good is it?: Very fast if you use the eSATA with a mac book pro, it's a 7200rmp drive and has a faster transfer rate then Firewire 800.

This is def the way to go.

Brand name: Maxtor
Model: One Touch III
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 500 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $160 (US)
How good is it?: So far, no issues. My WD MyBook 400 started pooping out bad sectors.

I had a Mybook and 1 day with a fall 6 inches to the carpet bricked the drive. I bought a Lacie 320gb d2 with USB2.0/FW 400/Fw800. This drive is awesome. I got it off of newegg for about $130. It is encased in aluminum and is quiet and does not get hot. I also have 60gb usb2.0 2.5" external, but i prefer the fw800 for my macbook pro.

i can preach on the segate joint cause i have had more wd and max go bad on me then a sg did.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: 160 GB
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 160GB 5400 RPM
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB powered
Price: $119 @ Costco!
How good is it?: nice! no dropouts! portable. gets a little hot after 4 hrs gig though.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250, 160, 120 GB @ 5400 RPM (used 3 different drives)
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB powered
Price: $199, $120, $120
How good is it?: Highly recommended.

Im using my 80 gig iPod

Brand name:Lacie
Model:D2 Hard Drive Extreme
Firewire, USB or both: Both with FireWire 800 & Firewire 400 USB 2.O
Capacity: 160 GB 700 RPM
Size - 175 X 159 X 44MM
Powered by USB or both: Both
Price:FREE!!!
How good is it?: Highly Recommended

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: My book
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): n/a
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:
Price: $110
How good is it?: No problems yet....Got a very powerfull laptop but if you dont might get some freezing up issues.

Hey ho. Any UK bods who have a gig-reliable 500gb external that is powered by USB/FW, can you drop me a link to where you purchased please. From what I've sniffed on here, Seagate and Lacie seem to be the best, in that order.

Taa.

Brand name: LaCie
Model: Bigger Disk Extreme
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0, Firewire 400/800
Capacity: 1.28 Tbytes
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: $600 (when I bought them)
How good is it?: Working so far, and the Firewire 800 is wicked fast. I bought two of these babies so that I can have a dedicated backup drive. I use SuperDuper! (on the Mac) to take care of the backups. For anyone who has spent a lot of time importing and tagging songs, I would DEFINITELY recommend having a second backup drive. Drives don't live forever. My only complaint is that these things are pretty big and heavy (11 lbs or so), but for this type of storage capacity there aren't many options, or at least there weren't many last year when I picked these up. Nowadays I think the Bigger Disk Extreme is only available in a 2 Tbyte model.

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:My Book
Firewire, USB or both:USB
Capacity:500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):11.6 x 4.5 x 8 inches
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:USB
Price:$140
How good is it?: Not a problem so far. I had a problem with my 1st one that was a 320GB. It worked for one day and quit on me.

Mine quit in less than an hour I took it back and got a lacie.

Seriously avoid using MyBooks with Mac's. Just go to the Apple forum and search for "failed drive" and count the many threads you get.

I use the Mercury 500gig from Other World Computing which has a Seagate drive and FW800. If you own a Mac then this is the proper drive. Also do a search for them on the Apple forums and read the many great things being said. Its a highly suggested drive for Macs on the go.

I have read almost everyones response... and I was wondering if any computer experienced persons have knowledge about using a hard drive with external power or one that uses USB power. I was told by someone that a hard drive that uses USB power is typically slower, is there any truth to that?

I am having trouble talkin to tech people in computer stores because they don't understand scratch live and the conditions that our hard drives are used in. I do three different bars a week and all are very smokey (does this mean I don't want a case with a cooling fan that will blow smoke into the HD all night?), I also do outdoor carshows which can be very hot.

Tonight I bought a "My Book" Westren Digital 320 GB,
Should I keep this or return it.
sorry, for the book I am just having trouble making a decision.
Any help would be great
thanks
JB

I used to always preach FIREWIRE FIREWIRE... but recently I bought a 500GB MY book for $129 at Staples (or someplace like that) and its USB only... I just couldnt get over the price. But its been a few weeks and no problem yet... seems to work just fine..

Also, what do I do with serato when all my files are transfered from my old hard drive to this new hard drive? Will any of them show up in serato, or do I have to start from scratch all over again?

make sure you can read "hidden" files and besure to copy the scratchlive directory over too.. it has the crate files in it...

Finally decided to go the external route since I only had 10 gigs left on my MBP's hard drive...

Brand name: G-Tech
Model: G-Drive Mini
Firewire, USB or both:High Speed FireWire 400 and
USB 2.0 Ports
Capacity: 160
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):Compact size - 4.9375 “ (l) x 3.1875” (w) x .875” (h)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Bus Powered - no AC adapter required!
Price: $250 after taxes...
How good is it?: This is my second night out using it. So far so good. The only problem I had was some new music I DL wasn't showing up for some reason or another, but eventually worked it out. Otherwise, I love the compact size of it and it seems to work well. Will keep y'all posted...

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: 80GB
Interface: USB
Capacity: 80GB
Size: 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: usb or 10 v power supply
Price: Free (gift) but i think its about 300
How good is it?: Very good. I've used it for back up with my pc before i switched to mac .. only use it for music back up now ... 2 years running no problem

Brand name:Acomdata
Model:Hybriddrive Hi speed usb
Firewire, USB or both:USB
Capacity:250gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):both zize
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:Ac Adaptor
Price:$89.99 sale
How good is it?: workdn dam good I use it for my backup music and to download all my music on the transfer the play list to my laptop to play,your not go play 10,000 songs in a gig so I do take it with my.

Brand name:Acomdata
Just bought this one over the weekend
Model:Western Digital
Firewire 400 and 800, USB or both:USB
Capacity:1 TB
Powered byAc Adaptor
Price:$375 i think

How good is it?: seems to be good... it has a built in fan, and it turns on and can be annoying, kicks into high gear and gets extra loud randomly when i'm not even doing anything with the drive

What's up guys. I just learned my lesson this past weekend. Do not forget to have a backup Hard Drive or DVD copies. I just had my second Western Digital Passport Series external Hard Drive fail on me, all the data (19,000+) MP3's etc, gone! I should have learned the first time, but I did not. Luckily I had some music and files left on my PC, but not the new stuff. Western Digital will replace the unit, but does not retrieve the data, I sent it out to third party to get a quote on retreiving the data from the Hard Drive and they wanted (getta a load of this) 2,800 dollars to retrieve it. So I can exchange the unit (what for) or buy a totally different Hard Drive which is what I'll do. The moral of the story - back up your data, don't rely on one Hard Drive, and smaller better looking isn't always the best choice.

....sorry, I missed this part....

Brand name:WD Passport 2.5"
Model:Passport
Firewire, USB or both:USB
Capacity:160gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size):2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?:USB
Price:$99.99 sale @ Best Buy (bought two)

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. I'm not technician, but I've had some negative experiences with using USB-powered external hard drives, specifically Western Digital's Passport drives. Currently, I'm using a Seagate Free Agent 750 GB USB 2/ Firewire/ eSATA drive with my Macbook and I'm loving it. Haven't had a single issue. It does need its own power, but other than that, no probs.

One thing to note though with (at least) Macs. I learned this the hard way. Never forget to eject the drive within OSX before unplugging it. I didn't do this on my last hard drive and I lost everything. It has something to do with the directory structure of the hard drive. After trying to use it again, the structure was corrupt and it wouldn't recognize anymore. Lucky for me, I had a backup of that music, which I forgot about at first, and thus was quite excited.

P.S. When using a Mac, I recommend formatting your external in Mac format. It won't be compatitlbe with a Windows PC unless you have the right software, but you'll run into way less issues when using it with your iMac/Macbook, which in turn is good news for Serato users.

Forgot this part.

Brand name: Seagate
Model: ST307504FPA1E3-RK
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 750 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): Desktop
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Requires A/C power
Price: 224.99 at Costco (where I bought mine)
How good is it?: Great. I love it.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: MyBook
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 500 GB
Powered by USB 2.0: Requires A/C power
Price: 175 at Best Buy
How good is it?: Tight aiight

^^ I got mine for $120 at Costco. Its great. Works flawlessly with FIREWIRE. Has 2 Firewire ports and 1 USB 2.0 port. 500GB, AC Powered.

don't nobody say nare none-a like you say nare none-a... i don't still don't know what it means but it sholl sound good bout it.

And I Don't think anybody knows what YOU mean... :-)

*see How High*

Watchwww.youtube.com

niiiiice

i went browsing for a new external. has anyone looked into these my book externals that use ethernet instead of usb or firewire? supposed to be the fastest connection between the laptop and HD.... your thoughts

anyone?

i think those hd's are meant to be plugged into router and shared over the network. i highly doubt that you can connect a hd via the ethernet port

they have a 1000/100/10 ethernet port, which pretty much every laptop has (at least 100/10), which is by far faster than firewire and usb... so, why not? it's just as portable as any other external drive.

they have a 1000/100/10 ethernet port, which pretty much every laptop has (at least 100/10), which is by far faster than firewire and usb... so, why not? it's just as portable as any other external drive.

oops

True they have ethernet ports, but unless your computer is handing out IP addresses or you configure the drive to match your own addressing scheme, you will run into problems. Also you would have to plug them both into a Hub(not such a good idea) or a Switch (better idea, but kinda clumbsy still) or use a Crossover cable. just seems like a bad idea for a portable drive, but good if you leave it home for back ups..

ah. good to know. clumsy = bad. 4x faster = good. WHAT TO DO???

I have since upgraded to another external disk as I was starting to get a lot of usb dropouts with the other one attached.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: MyBook Premium ES Edition
Firewire, USB or both: USB / eSATA
Capacity: 500GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: £86.35
How good is it?: So far so good, not had any dropouts and have my latency set at 0

For an external drive, I have been using:

Brand: Iriver
Model: H320 / H340 (yep, mp3 players)
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 20GB, 40GB
Size: 2.4 x 0.9 x 4.0 inches
Powered by USB/Firwire port: USB, and / OR 5v Adapter
Price: originally 299.00-350,00 USD. (Now discontinued)

How good is it?

Keep in mind these are MP3 Players first and foremost!
I started using the H340 soley as a EXTERNAL DRIVE after a month or 2 of purchase, and its going strong. The H320 I use as a MP3player and to record my sets. Both have a LINE-IN function, and can record directly as an MP3 up 320kbps.

I started using the H340 with Serato, and a friend's Laptop some months ago, with no problems or drop outs. (crosses fingers). Ive been using the H340 also when spinning at my radio station (we have Serato on a computer in the on-air room), since Spring.
Again, no problems, no drop outs.

My MASTER music files are ALWAYS kept on Lacie and Maxtor drives at home. Those drives stay home... I do not bring them out.

My external setup for mobile use is a Lacie d2 250. I use two of them that are just mirrors of each other. When I perform I take both external drives in a rack mounted SKB case. They travel in my vehicle every weekend with me and get used all the time from replenishing music at home to event performance. I have never had one issue with them or any of my other Lacie equipment. I know Lacie gets a lot of bad reviews from some folks but I feel secure with mine being rack mounted and in a secure case. For very little money you can order the rack mount supplies through Lacie, they are easy to set up, buy a cheap rack and you are ready to travel safely.

I haven't had any problems with my new one as of yet besides I've lost my power adapter twice now.

send me a link please.. they have been sold out for weeks.. and other places too... I have 6 of their drives and love them.. bt the rack is like tryin to find Bigfoot or something...


thx

Yeah, Boyee wifey and I use a Lacie too, tried a smartdisk and if froze up 300gb. Ask Shaun of serato and went with Lacie...so far so good...

stewcrew.. wow, how ya been?

Brand name: Lacie
Model: d2 Quadra
Firewire, USB2 & ESATA
Capacity: 500GB
Size -
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: £110
How good is it?: In the words of Tony The Tiger They'r Grrrrrrrrrreat!!!!!

western digital passport 160gig...139 @ costco...usb powered...an average of 2 gigs every week for 5 months now...no problem.
I do keep a back up at home though...a WD 500 my book.Never leave home.
I'm thinking of buying another passport 160gig and keep same file and carry as a back up with me....

LaCie Quadra 500g. 200 at Bestbuy.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Mybook

Capacity: 500GB
Size -
Powered by USB
Price: US $ 130
How good is it?: Its ok. Works well with XP. Takes up to 90 seconds to be detected in Vista though.

Does anyone have a 2TB external hard drive or at least could help recommending one to me? It's for all the video content I need to extract to my Macbook Pro. I have at least 4,500 videos to convert. Thanks in advance!!

look for something with at least 7200 and SATA or even ethernet port (if your laptop accepts it).

lacie d2 quadra. Bag of shit I have had two crap out on me in one week!

Awaits you dj so bad jokes!

Just got into this SSL game and got a lacie 250g. after talking to ppl with a maxtor and reading the forums, lacie seemed to be the way to go...and it is sweet so far.

Nickyblunt, what does 'awaits you dj so bad jokes' mean? i've had no problems with the quadra yet, except having to set up macdrive on my windows desktop to get it running. I kept it in mac os formatting.

dj dfect you need to have a look at the you dj so bad thread!

Thats what I ment!

Just that I've had two crap out on me since sunday!

I got a new replacement last night & that one seems fine!

Just musta had a bad couple from a dodgy batch!

All good........ (FOR NOW!!!!!!)

Lacie 350...shits bangin!

Brand: hitachi
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 500GB
Price: $126.98 plus tax

Used with Windows XP. Very fast I guess cause I don't have much music on it yet. Easy installation!!

is it true that this thing (1Tb) will be on sale for $200 @ circiut city on Black Friday?

www.blackfriday.info

www.circuitcity.com

I'll take 2

you would use one of those live?? EEK

I saw that hard drive too, and it looks awesome. Does anyone use it, or know if it's any good? 1TB for 200 bucks is a really good deal, if it's a good hard drive.

Oh, this is the one I use...

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 120 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes, powered by USB
Price: $100 on Buy.com
How good is it?: Very good, holds my entire music collection, both personal music and DJ collection (a little over 13,000 songs), haven't had a problem with it yet. I keep it in a hard case (also from WD) to protect it when playing at the bars.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250g
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: Yes (USB)
Price: $199 @ Best Buy
How good is it?: I originally started with the 120g Passport but got greedy and upgraded to the 250g. I love this thing as it holds a ton of music, works well with my Macbook and can be moved between XP/Vista/OSX machines with ease (yes, I'm knocking on wood as I post this!) It's now at Costco for $139 damn it! Since the Macbook only has two USB ports that means one for the external and one for SL1. I have backed up my music to another external drive and am looking to pick up a 1TB drive when the price comes downbut only for backup purposes. I did a wedding and was plugged in from 2:30pm to 9:00pm with no let down. I carry a lot of music just because of the crazy requests you get.

that western digital is nice, I paid only 80 bucks on sale at office depot. Im loving it as it is powered by usb and holds as much as the Lacie I was hualing around which was heavier than my mixer darn near!

Test

ok here's another ext 1Tb drive for $200 (this one is from Hitachi @ Best Buy) www.bestbuy.com but it says sold out

? dang it! forget it....read the Customer Reviews & Ratings...nuttin but @ss :(

damn, i just barely missed getting a mybook 250 from circuit city for $119.
Anyone know of some other good deals on them?

i got a western digital 500 gig for $99.00 with free shipping from best buy thursday night.

ups brought it today.im backing up my stuff tonight! i have 320 mybook,500 mybook and a 500 maxtor.

which do you like best?

mybook then the maxtor.

the maxtor is made really good
here take a look

www.maxtorsolutions.com


SORRY THIS LINK WORKS

i have the 500 gig usb 2.0 it was like $120.00 on sale 3 months ago

i had a one touch II that i loved... until i tripped on the firewire cord while walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night. that drive doesn't stand up well to being airborn.

lol.

im hearing glyph

www.barryrudolph.com

suppose to be really good.
there really exspensive.

Just go to newegg.com - order a 3.5 usb box and a segate h.d - its cheap and more reliable then any externel h.d setup you can buy. Also you can select a h.d with a faster read speed - most setups like the 500gig ibook have a 5200rpm drives. check it out: www.newegg.com
www.newegg.com

Glyph is a really good hard drive, but yeah your paying big bucks as far as hard drives are concerned. What your paying for is their service. If a drive goes out you overnight the drive and they recover your info and get it back the next day!! If you ever had to recover a hard drive, and what I mean is someone opening the drive physically. That is very expensive. Most studios I've worked at swear by these. It may be overkill for Serato but if you have the $$$ go for it.

i agree.

Glyph are sooo fast and quiet also

DO NOT BUY SEAGATE'S EX.H.D.!!! Within 2 weeks i went thru 4 seagates, they r not sturdy or durable i had a buddy with the same thing! I don't want nobody to go thru what i went thru, just a waste of time! Thanks alot seagate ! I recomend a MAXTOR ONE TOUCH it is real sturdy! First day i got and dropped it to see how durable it was? and it passed $180 wit insurance for 500 gig

I Recently had my backup drive which was a Lacie Bigdisk crash. This was a 500 gig drive. Drive was giving me input output error. Figured out that drives were fine which turned out to be two 250 drives but the cheap ass Lacie enclosure busted. The customer service was HORRIBLE!!!! This drive was about a week out of warranty. I will never buy a piece of shit from them again. I put both drives in $20 external drive enclosures and they work fine. So now I have two 250 drives to gig with.(main and back up) This drive never left my desk and was only turned on to back up another 120 Lacie drive I had been using and the internal drive on my laptop. I have since Bought A 500 G-drive which so far rocks. Since only the enclosure and not the drive which is not manufactured by Lacie broke I WOULD RECOMMEND TO NEVER BUY LACIE DRIVES EVER!!!!! I no longer use the 120 gig drive for anything important.

Hey dazdpg sorry to dissapoint they are the same company now!!

www.seagate.com

I believe the drives in my Lacie enclosure that broke were maxtor drives.

The last drive you will ever have to buy....


www.maxxdigital.com

I bought two 250gb after My Lacie and Western Digital.....They are a bit more expensive, not much, but they last forever....and yes they may be a bit bigger but there is no seperate power brick, its just a standard power cord.....These ARE made for Audio/Video Editing and production....So u know they will last without a problem

FW800/400/USB and SATA....

Just picked up a TB from them for video....Same enclousre....

They are looking to break into the DJ market and sell more of these things...Tell em your a Serato DJ and they might hook ya up with a special price....any other questions hit the PM

Peace
Z

j rock - in my experience lacie is not made for wear and tear because there power wire going into the connector becomes loose and gets a short in it from plugging and unplugging. i had 3 go bad. there great for studio use.i suggest getting western digital my book series because there durable and because of there power cord going into the external case is a one plug adapter good for plugging and unplugging all the time.

there others that are more xpensive and made more durable but for the money the mybook series is my choice right now.

those maxx externals look sweet deejay z!
are they treating you good? and how long have you been using these?

thanks

there amazing!!! I have two 250 gb and ordering a TB tommarow. Ive used them for about a year now with zero problems!!! The two other djs that I know have them have had the same experience! I also have had the same experience with the lacie drives....which drove me to these guys

thanks homie!

for sho.....if you end up getting up, let them know your a Scratch Live User....they mentioned they wanted to get more DJ Business they might hook u up with a discount

I just scored a 160 OneTouch4 mini on ebay for $65. It's tiny, holds alot of music and is usb powered.

I guess that is what was really the worst part of it. As my backup drive it never, never, never left my studio. and still broke.

This might sound nuts but I use an 8GB Sandisk flash drive. Put a playlist worth of AIFFs on there and the transfer speed seems blazing fast. No mechanical issues to ever have to deal with. Of course I have multiple disk based HD's for storage and backup. Eventually I would like to set up an e-SATA RAID 5 array through the ExpressCard slot on a MBPro.

daz sorry about your seagate experience, but i have been using a seagate 160gb portable for about a year now, and i love this thing!!! fits in my coat/jacket pocket (i don't do that, just saying that to reference it's size), and NEVER gets hot. i constantly check on my equipment for overheating, and i have never felt this get hot, the worst i've felt it get is luke warm. it runs about $180 - $200, got one on ebay for $130, but this is a great freaking drive, especially for the mobile dj. have had no problems reading, writing, playing out with ssl, it's been amazing. i'm going to get another to separate different music genres i don't often play but i will have them just in case, and another for backup while playing out cause i really don't like traveling with the regular desktop size 3.5" form factor drives, none of those feel stable for constant traveling to me.

western digital is a soild investment. all around. at times they go on sale. i bought my 320gb for 200 n something...it was a great buy...no problems since i've got it 2years ago. i just bought a self powered 160gb wetern digital usb powered ex-hd and its pretty good...when used with serato it does a delay or to on the active wave file and sometimes when loading a song... but it is still a decent back-up

just got a Maxtor 320G fw/usb2 for $96 @ Micro Center.
Loved my Smart Touch II, I'll post more on my new STIII as soon as i load it up.

i suggest buying a fast internal and get a nice external case with cooling.
new egg usually has alot to look through.im doing this next time:)

just got a HP PERSONAL MEDIA DRIVE 500gig for 120$ @ best buy, nice design, can't get anymore silent ! very fast good deal check it out i recommend it hard ! ....

How soon to these all Flash memory drives start coming out? I hear there's a 32G memory chip coming out. 10 in a box you got a 320g drive with no moving parts! sounds hot!

It might have changed, but the last update I got on the flash memory prices of that size 32G chips were like $600 each.

I know they will come down in price, its just a question of when. I'm so used to the whirring of my drives when I goto sleep. What ever will I do?

i was thinking of getting 2 simpletech 320 gb drives for $99 each. i saw these on sell at circuit city. anyone familar with these drives. i will use them strictly to back up music and they will stay at home. i won't use them with with my laptop and serato.

im looking to pick up a small portable drive myself, and have been reading most of the descriptions you guys are posting. however, are you DJing off of these drives or just backing up your files? im looking to dj off of an external, so my guess is that im safest with a firewired 7200. thing is, anything that is small enough to be portable, costs $350 or more. ill spend the money if it seems worth it. any suggestions?

what ive looked at so far are:

lacie rugged 100gig 7200 - www.shentech.com

g-raid mini 200gig @ 7200 - www.g-technology.com

glyp portagig 100gig @ 7200 - www.glyphtech.com

do i need all that power? should i get something with firewire 800 as opposed to 400? and i overkilling it if i only have about 60 gigs of music? i just dont want to lug around my glyph gt 50 all the time and have to plug it in separately.

any help would be great! thanks!

vinnyhooliganz@gmail.com

I just upgraded to 1TB from 500GB

1TB BIG DISK EXTREME USB 2.0 & FIREWIRE 400/800 7200 RPM 16MB US
but only using USB 2.0
So far so good.

Brand name: Freecom
Model: 400GB
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 400GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price: £85 @ Amazon.co.uk
How good is it?: Does the job - fanless design means its really quiet and the think aluminium shell seems to do the job of cooling it, dont fancy stacking it up tho. Pretty reasonable price at the time (for the UK - dammit!).

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: WDG1C4000N (MyBook)
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity: 400GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB, AC Adapter
Price: $150 at Bestbuy on clearance
How good is it?: EXCELLENT, never had any problems with it. I am a western digital fan for life!

This is my primary music drive on my PC where i get all of my promos, rip songs, downloads, recordings, etc.


Brand name: Western Digital
Model: WDXMS2500TN (Passport)
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250GB
Size - 2.5"(laptop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB
Price: $150 at bestbuy
How good is it?: Good, used to own a Maxtor 1touch 160GB that i liked better because of the one touch back up, but can't seem to do the same with the WD drive. when i use the backup software, it saves my music in some weird format that i can't use for playing.
This is/will be (Serato) my primary djing drive. I currently use it for different gigs i do that require background or prelude music with the auto crossfade function in WM10 or iTunes. I bought the case-logic case for it and it is a trooper doc!

I am wondering if those using just USB powered units like Passport, use it for djing with Serato (live in clubs) or just a backup? I am looking for a good, small portable solution at a practical price. I also wondered if those using WD Passports are on Macs or PC's?

i use mine live on pc

Stay away from LaCie. I work with these drives in the photo industry and I've never seen more drive failures than I have with LaCie (especially the Porsche series). You can't go wrong with G-tech or Glyph. For a small bus-powered drive you will pay, but to keep your data safe, it's worth it.

agreed lacie is bad!!
i like my book western digitals the best!
for the money there the best!

To follow up... the Maxtor OneTouch mini that I got is dope. It has even fallen a couple times from around 3 feet and still works fine. I just wish there was a way to keep it from sleeping.

Just a warning about those flash drives. I'm not sure if it's just the one I got but I bought an 8gig off ebay and it duplicates and corrupts files all the time. I have to keep formating it to get them off.

Totally agreeing with the Jocks usin' the Glyph drives. I got a 500 gb 7200 rpm and I LOVE it. Great external...

I've also used the G-Drives and they're pretty good too...

Glyph all the way if you can afford it

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity: 250Gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yes
Price: $129
How good is it?: This is the little drive that could. ITS AWESOME.
Not only have I not had a single problem with it.... it has survived
a 6 foot drop to the floor.... TWICE....(don't ask....). I use this
with my Toshiba Satellite laptop. Use it in the club every week, all
my MP3s are on the external drive.

Brand name: LaCie
Model: Rugged
Firewire/use: USB
Capacity: 160gb
Price: $140
How good? I really was disappointed by this hard drive, it has two usb connections if one doesn't power it up enough which usually it doesn't, so it basically means both of your usb's are used so no room for serato. On top of that it wasn't recognized by my mac unless i kept trying to replug it in. Lastly it is super over priced compared to something like western digital. Think I am gonna return this and get the western digital. One plus is that you can drop it from 30 feet but this doesn't really help if the thing doesn't work in the first place, however i understand now why it's made to be dropped as it is awful.

update on my drive.

Maxtor OneTouchIII - 320gb
7200rpm
firewire 400/usb 2.0
$96 from Micro Center

No noise whatsoever. Came with firewire cable and usb cable. It backed up 80 gb of music in 23 minutes, not too shabby. Always cold to the touch. All music stored on this drive and plays through 1.8 flawlessly with no hiccups.

5 *****

i need some help am wondering if any one had a wd usb powered only with 320 gb. does anyone use it with serato nd do u get drop outs. plz help thanks

Hey everybody I've been reading many of these threads and I'm still curious as to what kind of external hard drive is probably the best. For me my only concern is usually making sure serato will run smooth and an external hard drive that doesn't take up alot of space. I'm planning on gettin either a lacie 500gig or western digital external passport 250gig

i use a 80 G western digital for djaying for 3 months ans i am very happy. it s very smooth , fast and ok. my only nightmare is if one day traveling and playing it
could simply die. and i am away from my back up and with no cds or vinyls.
i know small portable hard drives don t last forever.
i have a friend that uses a lacie firewire and he is happy to. but its tooo too much expensive.

To all you users that use the Western Digital Passport. What is the default file format the drive comes as? FAT32 or NTFS?. Thanks1

fat. always for all makers.

usually you have to format them b4 u can use them any way so you would have to set to to fat or fat 32 or ntfs

good looking out.. djmel

no prob god any time

Fuck Lacie!!! don't buy that shit it's not worth it!!!! My Lacie 500 gig that never left my desk died in a year and a half! only there triple interface died, I put the 2 drives (which Lacie does not make) in new external enclosure's and they still work. They gave me NO SUPPORT!! basicly were like your on your own sucker!!

If you want to buy an expensive drive by a Glyph! These are the shit!! I also got a 500gig G-drive and it is awesome to. they make some small portable drives that look pretty cool as well.

Breeze look into the portable G-drives smaller and better then Lacie
for real!!

I use 1Tb Western Digital, with firewire, USB, and eSATA connection. I connect with the eSATA its 3GB/s. And it free's up my USB connection for my 57SL.

Only things is, eSATA cables are not included, and you have to plug in the External for power. Cause eSATA doesnt transfer power like USB.

but esata is the fastest right now( unless you got fire b-1394b which transfer at 31000 mbps ) or it may be 31k gbps but i do believe it mbps and gbps

thnx for the info......i guess lacie externals are full of shit....and portables g drives are the way 2 go

do u have a pcmcia card on your lappy to connect via eSATA? or does your lappy have a port already? thanks in advance for the feedback

I Use a ExpressCard/34 with my mac has dual esata

www.griffintechnology.com

no. pcmcia will work witht he old slots not the new express slots( at least i have not seen one that does)

again to all WD passport users....I tried using a 10' long usb cable but my laptop (HP) but it wasn't able to recognize meaning not enough power is being delivered to the drive. Have any of you guys used a longer cable? what brand?

i use a lacie 500 gb as backup and a lacie rugged series 160 gb as primay its good cause it absorbs bass vibration little more durable and i always put it on foam

im's do buyings two likes this. other to doing bucks ups

newspaperads.mercurynews.com

I just got a Macbook Pro (Switching from a Dell Prescision M90, running XP SP2) and from both my own and others experiences with OSX & USB performance, I decided to get a portable Firewire drive for DJ usage:

Brand name: LaCie
Model: Rugged Hard Disk
Firewire, USB or both: FireWire 800, FireWire 400 & Hi-Speed USB 2.0
Capacity: 320GB @ 5400 RPM
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5 x 1 x 5.7 in. / 90 x 25 x 145 mm (WxHxD)
Powered by USB/Firewire port?: Yes, bus powered (can be hooked up to exeternal power if wanted)
Price: standard LaCie List Price, ie $310,-
How good is it?: Seems well built, solid performer so far. Running from FireWire 800 connection.

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: Passport
Firewire, USB or both: USB only
Capacity: 250 gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): laptop size
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yep. powered by usb port
Price: around 160 CHF
How good is it?: Allright -.-

I got a problem after 1 hour of playing a random song starts to skip, it's rly horrible when im mixing and this happens,never had this before, just since i have this external drive. If i mix the track again it works, but this skips can't be in a live performance -.-. Any suggestions ? ( Running my Sl1 without a 9Vdc)

I have a Macbook Pro with a 100GB internal HDD @ 7200RPM w/2GB Ram, I want to purchase an external HDD, are externals the way to go for live shows? Also I noticed nobody made mention of fans in the external closures, is that required? And what connection is best for laptops, USB2, Firewire? Thanks!

DJ Markus... your question should be posted in a new thread, but.... you have a FW800 on the macbook pro so I would use that.. and yes external work great.

Thanks for the info treeo730 and point noted I will post a new thread going forward. Cheers.

dj markcus. im not sure if they make esat cards for macs but sata 3.0 is faster then fw 400 600 and 800.( the only thing faster is fw 1300b which is very new and i personaly have not seen nothing with it yet) but yes hd are good to go. i prefer segates. they have fans and have the best warr on the market. i got 2 of them thus far. one usb 2.0 and the other is sata. put it like this i transfered 2.5 gigs of mp3 in just under 2 mins.

I use a Seagate 500gig external for my main library and an OWC enclosed Seagate 320gig for my sets. The 500 holds all of the music and dub plates and I transfer new music that I want to the 320. Both are 7200rpm. The 320 is a quad interface and I hook it up Firewire400. When at home transferring files I hook it up eSata. Sata is very fast, but most laptops don't come with an eSATA (external SATA) connection. FW800 is your best bet.

your right carter but you can buy a esata card for about 40$ and a cable for about 6$( 20 $ max ) but your fastest connection is f/w 1300b.

I didn't realize the cards were that cheap. Mine for my PC was only about 15 bucks and it came with the cable. I personally don't have a MBP, and I don't have a slot on my lappy so I stick with FW400. It works well. I only use my eSATA for transfers. We're getting off topic though.

Brand name: MAXTOR
Model: ONE TOUCH III
Firewire, USB or both: BOTH
Capacity: 320 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: EXTERNAL POWER
Price: $100
How good is it?: It's fast. My music loads with the quickness. No LAG! Although it's quite bulky!

your right carter,i was just to be informative on my end and was just tryin to help.(((( but wow i never seen or to known a lappy with not kind of slot at all ))

That's cool. We all need all the help we can get. You got me looking back over my manual and I actually do have an Express 34 slot. Never even knew it was there. I was expecting a huge PCMCIA slot. Looks like I will be looking for a card. Huge thanks!!

no prob man. get a rosewell esata card for about 40$$ from newegg.com and get a cable for about 6$.

WD 250 gig with over 250 albums stored on the hard drive, bought it from wal-mart on sale for like $116, no problems as of yet

HP Personal Media Drive 500gig. It has it's own power supply instead of using the usb. Just seems to work better.

on board power supplies generate alot of heat inside. be carful. heat is what speeds up the retardation process of a hd( like a car battery )

Question: I have 2 hard drives, very handy but they're not user friendly in terms of scrolling with the 57sl, have I missed something here?

that dont sound like a hd issue ( sounds more like a ram or processor issue ) or possible a video card or on board video memory issue. i cant see how a certain hd will slow down your ttm57sl performance.

dude I'm on 4gigs RAM! Its just impossible (maybe I just don't know) to scroll thru the import folder. Everybody I've seen uses an external HD and I'm runnin outta HD space!

Toshiba
USB
320GB
3.5"
External power
80 Pounds
have had it for about 2 years dropped it a couple of times but its still solid and perfect. Same company makes the drives for the Ipod.

c- live give me all the specs of your hd and your comp. ill try to help.

I have a lacie and it sucks!

lacies.....im not a fan of lacie but i hear some people rave about them , but i would never get one. i dont think they are good my self also .

Brand name: Western Digital
Model: WDH1CS5000N
Firewire, USB or both: Both + eSATA
Capacity: 500Gb
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5"
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: NO
Price: $159.00
How good is it?: 8/10, have the same model with only USB this one outperforms VIA the Firewire by at least 50%.

hersh how is your usb out doing fw by 50%??( unless your talking about fw 400)

Is it better to use an external hard drive, or would an ipod be just as good or better? Because an ipod is smaller in size, and probably would stay cooler during play.

an ipod is not big enough to dj with.

Brand name: Western Digital

Model: Passport

Firewire, USB or both: USB

Capacity: 320 gb

Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5''

Powered by USB/Firwire port?: USB

Price: $150

How good is it?: Loving it! Had it drop out on me once so far, but no problems since then. (cross fingers) Got it to free up space on my internal hard drive. Right now it's holding about 90 gigs of music.

i have one Passport too, and i am very happy.
but lately i am having some screen freeze when loading tracks and read a post here that could be related to WD drives .. don t know. but would like to know if some one experienced that problem (no audio or usb dropouts)

I just purchased a Western Digital 320 GB for my notebook. The notebook can't handle because it exceeds my MAX, so I'm thinking about putting it in a external storage and using this as the primary storage for DJing what do you think

I use all Western Digital (passport) portables, it will allow you to not only backup your music but they are pocket size, my HP laptop has 4 USB 2.0 and one f/w 400, I bring all the Passports with me but only connect the ones I am using, I use one just for Club Events all hip hop, the second for house/trance, the third for 50's/60's/70's/80's/90's old school, and the fourth for my wedding/corporate events cause they are just temp files that are from the request list that i get before the event.

I might do some research on the WD portables

Thanks

Careful about "USB powered" drives.....they tend to lead to an increae in USB dropouts

no dropouts here

I've been reading that in the forum, thats why I want to stick with the internal HD. At what point computers stop handleing large HD

skinnyguy, what are you using

The USB thing is the biggest reason why I switched to Firewire

Why is firewire faster than usb?

I just copped a 250G passport also. But I havent played out yet. So Im here takin it all in. Ive been a dj since the mid 80's

i own and have used the 120 gb, 160 gb, and 250 gb models of the wd passport. they all work fine.

a friend of mine also uses it...and he says it works good for his video show....so i gotta test that out on my system...

hey guys
i just got my new scratch live set upi and all is well apart from the fact that
i can't needle drop through the tracks if i pick up the needle it just plays from where i picked up from has this happened to you

and the track and file sections of the control vynil just play the track loaded

if you want to get away from the USB thing, try this if buying an external is out of your budget. search for any 2.5" or 3.5" SATA hard drive you want on the internet, I use 2.5" SATA they are more compact and its cheaper to buy the hard drive when its bare. then just go to Frys or something and buy a hard case for it that has a Fire Wire port. normally about 20-40 bucks. you can also get cases fro them that have both USB 2.0 and Fire Wire 400 ports.

so, im guessing fire wire is better and faster than USB. thanks I'll try to finf one.

Brand name: Seagate
Model: Seagate FreeAgent? Desktop (7200 rpm)
Firewire, USB or both: USB 2.0
Capacity: 500 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size)
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: no
Price: €86,79
How good is it?: works perfect!

lib.store.yahoo.net

in this picture the left decks is absolute (ABS) and the right deck is relative (REL). (look above each deck).

I suggest you try absolute (ABS) mode! ;)

Brand name:Western Digital
Model:Passport 2.0 320GB
Firewire, USB or both: USB
Capacity:320 GB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 2.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: yes USB
Price: $119 @ on sale @ Bestbuy
How good is it? I love it! Not as much space as the 2 500 MyBooks I was lugging but I can live with that for the size and lack of external power.

as i mentinoed b4 just use esata and you will have no issues. its faster then usb and fw 400 600 n 800. but not fw beta which is 14000 i believe.

i got a maxtor 200gig

Don't use an external drive live. Just another device to crash/die during a gig. I do use one for backup though. Maxtor One Touch III, 200 Gig I think.

You know, I'm starting to side more towards that with an external drive just for backup. I have noticed my firewire drive exhibiting some "strange" habits and I question, if you have a big enough internal drive, the need for an external. Of course if you are doing video, this whole idea goes out the window. I think I may just have a backup of the os stripped down with just serato and sound files for emergency.

if your lappy dies, you could borrow another lappy and still have your crates intact (if you use crates). and you can sort your crates on other computers without having to boot up your work lappy. </digress>

i think this is the way to go

2.5 = portable
firewire = avoid usb dropouts
no external power = just incase of fuse trippin, your lappy will stay on, so as your hd!

www.lacie.com

Just bought the USB version of this....I have it formatted so I can use it on PC and MAC, use it on the plane alot....comes in handy

I've got a Western Digital 500 gb Mybook or should I say Mybrick, works well never gets hot, no complaints yet

** touches wood**

Barracuda - from Seagate

750gig

ESATA connection onto the mobo.

songs on the HDD are mostly .Wav

I have two WD 250g Passports and have never had a problem with USB dropout and they are the "best" for portability and changeability. My buddy keeps telling me to get a LaCie with Firewire but I want a time capsule for backup. Has anybody had experience using the Time Capsule on a network instead of plugging in a External (for home use not on the road, of course)?

I have a WD
$110 at staples
350 Gigs
Came with a power adapter so it uses less RAM
you have to purchase the back up program separately or use the free trial.

Ive got a 320GB Lacie rugged. Firewire 800 w/ my Macbook Pro works a treat.

Brand name: Lacie
Model:LaCie d2 Quadra
Firewire, USB or both: Both
Capacity:500MB
Size - 3.5"(desktop size) or 2.5"(laptop size): 3.5
Powered by USB/Firwire port?: No
Price:£139
How good is it?:Excellent - I have just completed three 8 hour sets using the firewire 800 over the last 2 weeks and now problems to report.

I just bought a new computer, I can not get it to see the drivers, (viao) i have even reinstalled 1.8.1 while pluged in, I never had this problem with my old viao, this one is running Vista, any suggestions?

I just bought 2 of these

cgi.ebay.com

I just ordered one of these to go with it
eshop.macsales.com

87.99 is kind of expensive for an enclosure, but it seems to be the only firewire/usb combo I can find that will fit the 12.5MM height.

The thought of a bus powered 500GB is exciting to me, I can't wait to try it out. I've never used the FireWire800 port on my powerbook, it's supposed to be faster that USB 2.0. I've grown tired of lugging around my giant 500GB Maxtor OneTouch around with it's power brick.

I will post my findings after I get to test it out.

If this enclosure works right, I'll buy a 2nd one.

Brand Name: WD
Model : My Book 640 Gb
Price: $100.00 Great Price
LapTop: MacBook
USB
How Good Is It? Great: Using It 3 Nights a Week Over 5 Hours a Night. No Problem, No Heating, Runs Quiet, Runs Fast.
Going To Buy Another For Backup.
Good Advice: Always Keep a Backup, I Don't Think There's a Perfect Anything, For Me The Closes Thing To Perfect Was Vinyl. And I Also Carry My Cd's With Me On In The Trunk Of My Car, You Never Know What Can Happen. Just To Keep It Safe. If Your Hardrive Or Computer Flops For Any Reason That Will Be The End Of The Party. At Least Carry a few Mixed Cd's. For Backup.