# Who Makes Reliable External Hard Drives



## Demilich (Dec 22, 2005)

Hi guys, I'm interested in buying a new external hard drive. Now I have a 160 gb Lacie Porsche (I think that's what it's called, you know what I mean). I'm going to buy a nwe one, but I keep hearing horror stories about external hard drives dying-luckily my lacie hasn't done so. I want to get something that is 250-300 gb....also if it's something like seagate, which i hear good things about, could you recommend anywhere in toronto or montreal or online where i can buy in it? most places just seem to have lacie.

oh, and i'm using an ibook g4, so no firewire 800, if that matters. thanks for any advice, because i don't know very much about this kind of thing


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## jbot (Oct 20, 2005)

why not just stick with lacie? especially if they haven't failed you to date.


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## Demilich (Dec 22, 2005)

Well, I've heard of other people having problems with this same hard drive, after a couple years or so, and I haven't had it that long yet. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but since I'm going to buy a new, bigger one (still keeping the Lacie of course), I thought I'd ask some of the experts here.


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## Repeater04 (Nov 29, 2004)

Demilich said:


> Hi guys, I'm interested in buying a new external hard drive. Now I have a 160 gb Lacie Porsche (I think that's what it's called, you know what I mean). I'm going to buy a nwe one, but I keep hearing horror stories about external hard drives dying-luckily my lacie hasn't done so. I want to get something that is 250-300 gb....also if it's something like seagate, which i hear good things about, could you recommend anywhere in toronto or montreal or online where i can buy in it? most places just seem to have lacie.
> 
> oh, and i'm using an ibook g4, so no firewire 800, if that matters. thanks for any advice, because i don't know very much about this kind of thing


Why not use what has been successful for you. Try the D2 instead,......much more rugged than the Porsch design. http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?pid=10059 Or you could Googgle Seaqate Momentus


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## usedmac (Nov 7, 2004)

Lacie hands down.


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## Bruster (Aug 14, 2003)

*Lacie died*

I go through a lot of drives (video editing), and a Lacie Extreme died just last week. It had been a main editing drive for about 18 months so that's about par for the course. 

I have had excellent luck with Western Digital (Caviers). Great performance and they always last in my raids, or secondary drives for the 18 months or so I usually keep drives on line before I retire them to transfer and archive duties. Never had one die yet (have about 9 now).


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## macguy.nielsen (Sep 18, 2004)

The new IOMEGA HD's are very good. I have the 250GB FW 400/800 USB 2.0 version and it serves me VERY well. They are quiet, cool, and fast.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Which hard drives does Lacie actually use in their external boxes?

I have used Western Digital pretty well exclusively, the oldest ones are six years old and I never had a problem. I put them into my own external boxes - last external fully assembled drive I bought was from Acomdata. The drive inside turned out to be a WD as well and the case is a nice solid aluminum. Bought it because it was a super deal - only use it for backups so it won't get much continuous use.


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## kent (Oct 18, 2003)

It really has nothing to do with who markets the external drive. LaCie does not make HDs, they make enclosures - expensive ones at that. Stay far far away from any manufacturer who uses Maxtor drives ... people can argue this if they want, but they have the highest failure rate. Seagates are usually deemed to be the most reliable and they have a 5 year warranty [while others have 1], which also proves [to some degree] that they have faith in their HDs.

My advice: buy an external case [lots of choices here] and then buy a Seagate to suit your needs - the 300 GB Seagates have the best price-point currently. Toss the HD in the enclosure [if you can use a screw-driver you can handle this - it's that easy] and you're good to go for the fraction of what a LaCie would cost.


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## Eidetic (Oct 6, 2003)

reliable? what's the application?
if it's pro a/v use i reccomend you look at the glyph drives


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## monster and machine (Aug 22, 2005)

i bought a 300 gig that i keep in an enclosure that just says DISK on top. i have no idea what brand the enclosure or the HD is because i am a freakin' idiot and didn't think to ask best byte. any way to find out?...err i didn't check the system profiler, that might be a good way to start i guess. does the enclosure really make much difference?


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

monster and machine said:


> does the enclosure really make much difference?


I wouldn't worry too much about it if it works.
Just check if it gets really warm when you are using the drive - heat destroys hard drives.
If you're interested, you can check the make of the chipset in the enclosure and the details of the external hard drive using system profiler.


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

I have a LaCie D2 for 3 years now. Rock solid. I just swapped out the original 160GB drive for a 320GB. The original drive was still fine, just needed more space. Both are WD. 

I have had great success with LaCie, and WD (in enclosures and computers). 

There is my reccomendation. Stay with what works.


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

One more thing. I bought a Maxtor drive and enclosure from Canada Computers last year. After a month, the drive crapped right out. Got a warranty replacement and sold them ASAP. I have two LaCie drives spanning 6 years. I am completely satisfied with them.


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## audiodan (Sep 26, 2005)

I just use Western Digital cause it is cheap and it works!


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