# Seagate Eternal 750GB for $273!



## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

*Seagate External 750GB for $273!*

Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB / FireWire 400 / USB 2.0 / eSATA
at Dell for $273.00

Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB / USB 2.0 ONLY!!!
at Futureshop for $429.99

What gives? Is there a difference between the drives that I'm missing that justifies the huge difference in cost? It appears at Dell, they give you more for less (man that was hard to say  ).


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## ender78 (Jan 23, 2005)

Just looks like a great deal from Dell  FS and BB can have some really high prices.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Seagate has been playing silly buggers with pricing - all over the map.
That pretty sharp on the 750 BUT we're not sure of that case on the 750 tho there is a 5 year warranty.
We're pretty happy with the 320 version - good looking cool and quiet. We're pairing them up with the new iMacs.










I was ragging on the Seagate manager the other day for the gap between Canada and US pricing. Anyone no wanting to deal with Dell we can likely get the 750 in at that price point once I beat up distribution. 

Tornado 750s in a FW800/esata etc 4 way case are more but will be more than double the speed and 800 gig arrays are faster yet and down to $388 with a fanned case.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

D'oh! Check my original Dell link, that drive is now $267.00 :clap:


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## mobyl (Sep 18, 2007)

Got FS to PM Dell for the Seagate - think I ended up getting two 750Gb drives for about $240 each. Sweet deal.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

mobyl said:


> Got FS to PM Dell for the Seagate - think I ended up getting two 750Gb drives for about $240 each. Sweet deal.


Hi Mobyl. Can you let us know which Future Shop location you went to and ideally the name of the service person?

With thanks for your response!


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## mobyl (Sep 18, 2007)

Fuji said:


> Hi Mobyl. Can you let us know which Future Shop location you went to and ideally the name of the service person?
> 
> With thanks for your response!


Location: Keele and St. Clair.
I'll have to check the receipt to see if it has the Rep's name. I'll do that tonight.
Mind you, I tried to PM with FS Online first and they said no - something about Dell.ca not being an authorized reseller... so I went to the store instead.

Good luck.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

mobyl said:


> Location: Keele and St. Clair.
> I'll have to check the receipt to see if it has the Rep's name. I'll do that tonight.
> Mind you, I tried to PM with FS Online first and they said no - something about Dell.ca not being an authorized reseller... so I went to the store instead.
> 
> Good luck.


Thanks for looking into it for me. I'd also like to clarify something, I just went online to the FS website and it seems that the Seagate 750GB FreeAgentPro that they sell does not have a firewire port. Is that correct? in which case it is a slightly different external drive from the one that Dell is selling. (No worries, none of us will mention that to FS if it is the case... your secret issafe with us.)

Here is the link to the FS website and the 750 GB Seagate they sell:
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10087567&catid=

So, if you would be so kind as to let us know if the one you got came with a firewire connection or not...

Many thanks!


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

It's odd that they don't have a FW800 drive in their product scope. Unless I'm missing something. 

Seagate Technology - FreeAgent&#153; Pro


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

Firewire 400, USB 2.0, eSATA and 5 years Warranty? Does anyone know what type of cable on needs to connect it to the eSATA port on the MacBook Pro?


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## digital107 (Jan 15, 2006)

Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB / FireWire 400 / USB 2.0 / eSATA now at $258


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Daktari said:


> Firewire 400, USB 2.0, eSATA and 5 years Warranty? Does anyone know what type of cable on needs to connect it to the eSATA port on the MacBook Pro?


What eSATA port on the MacBook Pro?


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

digital107 said:


> Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB / FireWire 400 / USB 2.0 / eSATA now at $258


Well I caved, I bought two and they are beauties! Dead silent, not too much heat. Free delivery and I got 'em in two days! By the way, did I say the drives were silent?  Connected via FireWire, copied over 400gigs in one shot and not one problem.

I can only assume the price drops were the result of our favourable exchange rate (Apple can learn from Dell if this is true).


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

CanadaRAM said:


> What eSATA port on the MacBook Pro?


Ops! Talk about embarrassing, I meant the ExpressCard slot. 



HowEver said:


> You would need something like the WiebeTech Expresscard/34 eSATA host card for MacBook Pros (or a similar product) in order to use that external drive.


Thanks! $100+.  I'm really tempted, on the hard drive deal.


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Daktari said:


> Thanks! $100+.  I'm really tempted, on the hard drive deal.


Firmtek and Sonnet also make Mac-friendly ExpressCard/34 eSATA cards (for MacBook Pros only, natch')


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

CanadaRam, so I go on google and search for "mac ExpressCard/34 eSATA" and guess who comes up giving advice on the second link on how delicate Apples ExpressCard slot is? I think I will pass for now. Thanks.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Bjornbro said:


> Well I caved, I bought two and they are beauties! Dead silent, not too much heat. Free delivery and I got 'em in two days! By the way, did I say the drives were silent?  Connected via FireWire, copied over 400gigs in one shot and not one problem.
> 
> I can only assume the price drops were the result of our favourable exchange rate (Apple can learn from Dell if this is true).


This feedback is appreciated. 

One question though... How did you get free shipping? I called and asked about the unit and was told that there was a $15 shipping fee? Any insights?

Many thanks!


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

Bjornbro said:


> Well I caved, I bought two and they are beauties! Dead silent, not too much heat. Free delivery and I got 'em in two days! By the way, did I say the drives were silent?  Connected via FireWire, copied over 400gigs in one shot and not one problem.
> 
> I can only assume the price drops were the result of our favourable exchange rate (Apple can learn from Dell if this is true).



Pics please? I prefer an actual picture than a rendering. Do they spin down when not in use?

Cheers.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

Fuji said:


> This feedback is appreciated.
> 
> One question though... How did you get free shipping? I called and asked about the unit and was told that there was a $15 shipping fee? Any insights?
> 
> Many thanks!


Go on the web site, add it to cart, and click the shipping calculator, you'll see it is free!


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Fuji said:


> One question though... How did you get free shipping? I called and asked about the unit and was told that there was a $15 shipping fee?


I didn't call, I bought online. Like meall said:


meall said:


> Go on the web site, add it to cart, and click the shipping calculator, you'll see it is free!





Daktari said:


> Pics please? I prefer an actual picture than a rendering.


Happy to oblige, I'll post here tonight.




Daktari said:


> Do they spin down when not in use?


Yep! They spin up when they're needed and spin down when they're not, not that you'd know by the sound, (they are  v-e-r-y q-u-i-e-t. :clap: ) but the LED dims when not in use.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

Here they are. Sorry, but the camera flash washed out the LED accent.


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## Demosthenes X (Sep 23, 2004)

HowEver said:


> You would need something like the WiebeTech Expresscard/34 eSATA host card for MacBook Pros (or a similar product) in order to use that external drive.


Does that mean the drive will not work out of the box on a MacBook? Or do you mean, you would need the card to use it with eSATA, but the Firewire/USB interface would still work fine?


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

Looks great! I'm still thinking about it.



Demosthenes X said:


> ......Or do you mean, you would need the card to use it with eSATA, but the Firewire/USB interface would still work fine?


Yes.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Thanks to eveyone for your input! It's much appreciated.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

digital107 said:


> Seagate FreeAgent Pro 750GB / FireWire 400 / USB 2.0 / eSATA now at $258


Now it's $255!


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

Got my FreeAgent 500gb usb for $139.00 at Walmart. Loving it so far, but wish it was Firewire. Also one beef I have with it is that there is no power switch on it.


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

They have a nice IOMEGA 500GB Network NAS drive today for $149.00.

Days of Dell Deals


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## Rukus (Aug 10, 2007)

I bought one of the 750 GB ones from a local seller here in Edmonton a couple weeks ago for $275.00 and so far I love it. I'm using the Firewire400 for now but I'm looking into the Esata cards as I'm using this as the "dump" for all my HD video that I'm shooting. I think the extra speed would be nice when it's time to import a 60 GB movie into Imovie


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## dfan (May 17, 2006)

For those who have the 750Gb Free Agent Pro (USB and eSATA) do you notice the bottom of the base remains warm to hot even if the drive has been off for awhile (even overnight) - is this normal?

Also I noticed for me, turning on the drive is just a quick swipe of the power touch button, but to turn it off I need to hold it for 2 or 3 seconds.


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## Daktari (Feb 21, 2005)

dfan said:


> Also I noticed for me, turning on the drive is just a quick swipe of the power touch button, but to turn it off I need to hold it for 2 or 3 seconds.


I don't have one but I would imagine that to be a feature.


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## sashmo (Oct 19, 2002)

Thanks for the heads-up Bjornbro. I also ordered one, and yes, the shipping is free.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

I have one other question regarding these drives...

Do they have more than one firewire 400 port?

I ask because I am curious to know if I would be able to daisy-chain them with other firewire drives.

With thanks for your feedback!


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

The Seagates do have 2 FW ports. We like the drives and are starting to carry the larger sizes as well as the 320s.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Thanks for the prompt response MacDoc! 

Much appreciated.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Don't all Firewire drives and/or enclosures have at least two Firewire ports?
I havn't come across one yet that didn't.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> The Seagates do have 2 FW ports. We like the drives and are starting to carry the larger sizes as well as the 320s.


Hi Doc,

How about a big drive with FW 800? Because my iMac have this, I feel like it would be nice to use it for best performance. In fact, I would be interested in a 4-way (USB2, FW 400/800, eSATA) as FW 800 may fade away one day, while eSATA look as to be the futur!

Is there any nice big drive like this (at nice price) or, maybe even better, enclosure that can have multiple drives in for better expandability?


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## Demosthenes X (Sep 23, 2004)

MacDoc said:


> The Seagates do have 2 FW ports. We like the drives and are starting to carry the larger sizes as well as the 320s.


MacDoc, what's your pricing on the 320/500/750?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

The Seagates have eSata and FW 800 offers no benefit on a single drive set up except for Tornados.

Single drives are 35-40 megs per second sustained - so is FW 400.
FW 800 is a waste of money for a standard drive.
An array gives good speed and then FW 800 and eSATA start to strut their stuff.

When you get to 3 and 4 drives and more eSATA runs away as it's essentially the same 3 GBs as the internal bus on a MacPro and nothing I know of will saturate that.

For regular backup FW 400 is more than adequate as with small files you won't even be close to the 37-40 mps saturation.

Perpendicular storage alal the Tornados and USB 3/eSATA - then we get into some real speed.










These are the kind of speeds we are getting internally in a MacPro.










The other factor is how full the drive is.
The chart above shows the top 20% of the drive space.

This shows the last 20% - huge difference.










So even if you got your 35 mps ona fresh drive - you'll be down around 20 as it fills up.

Don't waste your money on FW 800 on a single drive and really unless you are doing big media it's not all that terrific even with the RAIDs.

ProTools owners do need big fast singles and the Tornado Quad case is ideal as ProTools will not work with an array.

With USB3, eSATA and perpendicular storage we're in for a real nice speed bump over the next while.

Pays to keep that drive not too full and optimized..it shows.

••

We're competitive on Seagates - we're still beating them up to get pricing down.
Popular has been a 320 Freeagent and Leopard for $288.

If anyone gets one make sure you format GUID immediately and not just plug it in and use it.


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

3 questions for anyone who might know. I read that the 750 drive in the case may not be the same quality as the Seagate Barracuda that one can buy separately. Is that true?

I've also read that one cannot just open the case and remove the drive like you can with most external cases. True?

I'm looking at buying a 500 or 750 Seagate Barracuda and an external SATA FW USB case, although this would be more expensive than this deal, if I can find it.

Third question, is this Seagate drive really eternal???  And I thought a 5 year guarantee was pretty good.


> Seagate *Eternal* 750GB for $273!


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

Hi MacDoc,

This Tornado thing you're talking about, can you give us more details such as the price they sell, and where can we get information on them? I searched seagate.com, but mostly found Maxtor external drives!!!

Maybe, in my case, an eSATA and FW800 is all that I need (as I do not plan to travel very far away with this drive, neither I plan to use it on my PB), but like you suggested, maybe a dual HD or more enclosure will be best for performance. The 250 Gb I have in my iMac is a little bit small when I want to do iMovies... So external storage is the way I want to go for this.

And while I was using FW400 in the past with my PowerBook 12", I did not see a huge performance issue compare to the internal drive. Now, on an iMac with SATA drive, I can feel that the FW400 is a little bit slower...


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Oh yes the internal SATA is a bit quicker than FW 400 but not by a large amount - you can download the AJA tester.

Tornados are WD Enterprise drives and really overkill for the average user. There is simply no gain.
Seagates run cool and more than adequate performance for the casual user.

Remember you were going from a likely tired 2.5" older tech drive in the PB to a current SATA,

You don't need either FW 800 or eSATA unless you are doing heavy media work and moving huge files all the time.

A dual enclosure with FW 800 is good value for big drives - we sell an 800 for $388 but personally for your use the $100 cheaper Seagate 750 Freeagent would be my choice...and it has a longer warranty.

Spend the savings on Drive Genius or iDefrag. Both good value and useful.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

In the Dell link that started this thread it is the FreeAgent Pro (FW 400, eSATA and USB 2.0) and it sells for 259.99$CAD. Is it the one your talking about? So, finally it could be a good price after all...


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Yes - we can match that as well when the Dell deals are on.

We'll probably do a Leopard and 750 Freeagent bundle for $388.

That allows a full clone AND lots of space for TimeMachine.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

From what I can see, even at 259.99$CAD, Dell offers free shipping. I live 500Km east of Montreal, so... I already have Leopard, and I have bought the FutureShop 500Gb Lacie drive for Time Machine. This new one will be for real usage, for I do not plan to place it under Time Machine as I care less about my amateur video, than I care about other documents, such as my (stil amateur) pictures...


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)




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## 20DDan (May 2, 2005)

omg! Is that a real advertisement? n if it is... what year is that from?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Oh I recall the first hard drives - 10 gig $4000 for the MacPlus. Maybe 1986

Before that we used floppies - even had a floppy autoloader. Stack 5 400k discs in - aaaaammmaaaaazing.


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## askywalker (Sep 30, 2007)

*$299 1TB Mybook at Costco*

I just picked up the 1TB MyBook at Costco for $299. FW400 and eSata... Gotta figure out a way to get eSata on this MBP, but the FW400 is doing alright...

Not sure if it is a great deal, but saw it there yesterday and thought it hit the spot- woulda liked FW800 obviously, but it seemed cheaper than the g-drives 

fwiw


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Is it fanned??
If not I'd stay off eSATA as your heat will be very high. ( it's a cheap bus card )
The better dual cases have fans and fans are needed with two drives....they also have FW 800.

TANSTAAFL










Don't see any fans.

We use this case - good fan - quiet and triple or quad interfaces.










There may well be some strategic advantage for the average user to get single drives.
As well as cooling issues - if a huge drive goes down the recovery costs are much higher and with RAIDs you double your failure risk and make recovery from a failure less likely.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

krs said:


> Don't all Firewire drives and/or enclosures have at least two Firewire ports?
> I havn't come across one yet that didn't.


Hi krs,

One that I have recently checked out is the coolmax sata with firewire enclosure (CD-311 series) that you have pointed out in a few threads. That enclosure only has one firewire 400 port. (I have found it at a cheaper price than the one you stated btw -> 49.99)

But I am unsure if I will pick it up seeing that the ability to daisy-chain is a useful thing.

I need to pull the trigger on a new external HD soon. Should I learn something interesting (to me) in the process I'll share it here with all. 

Should anyone see any other great deals on firewire enabled externals... I'll happily receive their tips.

Oh: that ad above is hilarious too!!!


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> Oh I recall the first hard drives - 10 gig $4000 for the MacPlus. Maybe 1986


I'm sure you meant 10 MB, not 10 Gig!


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

irontree said:


> Got my FreeAgent 500gb usb for $139.00 at Walmart. Loving it so far, but wish it was Firewire. Also one beef I have with it is that there is no power switch on it.


Sorry guys but I have to ask this since it's been driving me nuts... How do you re-mount the drive if you've ejected it accidentally? I keep having to unplug it and plug it back in- very annoying... thanks for any feedback


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Fuji said:


> Hi krs,
> 
> One that I have recently checked out is the coolmax sata with firewire enclosure (CD-311 series) that you have pointed out in a few threads. That enclosure only has one firewire 400 port.


Thanks for pointing that out.

I don't like the looks of it, so I never checked it out closer.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

irontree said:


> Sorry guys but I have to ask this since it's been driving me nuts... How do you re-mount the drive if you've ejected it accidentally? I keep having to unplug it and plug it back in- very annoying... thanks for any feedback


Sometimes, they are still visible in Disk Utility. So open it, if it is in the sidebar, just click it and then the mount button.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

irontree said:


> Sorry guys but I have to ask this since it's been driving me nuts... How do you re-mount the drive if you've ejected it accidentally? I keep having to unplug it and plug it back in- very annoying... thanks for any feedback


I am unaware of a more elegant solution myself... but you could turn the power off on the external HD, wait several seconds and power it back up. If that is easier for you than dealing with cables... give it a go.

Edit: well... the disk utility option is more elegant... thanks folks!


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## (( p g )) (Aug 17, 2002)

irontree said:


> Sorry guys but I have to ask this since it's been driving me nuts... How do you re-mount the drive if you've ejected it accidentally? I keep having to unplug it and plug it back in- very annoying... thanks for any feedback



In Finder, choose Go/Utilities and run "Disk Repair". Your hard drive and all mountable externals will show up in a list. Choose the external drive you want and click on the "Mount" button in the toolbar. 

Leopard bonus: if you have partitioned your external drive, you can now selectively unmount each partition as opposed to Tiger and Jag, which unmounted all drives at once.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

MacDoc said:


> Is it fanned??
> If not I'd stay off eSATA as your heat will be very high. ( it's a cheap bus card )
> The better dual cases have fans and fans are needed with two drives....they also have FW 800.


Does the eSATA heat issue only apply if you have more than one drive in the enclosure?

I did a bit of research on the net last night and it seems to me the best bang for the buck by far is to use a plain eSATA enclosure and add an eSATA interface to your Mac (if that is possible).
Now, that makes the enclosure less portable in that you can't move it to any Mac and use it, it's also no good if you need to boot from the external drive, but for low cost and super high speeds to just store and move large files it seems to be the way to go.
eSATA enclosures are $20 and up, an eSATA PCI card or eSATA interface for the MBP is around $50 and with SATA II the throughput is quite a bit faster than FW 800.

Bottom line I find is that you really need to understand waht you want to do with your external - it's certainly not "one size fits all"


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

irontree said:


> Sorry guys but I have to ask this since it's been driving me nuts... How do you re-mount the drive if you've ejected it accidentally? I keep having to unplug it and plug it back in- very annoying... thanks for any feedback


I make sure my external has an on/off switch.
I always use it to remount the drives.

However, good to know about the other options as well.


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> 3 questions for anyone who might know. I read that the 750 drive in the case may not be the same quality as the Seagate Barracuda that one can buy separately. Is that true?
> 
> I've also read that one cannot just open the case and remove the drive like you can with most external cases. True?
> 
> ...


Anyone happen to have an answer for my questions on the drive. My post got a bit buried, so I thought I would ask again.


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

MacDoc said:


> Oh I recall the first hard drives - 10 gig $4000 for the MacPlus. Maybe 1986
> 
> Before that we used floppies - even had a floppy autoloader. Stack 5 400k discs in - aaaaammmaaaaazing.


I saw this one recently ... 1 GB drive — 20 years ago and today.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> Anyone happen to have an answer for my questions on the drive. My post got a bit buried, so I thought I would ask again.


I read up a little bit about this Seagate drive.

Things people didn't like are:
1. That the main documentation for the drive and its supporting software is included on the drive instead of on a CD
2. Orange LED is hard to see in the daytime
3. Power switch
4. No eSATA cable included

As to your questions:

The internal drive is the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA 3.0Gb/s perpendicular technology based hard drive, launched mid 2006
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inqui...freeagent-pro-750gb-makes-storage-interesting

Internal drive removable? Don't know

Eternal warranty? - well, for hard drives 5 years could be considered "eternal" - not that they necessarily quit but it seems one needs more and more storage capacity every year.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

krs said:


> Things people didn't like are:
> 1. That the main documentation for the drive and its supporting software is included on the drive instead of on a CD


There really isn't any _Mac_ documentation anyway. Just use Disk Utility to reformat and you're done.



krs said:


> 2. Orange LED is hard to see in the daytime


Who care's? It doesn't really show anything except when it's on (but you'd know that because the hard drive would be mounted on your desktop).



krs said:


> 3. Power switch


So? I've never used the power switch. The external wakes from sleep when needed, goes back to sleep when not needed.



krs said:


> 4. No eSATA cable included


Since Macs don't include a SATA port, what's the problem?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Exactly.
The drive is not intrusive and a very good match visually for the iMac and has a small footprint.
The Power switch is very accessible but like the iMac you do need to know where it is.
I can hardly see how the on indicator is not visible as it's about 20 % of the drive surface - that said it also is not overpowering the way some of the blue LED drive lights are - you need tape over them to tone them down.

Superior form factor in my view. One reason we chose them for TM and bundling with iMacs.
The only caution is the need to format for Mac - we think we will do that for clients up front when our main shipment arrives.

















The one button is front right on the horizontal surface. Easy to find by touch as it is slightly dimpled - something I wish Apple would bloody do on it's towers. 
How you can miss the lighting is beyond me.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

MacDoc,

For TM I would rather use a slower/cheaper USB 2.0 only drive, while for adding data/video, use one of those with FW400 for better performance.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Yeah and when you have to restore you'll regret it big time. They suck, period.
Your machine processing will be tied up far longer as TM requires processing and so does use of USB and the data rate is dismal.

Even on my 8 core with state of the art drives I can notice when TM is working. USB would be a horror.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

On my iMac I can barely notice when it is doing backups at all. So I suppose it depends on how everyone is using his computer.


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## krug1313 (Apr 27, 2007)

Wal-Mart has the 500 gig seagates for $160. I had the 320 but the power button would work when it wanted to. I just picked up a WD passport 250 gig from Costco. Liking it so far.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

> Wal-Mart has the 500 gig seagates for $160.


USB version not FW correct?


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## jamesB (Jan 28, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> Oh I recall the first hard drives - 10 gig $4000 for the MacPlus. Maybe 1986
> 
> Before that we used floppies - even had a floppy autoloader. Stack 5 400k discs in - aaaaammmaaaaazing.


Whoa there MacDoc, I think you meant 10MB not gigs.

Also the first hard disk I purchased was a 20MB Microscience, cost me $1100 in the mid maybe late eighties.

jb.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Yes 10 megs ( fingers on automatic) and had an odd interface to the MacPlus or maybe even the fat Mac.
Getting misty on the details.


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## krug1313 (Apr 27, 2007)

> USB version not FW correct?


MacDoc,

I believe they are the pros. So they would have fw400 but I didn't get a good look. Still a very good price... but that's Wal-Mart for ya.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Unlikely at that price but will check it out thanks.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Hey MacDoc just a quick question. Why is even Firewire 400 better than USB 2.0 when the USB 2.0 is supposed to have a transfer rate of 480 mbs and FW 400 is only supposed to have a transfer rate of 400 mbs. I don't know much about using either one with an external HD seeing as I don't yet have one so I though I'd ask so I can learn


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

greensuperman32 said:


> Hey MacDoc just a quick question. Why is even Firewire 400 better than USB 2.0 when the USB 2.0 is supposed to have a transfer rate of 480 mbs and FW 400 is only supposed to have a transfer rate of 400 mbs. I don't know much about using either one with an external HD seeing as I don't yet have one so I though I'd ask so I can learn


That's the big problem here: tech details don,t deliver real time performance all the time.

My way to explain it is that USB uses burst mode to transfert data, while FW uses stream mode. In other words, USB send data by chunk when it thinks it can do it, while FW send data in a constant stream, so when you need the data it is likely to be available at a constant speed.

I'll be curious to see how MacDoc finds my explanation!!!

But, for your convenience, just take a dual enclosure and make the test, you should see differences if, for example, you're editing video. For raw data, it may not make a big deal.

For instance, I used SuperDuper to make a bootable backup of my HD before installing Leopard. Booting from the USB drive took forever... I backup my GF 17" iMac with a FW enclosure, and booting from it is slower than the internal HD, but way faster than the USB on my iMac 24"...


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

krs said:


> I read up a little bit about this Seagate drive.
> 
> Things people didn't like are:
> 1. That the main documentation for the drive and its supporting software is included on the drive instead of on a CD
> ...


Thanks krs. 

That was a good review you linked.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

GratuitousApplesauce said:


> That was a good review you linked.


I just looked at the benchmark testing that was done on this drive.

USB 2.0 is actually somewhat faster than either FW 400 or eSATA - interesting.
I have read comments before that drives/enclosures that support both eSATA and USB 2.0 tend to be very slow on the eSATA connection.

@Bjornbro -

These were things "people" didn't like, not my own experience. Just want to make sure that's clear.
When one knows all the downsides of any product, one can then decide if any of these are issues.


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

thanks for all the awesome info guys! I was shocked that there was no power button on the FreeAgent drive


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Of course there is a power button on the FreeAgent -look at the photo.

•••



> *USB 2.0 is actually somewhat faster than either FW 400 or eSATA* - interesting.
> I have read comments before that drives/enclosures that support both eSATA and USB 2.0 tend to be very slow on the eSATA connection.


That's a total crock - theoretical speed has NOTHING to do with real world performance.

USB 2.0 is slow....period - useless except for minor transfers.
USB 3.0 will resolve that and will be backward compatible.

FW 400 and a single standard SATA or PATA saturate at 35-40 megs per second. Acceptable speed for all but heavy media transfers

eSATA is as fast as any device that can feed it up to 3 gigabytes per second. You can hook multiple arrays to it and the speed just keeps rising.


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## Crewser (Jun 12, 2007)

*750 GB NewerTech*

Does anyone know anything about the Newer Tech line of external HD's/Hubs?

OWC offers a 750 GB v3 with eSATA FW800 FW400 and USB 2.0 ports for $320 US

750GB NewerTech miniStack v3 7200RPM HD +... (MS3S7750GB16) at OWC

Steve


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

We stock them - we're not 100% comfortable with 750s in that tight a case but they've been very reliable and do have a switchable fan.

Hub is useful.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

Does anyone have any experience with the G-Tech G-DRIVE 500GB for sale on the online apple store?

The Apple Store (Canada) - G-Tech G-DRIVE 500GB FW400/USB 2.0 Hard Drive


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

It's okay - nothing radical or unique except the price is too high.
Not sure on warranty.
Don't know what drives they use. Bit of a waste of deskspace with no vertical option.
Their dual case seems well received.


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## greensuperman32 (Mar 28, 2005)

hmmm what would you recomment in the 500GB-750GB range MacDoc?


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

MacDoc said:


> Of course there is a power button on the FreeAgent -look at the photo.
> 
> •••
> 
> hmmm then the lack of a power button is exclusive to the USB version of the drive? Mine is USB and doesn't have one.


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

krs said:


> @Bjornbro -
> 
> These were things "people" didn't like, not my own experience. Just want to make sure that's clear.
> When one knows all the downsides of any product, one can then decide if any of these are issues.


I understood the points were outlined in the review. I guess I should have been clear in suggesting that these "dislikes" are likely from a Windows' user perspective, as for Mac users, those same points are somewhat irrelevant.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

greensuperman32 said:


> Does anyone have any experience with the G-Tech G-DRIVE 500GB for sale on the online apple store?
> 
> The Apple Store (Canada) - G-Tech G-DRIVE 500GB FW400/USB 2.0 Hard Drive



It's fanless, Not sure if that is a good idea or a bad idea.

I bought a MiniStack V2 case from OWC and a Seagate 500 gb from Can Computers.
Total cost including taxes and shipping was around $240.+/-
(I bought the Seagate drive in person, It's an OEM version)

Reference Links:
NewerTech miniStack FireWire and USB Hub and Hard Drive up to 750GB at OtherWorldComputing.com

Canada Computers - Hard Drives > Desktop Drives > 3.5" IDE Drives : Seagate Barracuda (ST3500630A) 7200.10 500GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM 16MB Cache (OEM).

Dave


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## Demosthenes X (Sep 23, 2004)

Just ordered the 250GB Seagate from Canada Computers. Struggled for a long time with what size drive I wanted, but in the end I figured I don't need much more. I already have another 250GB drive, so I also ordered an awesome new enclosure (mine is FUBAR) - aluminum, Firewire... good reviews. And, something I thought was brilliant, a Belkin product that is both a five-port USB hub and an iPod dock - for under $25. Really looking forward to getting this delivery...


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

Daktari said:


> Firewire 400, USB 2.0, eSATA and 5 years Warranty? Does anyone know what type of cable on needs to connect it to the eSATA port on the MacBook Pro?


there is no eSATA port on the MBP. You will need an express card


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

MacDoc said:


> That's a total crock - theoretical speed has NOTHING to do with real world performance.
> 
> USB 2.0 is slow....period - useless except for minor transfers.
> USB 3.0 will resolve that and will be backward compatible.
> ...


MacDoc - you have contributed tremendously on this forum, usually with excellent advice, but sometimes I don't understand where you're coming from.

There was absolutely nothing theoretical about these tests. These were "real world" performance tests as you put it and they show all three interfaces (FW 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA) on this particular enclosure running at pretty much the same speed.

Theoretically eSATA should blow both FW 400 and USB 2.0 out of the water speed-wise, but the way it's implemented on that drive, it doesn't.

You could question the test method and the test software that was used, but don't tell me these were theoretical speeds.


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

Demosthenes X said:


> And, something I thought was brilliant, a Belkin product that is both a five-port USB hub and an iPod dock - for under $25. Really looking forward to getting this delivery...


Hi Demosthenes X,

It seems like a very useful item. I'd like to hear your impressions once you have it in use.

With thanks!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

I guess these docks don't work with the iTouch??


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## darkscot (Nov 13, 2003)

Belkin TuneSync Dock is awesome. I got it for $0.01 on Best Buy. Best purchase I ever made


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

2 Terra for 600$ free shipping


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## Ottawaman (Jan 16, 2005)

> *USB compared with FireWire*
> 
> USB was originally seen as a complement to FireWire (IEEE 1394), which was designed as a high-speed serial bus which could efficiently interconnect peripherals such as hard disks, audio interfaces, and video equipment. USB originally operated at a far lower data rate and used much simpler hardware, and was suitable for small peripherals such as keyboards and mouse.
> 
> ...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB#USB..._with_FireWire


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## Fuji (Feb 24, 2005)

darkscot said:


> Belkin TuneSync Dock is awesome. I got it for $0.01 on Best Buy. Best purchase I ever made


Any hints as to how I could acquire one for 1 cent?

Your two cents would be appreciated!


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

.


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## scandy (Aug 11, 2007)

Ok not so specific to the drives being discussed in this thread, but what do we do now that we have these massive drives? Do we partition them into 3 or 4 smaller drives? Or can we use that 750gb all as one drive and not suffer any speed/whatever loss?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

We recommend this.

Set up a clone partition about 10% smaller than your boot drive in the first ( fastest ) part of the drive.

Leave the rest for TM.


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## Kevan (Apr 15, 2004)

Future Shop is selling a LaCie 1TB drive for $329 FW800/400/USB2

Kevan


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Kevan said:


> Future Shop is selling a LaCie 1TB drive for $329 FW800/400/USB2
> 
> Kevan


Is this just brand new on the FS web site or does the ehMac shopping search, price Canada, not pick up any of the Future Shop items?
When I tried the ehMac shopping search a few minutes ago it only came up with the USB 2.0 version of this drive at about $380.-


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## Rukus (Aug 10, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> We recommend this.
> 
> Set up a clone partition about 10% smaller than your boot drive in the first ( fastest ) part of the drive.
> 
> Leave the rest for TM.


Can you explain why you would make your backup partition smaller that your boot drive? wouldn't this cause a problem if your boot drive starts to approach full and your backup partition becomes to small to back up to? or am I missinf something?

Thanks.


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## Rukus (Aug 10, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> We recommend this.
> 
> Set up a clone partition about 10% smaller than your boot drive in the first ( fastest ) part of the drive.
> 
> Leave the rest for TM.


Can you explain why you would make your backup partition smaller that your boot drive? wouldn't this cause a problem if your boot drive starts to approach full and your backup partition becomes to small to back up to? or am I missinf something?

Thanks.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

It's a good way to make sure your boot volume does not get over full.
You should never be more than 80% full so if your clone complains time to trim down the boot volume.


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## scandy (Aug 11, 2007)

Unreal... I ordered it last night at 6pm or so, and it arrived at my door today at 1:30pm... wow!


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

scandy said:


> Unreal... I ordered it last night at 6pm or so, and it arrived at my door today at 1:30pm... wow!


What have you ordered exactly!


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

meall said:


> What have you ordered exactly!


Doesn't matter what was ordered or from who, it was great service


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

Kevan said:


> Future Shop is selling a LaCie 1TB drive for $329 FW800/400/USB2


Online, it is 399$. Is it in store only?


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

krs said:


> Doesn't matter what was ordered or from who, it was great service


Sure, but the point is to know which one offered such a great service


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

meall said:


> Online, it is 399$. Is it in store only?


$329 was their sale price for the week just passed I believe, $399 is their regular price.


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## Shanker (Nov 10, 2007)

*Re: Large volume backup HDs*



krs said:


> Is this just brand new on the FS web site or does the ehMac shopping search, price Canada, not pick up any of the Future Shop items?
> When I tried the ehMac shopping search a few minutes ago it only came up with the USB 2.0 version of this drive at about $380.-


If you are looking for a 500GB HD by La Scie, Future Shop had this on last week for 150$, and held it over for next week at the same price. I bought one, had the drive properly partitioned for MAC OS Extended, and installed it along with the new Leopard OS. So far, so good, the drive does get a little warm, so install it on top of something, with nothing blocking the front, rear or top of it.


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## meall (Aug 15, 2007)

I bought one at 114$ 4 weeks ago, USB2 only. Do not know if this is the same item as yours, but at that price is sounds like the regular price for the one I bought!


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

I wonder, has anybody tracked down a nice icon that resembles this drive?? Google has come up blank for me and I haven't the slightest clue how to go about making my own.


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

Take a look here: InterfaceLIFT: Mac OS X icons (by date)


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## irontree (Oct 28, 2006)

Oh yeah I looked all over that site... I couldn't find any FreeAgent icons


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

MacDoc said:


> I guess these docks don't work with the iTouch??


The TuneSync? They work, I have one of each.


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