# Elephant Hard Drives



## Kevin_B (Apr 7, 2010)

When the mailman brings me my CRA tax refund cheque (hopefully soon!), I'm heading down to Carbon Computing to get me an iMac. I will also be getting a 1 Tb external hard drive. They sell LaCie and their house brand Elephant. I understand that they both have Seagate drives, which supposedly are good drives.

As an alternate possibility, my PC vendor (whom I trust after dealing with him for many years) suggested getting a Mediasonic enclosure with a Western Digital drive. He wasn't too enamoured with the LaCie, but thought the Elephant was OK.

Any thoughts on any of these options?

Kevin


----------



## SnowX (Feb 16, 2010)

I've had the Elephant RAID for a few months now with no problems. I only bought the enclosure as I already had the drives.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

I would just buy an enclosure (they are so inexpensive these days and the choices are plentiful) and through in your drive of choice (size and manufacturer... but my personal preferences are Seagate and WD). This will end up saving you money and you also know exactly what is inside. 

I have had two Lacies fail on me and one DOA... so you can probably guess I am not a Lacie fan.


----------



## Amiga2000HD (Jan 23, 2007)

screature said:


> I would just buy an enclosure (they are so inexpensive these days and the choices are plentiful) and through in your drive of choice (size and manufacturer... but my personal preferences are Seagate and WD). This will end up saving you money and you also know exactly what is inside.
> 
> I have had two Lacies fail on me and one DOA... so you can probably guess I am not a Lacie fan.


Funny you mention those LaCie failures. I had to deal with a 3:30 AM Final Cut emergency yesterday morning and among other issues, a LaCie Firewire drive's power pack hiccuped and caused the drive to corrupt some media. Not amusing for anybody involved.

I'm seriously not a LaCie fan either. I've had clients run into problems with those drives a number of times and heard many more stories about problems beyond firsthand experience. Their CRT monitors which were marketed as high end graphics monitors seemed to experience a large number of problems failing to hold calibration and short picture tube life. These were rebadged Mitsubishi monitors; the same monitors marketed by Mitsubishi seemed to be decent though. The theory one of the guys I work with has was that Mitsubishi was selecting the monitors coming off the production line based on the testing at various stages which would have left LaCie (and any other rebadging companies) with the second best units. At any rate, the LaCie badged ones weren't very good. Electron Blue? More like Electron Poo.


----------



## Guest (Apr 17, 2010)

At one point in the game Lacie did some really great external drives. Now they are just the same old crap in cases with their logo on it. Their support was never great, and the last time I had to deal with them it was horrible ... I'm not sure how they feel that 8-12 weeks is acceptable turnaround for a DOA drive but apparently it was.

I'll second just buying your own case and putting a drive into it you'll save yourself some money that way and know exactly what the drive is in it and that it is 100% brand new, etc. I do't trust "house brand" anything ... it's typically an excuse to put RMA'ed and otherwise not so new devices into cases and sell them for full price plus some.


----------



## Andrew Pratt (Feb 16, 2007)

One word of caution...those ultra cheap external cases typically don't give you FireFire so you're stuck using USB which isn't too bad but a lot slower then FW800.


----------



## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

mguertin said:


> At one point in the game Lacie did some really great external drives. Now they are just the same old crap in cases with their logo on it. Their support was never great, and the last time I had to deal with them it was horrible ... I'm not sure how they feel that 8-12 weeks is acceptable turnaround for a DOA drive but apparently it was.
> 
> I'll second just buying your own case and putting a drive into it you'll save yourself some money that way and know exactly what the drive is in it and that it is 100% brand new, etc. I do't trust "house brand" anything ... it's typically an excuse to put RMA'ed and otherwise not so new devices into cases and sell them for full price plus some.


Elephant drives are made with brand new, factory sealed drives with full factory warranty. Fact.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Andrew Pratt said:


> One word of caution...those ultra cheap external cases typically don't give you FireFire so you're stuck using USB which isn't too bad but a lot slower then FW800.


There aren't that many Firewire options available anymore. I prefer Firewire , but USB 2.0 is fine for back up.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

ehMax said:


> Elephant drives are made with brand new, factory sealed drives with full factory warranty. Fact.


This is true I am sure, but do you know what drive is actually inside before purchase? If yes that is great... but there are cheaper, equally well performing alternatives available. Fact.

No conflict of interest here at all eh...  

I think when you offer such statements it is incumbent on you to mention that Carbon Computing has been (is?) your place of employment. It doesn't mean what you have to say is any less true.. just you should state your affiliation in the spirit of full disclosure. ( If I am factually in error, I apologize in advance, but it seems to me I have read in the past of your affiliation with Carbon Computing.)


----------



## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

i mean...does it really matter that much? we are talking about a $120 hard drive for gods sake, its not like he is steering someone towards a multi million dollar investment investment in a company he owns..is what he is saying incorrect? no. 

between that post right there ^ and the guy who "reported" the g4man for calling me an asshole earlier today i really wonder about this board sometimes. when did this place get full of such pantywaists?


----------



## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

screature said:


> This is true I am sure, but do you know what drive is actually inside before purchase? If yes that is great... but there are cheaper, equally well performing alternatives available. Fact.
> 
> No conflict of interest here at all eh...
> 
> I think when you offer such statements it is incumbent on you to mention that Carbon Computing has been (is?) your place of employment. It doesn't mean what you have to say is any less true.. just you should state your affiliation in the spirit of full disclosure. ( If I am factually in error, I apologize in advance, but it seems to me I have read in the past of your affiliation with Carbon Computing.)


Conflict of interest?  I just merely made a factual comment that drives were not refurbished. If I had to disclose personal details of my life every time I commented about Mac products...


----------



## Guest (Apr 18, 2010)

ehMax said:


> Elephant drives are made with brand new, factory sealed drives with full factory warranty. Fact.


Fair enough. I will say that not all store's "store brand" external drives are created equal


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

ehMax said:


> Conflict of interest?  I just merely made a factual comment that drives were not refurbished. If I had to disclose personal details of my life every time I commented about Mac products...


Ok fine... 

It seemed you were promoting them, but that was my misbegotten take on it, so sorry for that.  But if it were the case then because you work for Carbon it would just seem right that you should mention that. Kind of like how a stock analyst has to disclose they own shares in a stock if they promote the buying of it. That's all. It isn't about disclosing personal details at all, just that you work for the company (have a vested interest) that you are promoting (if it were the case). No need for eye rolling as I think if it were the case it would be most reasonable.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

broad said:


> i mean...does it really matter that much? we are talking about a $120 hard drive for gods sake, its not like he is steering someone towards a multi million dollar investment investment in a company he owns..is what he is saying incorrect? no.
> 
> between that post right there ^ and the guy who "reported" the g4man for calling me an asshole earlier today i really wonder about this board sometimes. when did this place get full of such pantywaists?


Pantywaists? Do you even know what it means? Hardly an appropriate comment.  

I don't wonder about this place but comments like that make me wonder about certain members and just for the record I was here long before you... Mm'K?

Look I think it is incumbent on those in power positions to disclose their affiliations when promoting something they have a vested interest in, as a point of principle. 

It was a misinterpretation on my part that the Mayor was doing this and I have said so, but the principle remains.


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

screature said:


> Look I think it is incumbent on those in power positions to disclose their affiliations when promoting something they have a vested interest in, as a point of principle.


I agree - that's really a given not something to argue about.

As to Elephant enclosures - would be nice if a bare FW400/USB2.0 enclosure was also available not just the one with FW800 and SATA.
That way one could use the drive of one's choice.

As to LaCie - I have the same problems as others - reliability of the external I have is terrible.
Would never buy another one again. 
I also go for buying the enclosure separately from the hard drive. Not only does one know what's inside the enclosure, but should tere be a problem one can take the hard drive out and test it separately without affecting the warranty.
I have had two failures of externals so far, in both cases it was pre-packaged enclosure, LaCie and Acomdata. And in both case I decided to forgo the warranty since I didn't want to loose the data on the hard drive if it was still recoverable.
Turned out hat in both cases the enclosure bridge board failed not the drive at all.
Had I bought a separate enclosure I would have been able to claim a replacement under warranty but with an integrated external it was either send the whole thing back for warranty replacement and lose all the data or forgo the warranty. I chose the latter.
Another thing to consider when buying externals.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

^^^ Good points krs. And that leads me to why I think HD docks are a good way to go for external drives. 

They are so easy to put drives in and take them out (even hot swap, as long as the Dock is USB 2 or Fiwire and you dismount the drive before replacing... with eSATA swapping a drive requires a full system shutdown and restart when swapping a drive). They also can take either 3.5" or 2.5" drives and some can take two drives. They just make testing drives so easy and especially for backup they are so convenient. If you want to use a different drive just swap it out for the drive you want (labelling of drives becomes important though  ) no need for another enclosure and the time it takes for disassembly and reassembly, so cost and time savings. I have 2 HD Docks and they are great!.


----------



## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

I'm definitely of the buy the drive you want and the case you want separately and assemble yourself school. Why? You know exactly what drive is in that enclosure, the warranty is often longer (on the drive, which let's face it, is the most crucial component) and quite often it's cheaper or the same price as buying the preassembled drive.

The problem with docks is that they're not really portable, in that the drive is bare and unprotected. If you're in a situation where you're constantly swapping drives and/or needing to test drives, then they're great, but I'm not sure I'd recommend them as a viable backup alternative for _most_ people - the drive is just too exposed and vulnerable to damage.

I'm partial to the Rosewill (Newegg.ca), Macally and Vantec enclosures and the Western Digital Scorpio Black line of hard drives (fast, reliable and 5 year warranty). I also have several Hitachi drives. Be careful with Seagates - there have been some of their larger drives that have had higher than normal failure rates recently. Every few years, it seems one drive manufacturer or another goes through a rough patch. I used to buy nothing but Seagates - a few years ago they were the only ones offering 5 year warranties. Read drive user reviews at newegg.com for a fairly good idea of what is reliable and what isn't.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Paddy said:


> *The problem with docks is that they're not really portable*, in that the drive is bare and unprotected. If you're in a situation where you're constantly swapping drives and/or needing to test drives, then they're great, but I'm not sure I'd recommend them as a viable backup alternative for _most_ people - t*he drive is just too exposed and vulnerable to damage.*


Really? I find they are every bit as portable as an enclosure... you still need to tote the AC supply with an enclosure, sure you *might* have to put the dock in a separate bag (deending on the size of your bag... no crude pun intended ), but for the versatility they offer and easy swap-ability I think it is a small price to pay.

Few enclosures offer any real damage protection as it isn't a dent or some such that will truly damage the drive it is the G force applied to the spindle, read/write arm and disks that are of concern. You don't want to be be dropping a drive in a an enclosure or not in in an enclosure. Period. They should always be handled with care, so for me it is of little concern/consequence. I have eight bare drives in my office in addition to 17 in enclosures/MacPro. I am no more or less concerned about damage to the bare drives than I am to those in the enclosures/MacPro... for me, the concern is the same. *Always* be careful.


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

screature said:


> Really? I find they are every bit as portable as an enclosure... you still need to tote the AC supply with an enclosure........


For externals that really need to be portable - the ones I take with me on trips - I switched to bus-powered 2.5-inch FW enclosures with a 7200 rpm drive mounted inside.
All I need besides the drive mounted in the enclosure is a short FW cable.
I used to cart the 3.5-inch enclosure plus cable plus power brick, but no more.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

krs said:


> For externals that really need to be portable - the ones I take with me on trips - I switched to bus-powered 2.5-inch FW enclosures with a 7200 rpm drive mounted inside.
> All I need besides the drive mounted in the enclosure is a short FW cable.
> I used to cart the 3.5-inch enclosure plus cable plus power brick, but no more.


Agreed that is the way to go when you truly need a portable drive.


----------



## benmossm (Mar 10, 2008)

I have a 1TB Elephant and it has been great so far. Quad interface has come in handy when other people come over to transfer media with their FW400 drives and my iMac has no port (daisy chain). Haven't used the esata yet but the other three interfaces have been great. Fair for price considering many drives do not offer FW800 along with the other options.


----------



## jagga (Jul 23, 2005)

Maybe we should all begin to consider external drive cases - similar to Elephant's - that are Ethernet compatible. Most likely all of us have Wireless routers and many of us have laptops or iMac's/Mini's that have built-in wireless. 

This allows you to place your Mac just about anywhere in your abode and still have wireless internet access and along with backup to that external drive (at a MUCH) cheaper alternative to Time Capsule 1GB/2GB versions. 

I'm still going to need to figure out how I can access my Mac Mini remotely outside of my network, and how Time Machine on my MacBook will connect to it as well.

Currently I have my own 500GB Seagate HDD within an Elephant case (which I bought used off a sculpture). I've left this badbwoy on for over a week solid and no issues with automatic or manual time machine backups from my Mac Mini.


----------



## neptune (Apr 27, 2003)

krs said:


> As to Elephant enclosures - would be nice if a bare FW400/USB2.0 enclosure was also available not just the one with FW800 and SATA.
> That way one could use the drive of one's choice.


I'd like to preface this post by saying I work for Carbon Computing.

Elephant FW400/USB2.0 bare enclosures are available. The 3.5in version is ESNK10 and the 2.5in version is ESNK5. Thanks.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

neptune said:


> I'd like to preface this post by saying I work for Carbon Computing.
> 
> Elephant FW400/USB2.0 bare enclosures are available. The 3.5in version is ESNK10 and the 2.5in version is ESNK5. Thanks.


Any FW800's or eSATA bare enclosures?


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

neptune said:


> Elephant FW400/USB2.0 bare enclosures are available. The 3.5in version is ESNK10 and the 2.5in version is ESNK5. Thanks.


Good to know - thanks.
The 3.5-inch option is not listed on the Carbon website - what is the price?

And is there any more information available about these enclosures?
Picture?
Size?
Chipset used
Can the 2.5-inch enclosure be bus powered via firewire?
Does the 2.5-inch enclosure take a 12.5mm drive?

Basic stuff like that which one needs to order on line.


----------



## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

I have a mediasonic case and I have connection issues at times and it's also LOUD.

If the Elephant's are like the MacAlly enclosures, get one right away. They are incredibly fantastic at dissipating heat. I was running a transfer between 2 hard drives attached to my mac and one was hot enough to cook an egg, but the macally was cool to the touch. awesome for the life of a hard drive I believe....not cheap, but worth it.


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

keebler27 said:


> I have a mediasonic case and I have connection issues at times and it's also LOUD.


I don't really follow you - how can an enclosure be LOUD?
It's the drive that makes the noise - if any - is the enclosure vibrating somehow?

I always wanted to try a 2.5-inch Mediasonic case since people reported that it's firewire bus powered - the 2.5-inch Bytecch case I have is not (it's bus-powered via USB but not FW)
I also have a MacAlly 2.5-inch case - it works fine, I just find it's much bigger than it needs to be which I find annoying.
But it does work without any issues, can be bus powered via firewire and the case only gets warm. But my 2.5-inch Bytecch case doesn't get hot either - it's just annoying that I have to also cart a USB cable with me to power the unit when using FW.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

krs said:


> I don't really follow you - how can an enclosure be LOUD?


If it has active cooling, i.e. a fan. Some do.


----------



## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

I use a 750 gig Elephant drive using FW800 with my MBP. Never had an issue, though I wont be buying any external cases again. I love this and have 2 for work: NewerTech® - Voyager Q “Quad Interface” FireWire® 800/400/USB 2.0/eSATA - SATA I/II Hard Drive Docking Solution

Not to pricey and fantastic for swapping out HD's in seconds.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

wonderings said:


> I use a 750 gig Elephant drive using FW800 with my MBP. Never had an issue, though I wont be buying any external cases again. I love this and have 2 for work: NewerTech® - Voyager Q “Quad Interface” FireWire® 800/400/USB 2.0/eSATA - SATA I/II Hard Drive Docking Solution
> 
> Not to pricey and fantastic for swapping out HD's in seconds.


+1 for docks (as I mentioned earlier) they are great!


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

screature said:


> If it has active cooling, i.e. a fan. Some do.


Good point!
I had the 2.5-inch enclosures in mind like this one:
Mediasonic Web Store

But I do have a 5.25-inch enclosure with a fan for my LG burner and the fan does get noisy on and off - drives me nuts. I will never buy an enclosure with a fan again.


----------



## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

wonderings said:


> I use a 750 gig Elephant drive using FW800 with my MBP. Never had an issue, though I wont be buying any external cases again. I love this and have 2 for work: NewerTech® - Voyager Q “Quad Interface” FireWire® 800/400/USB 2.0/eSATA - SATA I/II Hard Drive Docking Solution
> 
> Not to pricey and fantastic for swapping out HD's in seconds.


Depends on your set up I suppose.
I have four externals hooked up permanently to my Mac plus four internal drives.
That way I just shuffle files around from drive to drive on the desktop rather than having to plug in and out hard drives.
Bought these over a period of several years as I needed more storage but even if I bought all of them at once, I personally would probably go for a multi-drive enclosure rather than a docking station. I would just have to shuffle drives too often with a docking station.


----------



## Film Guy (Feb 10, 2003)

I haven't had any real issues with LaCie, other than a power supply dying on me, but was easily remedied and those drives are still in use today (several years later).

I did purchase an Elephant 1GB ext, and from moment one, sounded like a blender. I though it was the platters, but later found out it was the bearings in the fan. Carbon didn't want to deal with the issue and suggested I buy something else. I bought a LaCie.

I also love that the LaCie will start up and shut down with my computer.


----------



## screature (May 14, 2007)

Film Guy said:


> ...I also love that the LaCie will start up and shut down with my computer.


That is the best thing about a Lacie, there aren't many externals that do this. I wish more did.


----------



## Kevin_B (Apr 7, 2010)

Paddy said:


> I'm definitely of the buy the drive you want and the case you want separately and assemble yourself school. Why? You know exactly what drive is in that enclosure, the warranty is often longer (on the drive, which let's face it, is the most crucial component) and quite often it's cheaper or the same price as buying the preassembled drive..


OK, my brain has been washed! It would appear that you (I mean the collective "you") who know are advising me to get an enclosure and a hard drive and put it together. For an iMac, what make and model of enclosure would you recommend. Whether it is Rosewill, Vantech, Macally or anything else, the reviews are not overwhelmingly in favour of any one. Also what make and model of a 1Tb hard drive would you recommend? Most likely one of Western Digital or Seagate. And where in the Toronto area would you buy these from? My fallback position is to get a 1Tb Elephant drive from Carbon.

Yhanks, Kevin


----------

