# Looking for a external hard drive from best buy that works well with Macbook Pro



## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

I don't know a whole lot about external hard drives, but I need one. I have to buy it at best buy because I have a $65 gift certificate for that place. I want to have a device so that I can back up my entire Macbook Pro.

Here is what I'm looking for:



at least 1TB
small so that I can carry around in my bag
quick transfer speed
needs to work great with Macbook Pro 15' i5 2010
 
Anyone have some good advice?

Thanks in advance.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Looking at this one right now: Iomega eGo Blackbelt 1TB 3.5" External Hard Drive (35327) : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


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## broad (Jun 2, 2009)

anything you can buy at BB will most likely only be usb2, which isnt great for speed, but really for backups its all you need

any drive you buy will work with your mac as long as its formatted properly using disk utility.


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

This one is cheaper and smaller fits in palm of your hand and USB 3.0 , I have 2 of them and no problem, so far.

Western Digital My Passport Essential 1TB External Portable Hard Drive (WDBACX0010BBL-NESN) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

- at least 1TB
1 TB is the largest single drive that is available in the 2.5" (portable) format

- quick transfer speed
Sorry, that isn't going to happen. Your Mac has USB 2.0 and it cannot take advantage of USB 3.0 speeds

Transfer speeds with USB 2.0 drives are average at best. Firewire 400 is almost twice as quick in real-world file transfer performance, Firewire 800 is over twice as quick. But you won't find a Firewire Mac drive in BestBuy.


The IOmega is an OK product. It's $119.99 with free shipping from Dell.ca so you would want to go for a pricematch from bestbuy.
Keep in mind that the IOmega drive is formatted for windows and you will need to re-partition it for Mac GUID partition type and HFS+ formatting before using. This is easy to do in Disk Utility.

Personally I don't much like the Western Digital external drives for Macs, too many compatibility issues with them in the past.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Joker Eh said:


> This one is cheaper and smaller fits in palm of your hand and USB 3.0 , I have 2 of them and no problem, so far.
> 
> Western Digital My Passport Essential 1TB External Portable Hard Drive (WDBACX0010BBL-NESN) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


I was reading really bad reviews on that product for the black color one. 



CanadaRAM said:


> - at least 1TB
> 1 TB is the largest single drive that is available in the 2.5" (portable) format
> 
> - quick transfer speed
> ...


Thanks for your help. I was reading some really bad things about Western Digital external drives.

What would you recommend as the best HD for me? I was looking at other brands like Samsung, LaClie, etc..


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## lukasf (Oct 31, 2010)

Good ones (and I'm using them) are Seagate GoFlex. You ca easy switch between - USB2/USB3/FireWire ...


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Yes, I also like the Seagate GoFlex series, although they are usually a bit pricier. The "flex" part of them is that the interface bridge board is in a removeable module, and you can purchase different interfaces -- so you can 'upgrade' a USB 2 drive to be a Firewire 800 drive at a later date by buying the Firewire module.

Samsung AFAIK does not make finished-goods hard drive products for retail sale -- they make the mechanisms that you can find inside of various brands of products.

LaCie has historically had good Mac support, but they went through a horrible and protracted episode of supplying sub-standard AC power supplies with their desktop drives, which tarnished their reputation. 

Hitachi makes external drives under their own label as well as making mechanisms for others. Their external drives have only 1 year warranty and are built to be inexpensive. We have had some Mac users report incompatibility with the Hitachi externals.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

I was looking at this Seagate GoFlex: Seagate GoFlex 1.5TB Portable External Hard Drive (STAA1500100) : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada

What are your thoughts? I see that this one has some preloaded software. Hopefully they don't force you to use it. I'm not sure whether to get a "plug-in to the wall" one or one that is just very portable. I do want the portability though. It's going to just be for my Macbook backups. 



CanadaRAM said:


> Yes, I also like the Seagate GoFlex series, although they are usually a bit pricier. The "flex" part of them is that the interface bridge board is in a removeable module, and you can purchase different interfaces -- so you can 'upgrade' a USB 2 drive to be a Firewire 800 drive at a later date by buying the Firewire module.
> 
> Samsung AFAIK does not make finished-goods hard drive products for retail sale -- they make the mechanisms that you can find inside of various brands of products.
> 
> ...


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Should I be looking for something with firewire capability? I'm not even sure if my computer has firewire.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

> _LaCie has historically had good Mac support, but they went through a horrible and protracted episode of supplying sub-standard AC power supplies with their desktop drives, which tarnished their reputation. _


LaCie was not the only one caught in that, many others were all from the same supplier. My issue with LaCie is the proprietary RAID structure can bite you big time.

OP the Seagate series of USB back up drives are pretty bullet proof - we use a FreeAgent ourselves. Not a fast drive by any means.

FW 800 will give you a significant boost over USB 2.0 but typically cost more and have higher end drives in them.
Low power draw and slow RPM is not a bad thing for longevity and quiet on a backup drive.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

MacDoc said:


> LaCie was not the only one caught in that, many others were all from the same supplier. My issue with LaCie is the proprietary RAID structure can bite you big time.
> 
> OP the Seagate series of USB back up drives are pretty bullet proof - we use a FreeAgent ourselves. Not a fast drive by any means.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your help. What about the IOMEGA brand externals?

Should I be looking for something with firewire capability? I'm not even sure if my computer has firewire. How much would it be to upgrade that Seagate to firewire? - Seagate GoFlex 1.5TB Portable External Hard Drive (STAA1500100) : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

D37 said:


> Thanks for your help. What about the IOMEGA brand externals?


Since you are buying a pocket USB drive, there is no AC adaptor included - it runs off USB power.

USB powered drives have occasionally been problematic with Macs which don't provide enough milliamps on the USB connector -- most of these drives ship with a dual-headed USB cable for these situations, so you can draw power from 2 USB ports. On some Mac notebooks it means having to get a USB extension cable to reach the USB port on the opposite side of the machine.

I have a question around that Seagate 1.5 GB drive -- presumably they are using 2 x 750 GB mechanisms piggybacked in it -- I can't see that running on USB power alone -- but the Seagate specs don;t mention an AC adapter. 
http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.j...ale=en-US&reqPage=Support#tTabContentOverview


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## macintosh doctor (Mar 23, 2009)

D37 said:


> I don't know a whole lot about external hard drives, but I need one. I have to buy it at best buy because I have a $65 gift certificate for that place. I want to have a device so that I can back up my entire Macbook Pro.
> 
> Here is what I'm looking for:
> 
> ...





Lacie.com makes some great drives
Check it out
Also warranty is done in Etobicoke. Local
Check out the rikiki


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## Joker Eh (Jan 22, 2008)

D37 you said you wanted something to carry around and a 3.5 drive is going to be heavy. I have had issues with Seagate drives and have thrown out many of failed ones and have not had issues with Western Digital as I have drives running in systems that run 24/7/365 for many years without issue. All drives fail thats why there is backups.

So if you want portability the 2.5" is the way to go otherwise you are going to have to carry power cables with you. I carry my MBP everywhere I go and the drives I showed you I use for my backups and media storage. Will they fail at some point maybe, maybe not but thats why I have backups, do not depend on the one drive.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

You could use your BB certificate to buy just the HD from Best Buy and purchase an external FW enclosure from Canada RAM or another source that is willing to help you make sure the enclosure and HD match.

Putting a HD into an external enclosure is usually a lot easier than you would anticipate.


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## greydoggie (Apr 21, 2009)

CanadaRAM said:


> Yes, I also like the Seagate GoFlex series, although they are usually a bit pricier. The "flex" part of them is that the interface bridge board is in a removeable module, and you can purchase different interfaces -- so you can 'upgrade' a USB 2 drive to be a Firewire 800 drive at a later date by buying the Firewire module.
> 
> Samsung AFAIK does not make finished-goods hard drive products for retail sale -- they make the mechanisms that you can find inside of various brands of products.
> 
> ...


I have a few Hitachi external hard drives and never had a problem with them. They only seem to work with USB 2.0 tho. I don't know if that is normal for external hard drives?


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

I'm a bit surprised that people have issues with WD drives and recommend Seagate drives.
I would have expected just the opposite.

But in general I would be a bit nervous buying a portable that is designed as a USB 3.0 drive because of the potential power issue.
The current spec per USB 3.0 port is 950ma vs a spec of 500ma for USB 2.0
I have seen USB 3.0/2.0 portables, especially the large ones of over 500MB, that require well over the 500ma current that a USB 2.0 port can provide - they are basically designed to work with USB 3.0 that provides 950ma and as an afterthought it seems, the manufacturer states that it is backwards compatible with USB 2.0.

The big problem I find is that many manufacturers do not specify the worst case current draw for a pre-packaged portable so one doesn't know what one is getting until it's too late.
Sure, one can use a Y-cable but in my mind that defeats the purpose a little bit - it's not that Macbooks have lots of USB 2.0 ports to spare to get the extra power.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

The issue is with WD cases not the drives and in Seagates case it's the opposite.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Ah.....
So for reliability a 2.5-inch WD drive in say a Macally enclosure would be the best option.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

Your Mac has Firewire. All current Macs have Firewire. New ones have FW800 - older ones have FW400. (See following 2 posts - not entirely correct - but OP's Mac does have FW)

As for whether you need a Firewire external drive or not, it depends entirely on what you intend to use it for. If it's strictly for backups, then no, you do not need the extra speed that Firewire will provide. If, on the other hand, you expect to be using files on the external while you're working on your MacBook Pro, then access speed does become something to consider. If they're large files, like image files or video, access speed could be critical - if they're small word processing files, then not so much.

Then you've got to decide how important size is to you - do you want a 2.5" drive or a 3.5" drive? As already noted, 2.5" drives aren't currently available in capacities over 1TB. Also, they tend to be slower - 5400RPM only instead of the possible 7200RPM drives in the larger form factor.

Best Buy is also typically expensive compared to places like Canada Computers, NewEgg.ca etc. 

I'm no fan of pre-assembled external drives. I like to know what's inside - and I also don't trust the current Seagate drives as many have had a higher than normal failure rate lately. My recommendation would be a 1TB Samsung 2.5" drive (5400 RPM) ($99 at BB) and then get your own external enclosure (AC POWERED if it's USB only - the ones that run off your USB port tend to require TWO USB ports) OR a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" drive ($85.99) if you want the speed, a 5 year warranty and don't mind the larger enclosure. 

Use the newegg.ca website to check user reviews and reliability for drives and enclosures, even if you are buying at Best Buy.

Enclosures: I like include those by Vantec, Rosewill (Newegg.ca) and Macally. I have several enclosures from each of these manufacturers with a variety of connections and they've all been very reliable.

All you need is a screwdriver to put the drive in the case - dead easy.

2.5" enclosure with FW800:

Newegg.ca - macally PHR-S250UAB Aluminum 2.5" Silver USB 2.0 / 1394 External Enclosure

3.5" enclosure with FW800:

Newegg.ca - macally G-S350SUAB2 Aluminum 3.5" Silver USB2.0 / eSATA / FireWire External Enclosure

For drive enclosures with USB only, there are more options and they're far cheaper. Again - I like Vantec, Macally and Rosewill. Stick with the metal/aluminum cases for heat dissipation.

(edited re: FW note)


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## CanadaRAM (Jul 24, 2005)

Paddy said:


> Your Mac has Firewire. All current Macs have Firewire. New ones have FW800 - older ones have FW400.


All current MacBook Pros, Minis, MacPro and iMacs have Firewire

But MacBook Air, MacBook 2008/2009 Unibody and MacBook 2010 White do not.


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## Paddy (Jul 13, 2004)

CanadaRAM said:


> All current MacBook Pros, Minis, MacPro and iMacs have Firewire
> 
> But MacBook Air, MacBook 2008/2009 Unibody and MacBook 2010 White do not.


I stand corrected.  I wasn't thinking about the Airs and had forgotten about the kerfuffle when FW was removed from the MacBooks, which I should have remembered, since my son has one, and therefore USB2 was the only connection we needed to consider when getting him an external backup.  (not that MacBooks are available anymore - at least not in the main store. Refurbs may turn up from time to time, of course)

At any rate, I believe the OP has a MacBook Pro, which does have FW.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

krs said:


> Ah.....
> So for reliability a 2.5-inch WD drive in say a Macally enclosure would be the best option.


Thanks. 



Paddy said:


> Your Mac has Firewire. All current Macs have Firewire. New ones have FW800 - older ones have FW400. (See following 2 posts - not entirely correct - but OP's Mac does have FW)
> 
> As for whether you need a Firewire external drive or not, it depends entirely on what you intend to use it for. If it's strictly for backups, then no, you do not need the extra speed that Firewire will provide. If, on the other hand, you expect to be using files on the external while you're working on your MacBook Pro, then access speed does become something to consider. If they're large files, like image files or video, access speed could be critical - if they're small word processing files, then not so much.
> 
> ...


Thanks for your help. I think I may be leaning towards a desk drive now instead of a portable external drive since I want to use the hard drive for back ups. I think it would be best to go with a 7200RPM drive?

I'm guessing a AC powered external is faster to use Time Machine with instead of a portable one that only connects to your USB for power?

This is all so confusing. I keep getting people saying Seagate is best and then WD is best. I'm reading all over the internet and this seems to be the case.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

You can buy an external Macally case with two firewire 800 outlets, One Firewire 400 and a USB.
Then stick a nice 2.5" drive in it of your choice.

Saw one today at Newegg, I'm tempted.

Btw, I have four Seagate externals, They've been fine over the period of 3 years now,
They have a five year warranty on them.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Lawrence said:


> You can buy an external Macally case with two firewire 800 outlets, One Firewire 400 and a USB.
> Then stick a nice 2.5" drive in it of your choice.
> 
> Saw one today at Newegg, I'm tempted.
> ...


What are your thoughts on this Seagate? Seagate GoFlex Desk 3TB 3.5" External Hard Drive (STAC3000101) : Desktop External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

D37 said:


> What are your thoughts on this Seagate? Seagate GoFlex Desk 3TB 3.5" External Hard Drive (STAC3000101) : Desktop External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


I'm not a big fan of ready made external boxes,
I'd rather build my own, That way I know exactly what is going into them.

You'd be better off buying your own external box and installing a bare drive into it.

I like Masscool boxes for larger 3.5" drives,
They bought out Fannertech and still use the same technology.

For smaller 2.5" drives, I still like BYTECC hot drives. (Hard to find though in Firewire 400)


Macally seems to be the only one still towing the line for externals for the Mac,
I love their newest external drive cases.

Although, If you can get your hands on a Newertech external case, Bob is your uncle.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

A low rpm desktop drive will be longest lived and most reliable.
You will have more issues with cases.

WD is horrid - too many case failures.

Seagate external low power desktop drives have been fine - that's what we use.

A low power draw green 5400 drive in a decent case should be a long term winner.

Hitachi low power drives - while we do not carry as we have OWC for our pro clients - would be my choice along with Seagate 
USB only is fine for either as backup.

They are not media drives and no external should be used for irreplaceable content unless it is a redundant set up.

One very popular approach is to buy a dock that can handle all types of drives and quad inputs ( FW400/800 eSata and USB ) 
This divorces case cost from the drive cost and you can alternate your backups daily or weekly.

We also recommend you split your backup drive into two volumes - one for cloning and one for TimeMachine as they are complementary.

A variation on this is getting a couple of bus powered 500 gig for $99 and alternating them. It's a pretty solid strategy but make sure the drives can be removed from the case.

There is no point in investing in 7200 rpm drives, 2.5 or 3.5 for backup as it simply reduces the life span and cost more.

OWC/Newertech provides an enormous variety of solutions from USB 2.5s to redundant bus powered arrays and all sorts of variations in interface.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

I think MacDoc has a limited supply of Newertech external drive cases,
Contact him first before making a decision on any external drive.

I originally bought my Newertech external drive cases from the U.S. based O.W.C. (Other World Computing)


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

lukasf said:


> Good ones (and I'm using them) are Seagate GoFlex. You ca easy switch between - USB2/USB3/FireWire ...


X2 for GoFlex Portable, they are usb 3 & 2 so your ready for next year's Macs  I'm also using a couple of them. 

Seagate GoFlex 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STAA1000102) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada

Price match BestBuy with Futureshop ...

Seagate GoFlex 3.0 1TB External Portable Hard Drive (STAA1000604) : External Portable Hard Drives - Future Shop


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

D37 said:


> What are your thoughts on this Seagate? Seagate GoFlex Desk 3TB 3.5" External Hard Drive (STAC3000101) : Desktop External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada



That one is big and requires an external power brick, this one is small and powered by your usb port.

Seagate GoFlex 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STAA1000102) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

Still, If you build your own then you can pick how it is powered,
The Newrtech External boxes have a fan and they power down in unison with your computer.


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## D37 (Sep 29, 2011)

Z06jerry said:


> That one is big and requires an external power brick, this one is small and powered by your usb port.
> 
> Seagate GoFlex 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STAA1000102) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


But would it run slow when I'm doing a Time Machine backup?


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

That is not something you should be concerned about - TM is not particularly sensitive at all to drive speed.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Personally I'd lose the internal 500 to a bootable case and get a 500XT hybrid in there...about $139 with the case and the drive. Get some internal speed and a lose cost backup.

You'll like the results.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> That one is big and requires an external power brick, this one is small and powered by your usb port.
> 
> Seagate GoFlex 1TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive (STAA1000102) - Blue : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


I think you hould have said USB *ports* (plural).

To me, requiring two USB ports to power a portable external is a "non-starter" MacBook Pros only have two USB ports and on some of them these are on opposite sides of the computer which means you need an extension cable in addition to the Y-cable to power these drives.
Selecting a drive and an enclosure separately at least allows you to check the current requirements of the drive to see if it is low enough to be powered by a single USB port - with pre-packaged portable drives the manufacturers always seem to forget to mention that little detail.

BTW - the Bytecch enclosure that was mentioned earlier is a beautiful, small enclosure - I really like it EXCEPT - when one uses the FW port on it one still has to use either the USB port or the 5-volt socket for power - at least on the version I have. The FW port on it can't draw power from the Mac.
There were some reports on the web that some people supposedly dfid power their Bytecch externals via the FW port but mine sure didn't work that way and Bytecch tech support confirmed to me that power for those enclosures need to be provided via the USB port or the 5 volt connector.
There is a thread about that on ehMac - probably a moot point if that enclosure is no longer available, but powering the external is something that should be paid attention to.
For the 3.5-inch externals I much prefer one with no power brick, rather hard to find, next is the one with a power brick with a single 12 volt output and to me the least preferred option is the one with a power brick that provides both a 12 volt and 5 volt output - turns out that the last option is the most common.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

D37 said:


> Should I be looking for something with firewire capability? I'm not even sure if my computer has firewire.


Your MBP has firewire but there is no benefit to using it for TM backups. If you decide you want to use the firewire connection in the future you can get an optional FW cable/connector for the GoFlex.



D37 said:


> Thanks.
> 
> Thanks for your help. I think I may be leaning towards a desk drive now instead of a portable external drive since I want to use the hard drive for back ups. I think it would be best to go with a 7200RPM drive?
> 
> ...


No benefit to 7200 rpm for TM backups. Time machine makes incremental backups, after your initial backup is made it will update it each hour (which usually only takes a couple of minutes. An AC powered external will not be any faster for TM.



Lawrence said:


> I'm not a big fan of ready made external boxes,
> I'd rather build my own, That way I know exactly what is going into them.


Huh? The Seagate GoFlex portable has a Seagate inside. The WD portable has a WD drive inside.



Lawrence said:


> You'd be better off buying your own external box and installing a bare drive into it.
> 
> I like Masscool boxes for larger 3.5" drives,
> They bought out Fannertech and still use the same technology.
> ...


I disagree



D37 said:


> But would it run slow when I'm doing a Time Machine backup?


No



MacDoc said:


> Personally I'd lose the internal 500 to a bootable case and get a 500XT hybrid in there...about $139 with the case and the drive. Get some internal speed and a lose cost backup.
> 
> You'll like the results.


Nice recomendation, but The OP said he wanted 1TB external and wants to buy it with his BestBuy gift certificate.



krs said:


> I think you hould have said USB *ports* (plural).


No. It only requires* one port*. The OP has a 2010 MBP. Which MBP's require 2 ports to power external portable usb drives? Are you thinking of PowerBooks from 4-5 years ago?


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

D37 said:


> How much would it be to upgrade that Seagate to firewire? - Seagate GoFlex 1.5TB Portable External Hard Drive (STAA1500100) : Portable External Hard Drives - Best Buy Canada


I bought one recently a Futeshop for under $20 that I used with my 500 GB GoFlex drives. 

Seagate FA GoFlex Upgrade Cable (FW800) : Hard Drive Cables - Future Shop


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

CanadaRAM said:


> I have a question around that Seagate 1.5 GB drive -- presumably they are using 2 x 750 GB mechanisms piggybacked in it -- I can't see that running on USB power alone -- but the Seagate specs don;t mention an AC adapter.
> STAA1500100 | Seagate


I think its a single drive inside that's approx 15mm tall. Seagate only sells it as an external presumably because the bare drive is too tall to fit inside a laptop.


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## greydoggie (Apr 21, 2009)

It's crazy that this is 4 pages long now.
When it comes down to it you know where you want to buy it, how much you want to spend and what requirements you are looking for. Just hit up the Best Buy website and find a couple external drives that suit your needs and do a search on google to see what one has the best rating or if any of them have any major problems.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

Just one thing with a lot or ready-built external drives that really annoys me, is the "virtual drive" or "virtual CD" partition that many have that's almost impossible to remove, and I like to be able to use ALL the HD space I paid for.

Now maybe it's 5 pages long now. ;-)


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> No. It only requires* one port*. The OP has a 2010 MBP. Which MBP's require 2 ports to power external portable usb drives? Are you thinking of PowerBooks from 4-5 years ago?


Powerbook, 4-5 years ago?
Not at all.

There have been numerous discussions here on ehMac about that specific issue, some of them just recently.
Why do you think portable hard drives come with a Y-cable?
The only reason is to pick up USB power from two ports on the computer because the current provided by one USB 2.0 port may not be enough.
For USB 2.0 the current spec is 500ma, for USB 3.0 the spec is 950ma.
The last 500GB 2.5-inch bare drive I bought had specified a maximum current requirement of 0.55 amps, so worst case it's just a bit over the 500ma USB 2.0 limit.
A 1 TB 2.5-inch drive isn't going to require any less current.
I find that most manufacturers don't list the current requirements on their spec sheets strangely enough - one has to look on the actual drive where I assume it's a requirement that the current requirement is specified.
Here are two 2.5 inch drives, one with a 700ma worst case spec, the other at 550ma.
Both over the USB 2.0 spec but below the USB 3.0 spec.









What I found in practice is that I need the Y-Cable on my MacBook Pros which are tyically 1 1/2 to 4 years old but I don't need it on a $250 Dell notebook.
The Dell actually has one USB 2.0 port that's specified as a "High current" USB port, I think it will provide up to one amp.

So...sorry...but I'll stick to my comment.
One USB 2.0 port may be adequate for a specific portable external since the spec of the drive is "worst case", actual units may require less current - but there is no guarantee.

As a side note, I ended up buying a specialized USB current/voltage meter, basically just a digital meter with USB 2.0 ports in and out, when I had trouble using some of my portable drives. That's how I found out that the current draw was the problem with the portable drives I had.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

One key to this is cable length - the cases are VERY sensitive to cable length.

The little OWC cases are good as long as we use the short cable and up to 500 gig drives.

After that, the Air won't drive it but a MacBook Pro will even to the 1TB on a single cable.

Some drives do require a lot of juice - the SpinPoint 1 TB is pretty stingy in that regard.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

This whole powering issue via the USB port is a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to non-Apple connected devices.

Apple provides a nice summary here of the USB power capabilities of the Apple computers:
Apple Computers and Displays: Powering peripherals through USB

In a nutshell - for non-Apple connected peripherals the current provided is 500ma maximum (with some tolerance), for specific Apple peripherals, the current provided can go up to 1100ma.
If one googles a bit, one can find some technical discussions related to that and how people are trying to "fool" the Mac in providing more curent using a simple hardware mod on the connected device.

I'm a bit surprised that cable length matters that much - cable length doesn't affect the current that can be provided, it only affects the voltage at the peripheral.
But if the voltage drops below the 4.75 volt minimum, that will be a problem as well.
And if cable length is a potential issue then the wire gauge used with the USB cable will also have a significant effect, some of these USB cables are extremely flimsy and a better uality USB cable may help.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Yes wire gauge is a factor as well. We are forever chasing down the ultra short ones that came with the Seagates - they work well and anything longer won't on the early Seagate cases.
We finally found some 6" jobbies that are solid on all except large drives on the Air.
The OWC little cases are the most reliable in this respect cable and interface.

Some of the MacAlly cases that are great on the FW side are problematic on the USB as I learned to my dismay ( my main travel backup was brilliant on the MacBook Pro and failed on the MacBook Unibody I was carrying as a spare. )

The Air is annoying as the ports are split so doubling up a chore or impossible. We HIGHLY recommend a split drive for Airs with both a clone and a TM partition.

•••



> A 1 TB 2.5-inch drive isn't going to require any less current


actually with only two platters the current Samsung Spinpoint has very low power consumption - 8% less than it's predecessor.
Samsung Spinpoint M8 Review | StorageReview.com and it spins up fine on the fussy Air.










OWC case - single short cable.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

krs said:


> This whole powering issue via the USB port is a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to non-Apple connected devices.
> 
> Apple provides a nice summary here of the USB power capabilities of the Apple computers:
> Apple Computers and Displays: Powering peripherals through USB
> ...


As you can see the GoFlex portable only requires 100ma as reported by the system profiler. The first screenshot is my GoFlex connected to my MBP. The second shot is from the Apple support document you linked to. The GoFlex portable _does not require 2 usb ports_


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Interesting - thanks for the tip - here's the Samung 1 TB on the Air in the OWC case


Express USB2:

Capacity: 1 TB (1,000,204,886,016 bytes)
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: Yes
BSD Name: disk1
Product ID: 0x00db
Vendor ID: 0x0dc4 (Macpower Peripherals Ltd.)
Version: 0.00
Serial Number: 0010051B060B
Speed: Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer: OWC 
Location ID: 0x26200000 / 3
*Current Available (mA): 500
Current Required (mA): 2*
Partition Map Type: GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status: Not Supported
Volumes:
Capacity: 209.7 MB (209,715,200 bytes)
Writable: Yes
BSD Name: disk1s1
Untitled 1:
Capacity: 999.86 GB (999,860,912,128 bytes)
Available: 999.2 GB (999,197,581,312 bytes)
Writable: Yes
File System: Journaled HFS+
BSD Name: disk1s2
Mount Point: /Volumes/Untitled 1


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

MacDoc said:


> Interesting - thanks for the tip - here's the Samung 1 TB on the Air in the OWC case
> 
> Express USB2:
> 
> ...


Hmmm... maybe it was in some sort of deep sleep mode???

2mA required??? Hmmm...???


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Yeah no idea and it did not change when I ran an AJA test


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## jamesB (Jan 28, 2007)

And here is the results for my Lacie external, same *2ma*, but my drive is connected via powered USB hub, maybe the reason for the low reading.
-------------------
LaCie Device:

Capacity:	320.07 GB (320,072,933,376 bytes)
Removable Media:	Yes
Detachable Drive:	Yes
BSD Name:	disk1
Product ID:	0x102a
Vendor ID:	0x059f (LaCie)
Version: 1.00
Serial Number:	E2034243EEDF
Speed:	Up to 480 Mb/sec
Manufacturer:	LaCie
Location ID:	0x24140000 / 4
* Current Available (mA):	500
Current Required (mA):	2*
Partition Map Type:	GPT (GUID Partition Table)
S.M.A.R.T. status:	Not Supported


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

It's a fallacy to think the Mac is actually measuring any current on the USB ports.
That should be obvious from the reading you guys are getting.

The Mac just reports what it's being told and the readings available are only a few discrete ones.

I haven't read up on this, I'm sure there is something that can be found on the net.

Just looking at what has been reported so far:
USB devices not bus-powered will report 2ma
Bus-powered devices will report based on the way the USB connection is set up internally in the connected device.

Did a two minute test with a Logitech mouse:
Rating of the mouse is 5 volts at 100ma
Current required as reported by the Mac is 98ma
Actual current as measured: 61ma (Voltage is 5.01 volts)


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

What I forgot to add:

That Samsung 1 TB portable drive is rated at 1000ma start-up current on the Samsung web site.
The maximum current rating on the drive itself is specified at 0.85 amps
The measured start-up current listed in the link that MacDoc posted is shown as 0.776

So that's all fine - Samsung's performance is well within spec but all values are way over the 500ma that one USB port is obligated to provide per the USB 2.0 spec.

If a particular portable works on a single USB port could be because either that particular drive requires less than 500ma to spin up or that particular Mac provides more than the minimum 500ma of current, or, most likely, a bit of each.
That's what I meant by crap-shoot.
If the drive requires 500ma or less of current then it is, at least theoretically, always guaranteed to spin up and mount with any Mac and any USB port.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

jamesB said:


> And here is the results for my Lacie external, same *2ma*, but my drive is connected via powered USB hub, maybe the reason for the low reading.


My system profiler reports 100ma required for the Seagate Goflex regardless of whether it is connected directly into my MBP or via my powered usb hub. 

I have a couple of other 2.5 inch drives so I checked them too; a Toshiba in a Vantec enclosure and another Toshiba in a Adata enclosure, both only report 2ma required when connected directly to my MBP or via my powered hub (obviously incorrect).

I'm guessing that some manufactures aren't following the correct usb standards and are reporting incorrectly in system profiler.

The Seagate GoFlex is reporting 100ma required and should not be a problem when connected to a MBP which can supply 500ma from each usb port to non Apple peripherals.

The OP can be confident that the Seagate GoFlex portable when connected * to one usb port* on his 2010 MBP will just work, _and if it doesn't BestBuy has a good return policy_

I don't see the point in building your own these days unless you already have an extra bare drive that you want to use.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> My system profiler reports 100ma required for the Seagate Goflex regardless of whether it is connected directly into my MBP or via my powered usb hub.
> 
> I have a couple of other 2.5 inch drives so I checked them too; a Toshiba in a Vantec enclosure and another Toshiba in a Adata enclosure, both only report 2ma required when connected directly to my MBP or via my powered hub (obviously incorrect).
> 
> ...


There is no way in the world that a Seagate GoFlex portable will only draw 100ma from the USB port - that 100ma is an incorrect reported value, I thought that would be obvious from your own testing that you did and outlined at the beginning of your post.

One easy way to check is to plug you Seagate into a USB port on your keyboard. Those USA ports are 100ma ports.
See if the drive mounts that way, that will tell you if it can operate on a 100ma.

With the Seagate GoFlex one is apparently also into the "crap-shoot" game.
I don't own one, but this came up as one of the first hits on google - worked yesterday, doesn't work today.
Mac won't recognize 500gb FreeAgent GoFlex - says ... - Seagate Community Forums

Could be something other than power but I wouldn't bet on it.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

krs said:


> There is no way in the world that a Seagate GoFlex portable will only draw 100ma from the USB port - that 100ma is an incorrect reported value, I thought that would be obvious from your own testing that you did and outlined at the beginning of your post.
> 
> One easy way to check is to plug you Seagate into a USB port on your keyboard. Those USA ports are 100ma ports.
> See if the drive mounts that way, that will tell you if it can operate on a 100ma.
> ...


You seem to have something against Seagate GoFlex. I Just reported what my profiler says using the method outlined by Apple in the link _you_ were so kind to provide. I have 2 of these drives and they both work fine connected to *one* usb port on my MBP. Do you even have a Seagate GoFlex? The OP just asked a few simple questions to get some helpful advice, what he's getting from you and others is unneccessary complications.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Z06jerry said:


> You seem to have something against Seagate GoFlex. I Just reported what my profiler says using the method outlined by Apple in the link _you_ were so kind to provide. I have 2 of these drives and they both work fine connected to *one* usb port on my MBP. Do you even have a Seagate GoFlex? The OP just asked a few simple questions to get some helpful advice, what he's getting from you and others is unneccessary complications.


I have absolutely nothing against Seagate GoFlex or any other drive manufacturer for that matter - not sure where you got that idea.
And I know that you just reported what's in the Mac profiler, but it was already established that what the Mac is reporting is simply what the connecting device reports, nothing to do with the real current drain of the device.
As I said before, it's technically impossible for any of the 2.5-inch hard drives to draw anything even near 100ma regardless what GoFlex reports. One is lucky to find a 2.5-inch bare drive of reasonable size that draws no more than 500ma, the spec limit of USB 2.0; all the drives I have seen, and that includes Seagate, draw anywhere from 550 to 750ma.
The fact that your particular GoFlex works on your particular MacBook Pro doesn't mean any GoFlex will work on any MBP. Unfortunate, but that's a fact of life.

I know, the whole thing of powering a portable directly via the USB port sounds a bit complicated but technically it's pretty straight forward.
And yes, I don't own a GoFlex (not that this matters for this discussion) but I already mentioned that in my previous post - seem to have overlooked that.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Just bought a Seagate goflex 1TB portable drive for my son. Works just fine on his 1st gen aluminum MacBook. Had to manually install the NTFS driver but that was dead simple. Plugged it into my MBP, works fine tree too. Will check it on my other sons old, plastic MB tomorrow.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Which specific GoFlex 1 TB model do you have and what interface are you using?

I'm wondering because for the standard version NTSF is pre-installed whereas you had to install that driver.

From the Amazon.ca page:



> The Seagate GoFlex ultra-portable drive, backup with encryption software pre-loaded on drive, NTFS driver for Mac pre-loaded on drive,


Pity I have too many portable drives already or I would go out and buy one and measure the actual current draw.


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## pm-r (May 17, 2009)

I was also curious as to why or what any additional install of any NTFS driver was actually needed.

And God only knows it seems as to any actual USB current draw used or required.

"Crap Shoot" on the specs sure seems to sum things up pretty well it seems, at least IMHO.


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## Z06jerry (Mar 16, 2005)

pm-r said:


> I was also curious as to why or what any additional install of any NTFS driver was actually needed


The GoFlex comes formatted NTFS with pre-installed Memeo backup software as well as Paragon NTFS for Mac Extension which allows your Mac to read & write to NTFS, normally Mac can only read NTFS. This could be useful to transfer data between Windows and Macs.

If you had no need, the pre-installed software gets erased when formatting the drive for Mac with Disk Utility.

If you haven't already done so Time Machine will tell you a reformat to Mac OS Extended is required.



pm-r said:


> "Crap Shoot" on the specs sure seems to sum things up pretty well it seems, at least IMHO.


No "crap shoot", its really not that complicated.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Before this thread I never realized that the Mac was reporting some supposed current draw numbers of connected USB devices.
But since it does I'm going to check the actuall current draw and USB voltage of a few devices I can readily lay my hands on - won't be that many since most of my peripherals are Firewire.

So, first one is an externally powered USB enclosure by Mavally, the PHR-100SU
Checked on port 3 of a late generation old form factor Mac Mini
Voltage: 5.07 volts
Current draw: Estimated at 0.3ma (The specialized USB in-line meter only has a resolution of 1 ma - the reading is mostly zero with the occasional 1 ma indication, based on that frequency of the 1 ma, the actual reading is somewhere more than 0 and less than 1 ma, certainly not 2ma as reported by the Mac)

The next external is also a Macally, but a portable, model [email protected]
I connected that to the same USB port 3 of the Mini
This one will not mount using a single USB port. (I always use the FW connection so I never noticed that)
The blue light will come on for for about 1/2 second, then go off momentary and then the process repeats.
The drive is trying to spin up but there is not enough power.
The USB voltage which is 5.07 open circuit, drops as low as 4.65volts which is below spec, peak current goes as high as 800ma
Added more power by connecting the extra 5 volt input of that enclosure to port 3 of the Mini
Voltage on USB port 5 is now steady at 4.99 volts
Current draw on USB port 5 is 274ma
Values for USB port 3 which connects extra poer to the Macally are 4.96 volts and 76ma of current
I can hear the drive spinning but it doesn't mount and Disk Utility doesn't see it.
Hmmm........
Have to try FW on that portable but I can't find my FW800 to FW400 cable right now.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Tested a different USB 2.0 portable.
This is a 120 GB drive inside a 'no-name' $8.00 aluminum enclosure with afull size USB port and an LED
Start up current was about 800ma for a split second, it then selltled down to 450ma for a while and is no sitting nice and steady at 170ma.
800ma was the start up current required but just for a split second, obviusly the Mini on port 5 could deliver that for a very short time
I assume the 450ma reading was with the drive active and the 170ma now with the drive inactive - but even at 170ma I can still hear the drive spinning when i hold it up to my ear.
This enclosure came with a Y-cable, actually a very nice heavy duty one but I only need one port to use that enclosure and drive.
Not sure what the drive is - the Mac reports it as Initio which sounds more like the manufacturer of the USB bridge
And the Mac also reports the current required as 2ma for this unit which is obviously a mile off the real value.
Voltage reading at 170ma current draw is 5.02 volts

Oh - drive just stopped spinning, current dropped to 92ma, that must be the real sleep stage.

So - with this external booting up and requiring 800 ma to do so - makes me wonder what the problem is with the Macally portable enclosure and drive.


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