Which 1TB external hard drive?

MrSix

MrSix

MrSix

Soldato
Joined
21 Oct 2004
Posts
6,146
Location
Los Angeles
For work I need an external hard drive to back up my photographs. I was pleasantly reminded last night when my photograph hard drive started to click and crash!

I've been looking at the Maxtor 1000Gb One Touch 4 Plus USB2/FW External Hard Drive which looks quite nice, but are there any others you reccomend? I see OcUK stock the LaCie range and I know a lot of other photographers who use their products.

Over to you guys...
 
BYOD...
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £85.99
  • Icy Box External Enclosure IB-360AStUS SATA + USB Combo - Black/LED £29.99
  • Sub Total : £115.98
  • Shipping : £8.00
  • VAT : £21.70
  • Total : £145.68
Got that enclosure with a 500GB WD RE2 & excellent. Pros: upgradable & longer HD warranty.

Some tests I did here.
 
Last edited:
hp7909 said:
BYOD...
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £85.99
  • Icy Box External Enclosure IB-360AStUS SATA + USB Combo - Black/LED £29.99
  • Sub Total : £115.98
  • Shipping : £8.00
  • VAT : £21.70
  • Total : £145.68
Got that enclosure with a 500GB WD RE2 & excellent. Pros: upgradable & longer HD warranty.

Some tests I did here.
Click to expand...

Excuse my ignorance here...could you explain eSATA to me please? I'm currently running 2x SATA hard drives and my motherboard only has 2 SATA connections so would I have to buy a PCI SATA card? If this is the case, how do you run the cable from an internal controller card to the hard drive on your desktop?

Apologies if that's a daft question, it's been a long time since I researched hardware (i.e. pre SATA days :o)

*EDIT*

Just had a look at the Icybox...is it simply a USB 2.0 connection?
 
MrSix said:
Excuse my ignorance here...could you explain eSATA to me please? I'm currently running 2x SATA hard drives and my motherboard only has 2 SATA connections so would I have to buy a PCI SATA card? If this is the case, how do you run the cable from an internal controller card to the hard drive on your desktop?
Click to expand...
You either go for an eSATA controller card which has the connector on the backplate or go with a normal SATA card and use the PCI bracket which comes with the IcyBox to route one of the ports on the card outside

MrSix said:
Just had a look at the Icybox...is it simply a USB 2.0 connection?
Click to expand...
It has both USB2 and eSATA, you do however have to swap a cable internally to change between the interfaces on the 360.
 
Ah okay, that makes sense now.

I'll be using it for backing up photographs, so it won't be on all of the time. Is there any risk of premature wear and tear due to it only being used for short periods of time and then being powered off?

Also I've found this: "IcyBox IB-351ST 3.5SATA Black External" - what is the difference between that and the 360?
 
I've recently bought a Seagate Freeagent Pro 1tb drive and am very happy with it indeed. Usually I just bung a big disk in an enclosure, but the Seagate is an excellent package as it's stylish, very quiet and has good bundles software.
 
hp7909 said:
BYOD...
  • Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103UJ) £85.99
  • Icy Box External Enclosure IB-360AStUS SATA + USB Combo - Black/LED £29.99
  • Sub Total : £115.98
  • Shipping : £8.00
  • VAT : £21.70
  • Total : £145.68
Got that enclosure with a 500GB WD RE2 & excellent. Pros: upgradable & longer HD warranty.

Some tests I did here.
Click to expand...

Did almost the same here but went for one of these instead. Comes with esata and USB2 cables - justy plug in the one you want to use. Great piece of kit.
 
MrSix said:
Excuse my ignorance here...could you explain eSATA
Click to expand...
rpstewart has covered it but just want to add that lots of mobos features eSATA ports at the back just like USB. Advantage being performance is the same as a direct SATA connection + hot-pluggable.

But have to agree, if just backing-up, USB will suffice. Use mine set like that & runs fine & quick enough.

The Akasa Integral P2 as recommended above is better because no need to fiddle with the insides to switch to eSATA connection.
 
Last edited:
MrSix said:
Why should I go for a HDD and caddy as opposed to a 'purpose built' external hard drive?
Click to expand...
As I mentioned:
  1. Upgradable without breaking warranty
  2. Choice of Hard Disk is up to you, e.g. go for a Samsung which are regarded quiet or something more reliable like the Western Digital RE2
  3. This HDs also tend to have longer warranties than the pre-built ones
  4. Some enclosures are sleeker
 
If you can hold off till Wednesday then wait for This Week Only as we are going to have the WD eSATA/USB 2.0 500GB and 1TB drives at some of the UK's best pricing if not THE best! :D They have 3 years warranty so should keep you going for a while. ;)
 
My Freeagent Pro has a five year warranty, which exceeds most hard-drives 3 year warranty, so it's not always the case that a separate drive has a better warranty.
 
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