Macbook external harddrives advice

Ok so i am in the process of purchasing a laptop for uni and wanted a mac. After comparing it all I was set on a Blackbook till i saw that the 2.4 White MB had only the 90GB of harddrive difference. So I talked to some people and they said to get the white one and purchase an external hardrive. My question is, is this a good idea? What are some of the good companies and models for an external hardrive?

I am on a university budget so price will matter, that is mainly why I went with the WhiteMB

 

For me, I don't really like the idea of external storage as primary location of data.

I have all my data on my laptop (200Gb drive), and use external drives for backups.

If the data that you intend to keep on the external is disposable, or you have another backup (like a desktop PC) then fair enough, but otherwise I would question your friends' advice.

 

Well, you could simply upgrade the hard drive for $100 on the Apple website - but if you want an external drive (and you should have one for backups at least), you can pretty much buy any drive out there. OWC makes great drives, but they aren't on the cheap end. I myself have a Cavalry drive, but it sometimes disconnects - not sure if that's a problem with my computer (or possibly a USB port), or the drive itself, but it's had some issues, so I wouldn't just recommend it without a side note. But I would just Google external hard drives and read reviews, probably the best way to get feedback.

 

I have a couple of Lacie drives which are so far so good. I previously had a Western Digital which failed, but only after a two foot drop onto a wood floor... I was unable to retrieve the data, but fortunately it was only a back up of what I already had elsewhere.

 

I was kinda told to put the media on the external drive.

 

You can, but you can also just buy a bigger, better hard drive for the Macbook (now or later).

The ONLY difference between the models is the color. Be aware that if you're getting the black Macbook, you're paying more just for the color.

Also be aware that the Macbook only has integrated graphics, so is terrible for gaming. If you EVER plan on running a game, get a Macbook Pro. Right now you can still find a last-gen Macbook Pro for about the same price as the black Macbook. Only disadvantage with the MBP is the much harder to swap hard drive, but otherwise everything else about it is better (GPU, larger, much higher quality screen, etc.)

 

I use an external 320gig Lacie HD as a backup for data on my iMac. It runs quiet and so far so good

 

I would reccomend the Western Digital mybook (there any many kinds, buy whichever fits your budget). You can look at portable ones also. If you are getting a non-portable, try to get one with firewire. And I recomend you get base line HD from Apple and upgrade it yourself.

 

You should upgrade the internal HDD yourself. Use an external for backups and what not.

Thats my recommendation.

 

So a synopsis is
- Get the WMB the 100 dollars is not worth it
- Get the 160 GB HD and upgrade it myself with either an external or built in

quick question - I'm sure that it is a dumb question but what is the difference between HD and HDD

 

No difference really. HD stands for Hard Drive, which is simply a generic term that could mean any one of many types of storage devices generally - but it usually means the same thing as HDD, which stands for Hard Disk Drive - the platter, spinning drives that most computers use (as compared to Solid State Drives, or SSDs).

 

Here ya go! 1TB Raid 1 Storage. Only $750. Much better than another $100 for more space on your MacBook

http://newer-technology.com/products/gmax.php

 

I think $750 is a little out of the "university budget" he talked about in his first post. Plus, I depending on the computer use, 1tb might be a bit of an overkill.

 

It's out of my budget too, but it's cool.

 

I am considering ordering a Rosewell (alum) external case and a SATA drive from newegg over the weekend. Newegg has combo's available for a variety of hard drives from all manufacturer. Under two ben's for the case AND 750GB hard drive is tough to argue with.

eSATA, FW400, FW800 & USB 2.0 ports.

Link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182123

Of note icy dock makes similar enclosures that also get good reviews.

 

i bought a WD passport 320 gig .....and it works fine both with my mac and pc