Anyone have an external firewire hard drive?

[notfred]

What model is it and are you happy with it?

I've run out of IDE connections in my PC, and could use some more space. If I got firewire, I could use the drive w/ my main PC, and also bring it w/ me with my laptop. However, they are more expensive and I don't know how good the performance is.

 

[amnesiac]

AFAIK their performance is about the same as a direct IDE connection. I'm not aware of any performance hits or lags due to the IDE/Firewire interface.

It seems that the Oxford 911 chipset is one of the ones to look for though I believe that it maxes out at support for 120GB drives.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: amnesiac 2.0
AFAIK their performance is about the same as a direct IDE connection. I'm not aware of any performance hits or lags due to the IDE/Firewire interface.

It seems that the Oxford 911 chipset is one of the ones to look for though I believe that it maxes out at support for 120GB drives.

From the reports I read, Firewire is slower than internal IDE drives. The Oxford 911 chipset is supposedly the fastest though. That was a few months ago anyhow.

 

[RichieZ]

Oxford 911's support 48LBA adressing, so they can handle over 127GB

It is slower than an internal drive in burst speed, but across the disk my 100GB WD 8MB cache can sustain 30MB's, i think burst rate was about 36-37MB/s as measured w/ HDTach

 

[StageLeft]

Somebody does.

 

[Farbio]

i have one of the maxtor 80gb firewire drives they were closing out of staples last summer - its a 5400rpm drive, but not like i can complain for $96 out the door w/ a firewire card
performance is pretty good - not quite as fast as either of my 7200ide drives, but fast enough for any purposes i could use - just a backup drive that i use for storage and to move files between my pc and friends pcs. works great for that purpose

 

[HomerSapien]

I bought an external enclosure ($100) and put a western digital 40gb drive in. I already had the drive and an enclosure was my best option since the regular drives were well over $200 at the time.. Plus, i knew the drive was already whisper quiet.

It is an ads case. Very simple to install and looks pretty good.

 

[SCSIfreek]

I got one of those Acomdata fireware 40GB w/IBM 7200rpm drive from CrapUSSR couple months ago for $50. The transfer is great but the fan inside the unit are loud as a mofo. . Also this thing required a power cord which makes it not so portable.


--Scsi

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: SCSIfreek
I got one of those Acomdata fireware 40GB w/IBM 7200rpm drive from CrapUSSR couple months ago for $50. The transfer is great but the fan inside the unit are loud as a mofo. . Also this thing required a power cord which makes it not so portable.


--Scsi

Do they all require power cords, or just that one?

 

[911paramedic]

It's my birthday in a couple weeks and I am getting a couple of SATA drives, firewire can bite me...

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: notfred

Originally posted by: SCSIfreek
I got one of those Acomdata fireware 40GB w/IBM 7200rpm drive from CrapUSSR couple months ago for $50. The transfer is great but the fan inside the unit are loud as a mofo. . Also this thing required a power cord which makes it not so portable.


--Scsi

Do they all require power cords, or just that one?

I think (not positive) that some can be powered off of the firewire port.

 

[GnomeCop]

so is getting an enclosure a better way to go than to just buy one from one of the manufacturers like WD or Maxtor?

there is a big difference in price, where is that money going to?

 

[lowtech1]

Originally posted by: notfred
What model is it and are you happy with it?

I've run out of IDE connections in my PC, and could use some more space. If I got firewire, I could use the drive w/ my main PC, and also bring it w/ me with my laptop. However, they are more expensive and I don't know how good the performance is.

If you already have firewire on your system then go for it, but it would be much cheaper/faster to get yourself an IDE card.

As a Lifer you should know that we have GH forum for this kind of question.

 

[katka]

Acomdata x 2. They a not "silent" but not too loud either. The cases have built in fans so I don't have to worry about overheating.