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Recommend a backup drive

  • 28-09-2012 2:51pm
    #1
    faceman
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,663 CMod ✭✭✭✭


    My backup drive is on the way out. its making scary noises so I am looking for a recommended backup please!

    I dont want a time capsule, its too expensive. I have a mid 2007 iMac so I only have a 250GB drive so really I dont need a huge backup drive either. (My current backup is 1TG which in hindsight was a waste.

    So any recommendations and where I should make the purchase?

    Cheers!


Comments

  • #2
    Liameter
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 898 ✭✭✭Liameter


    HDD reliability seems to be getting slightly worse with every increase in capacity. There are fewer manufacturers now. I tend to go for Seagate now.

    I think you'll struggle to find smaller than 1TB and that would barely be large enough to use "Time Machine" with a 250GB drive.


  • #3
    firkin
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 95 ✭✭firkin


    Make sure its explicitly mac compatible
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81006124&postcount=14


  • #4
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,693 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    Liameter wrote: »
    HDD reliability seems to be getting slightly worse with every increase in capacity. There are fewer manufacturers now. I tend to go for Seagate now.

    I think you'll struggle to find smaller than 1TB and that would barely be large enough to use "Time Machine" with a 250GB drive.
    Yeah but Time Machine should delete old backups when it runs out of space. And if it doesn't you can do it manually. I would generally recommend getting a drive double the size of your internal hdd. Four times and over is overkill if you just want a straight backup.
    firkin wrote: »
    Make sure its explicitly mac compatible
    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81006124&postcount=14
    Not necessary. Almost any USB external hard drive will work. All "Mac compatible" means is that it is pre-formatted as HFS+ and probably has Firewire. They usually aren't worth the premium. You could just as easily have the problems you described in that post with a so-called Mac compatible drive.

    Faceman, go for one of the big brands - WD, Seagate, etc, they are all pretty much the same - find one you like and check the reviews to see if there's any major issues with Macs. Amazon is usually good for prices, but also have a look on Komplett or even PC World. There's no point stressing too much over which one to get because the bloody thing could fail in a year regardless of brand/model, etc. These things are literally thrown together.


  • #5
    Liameter
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 898 ✭✭✭Liameter


    Sad Professor wrote: »
    Yeah but Time Machine should delete old backups when it runs out of space.
    That rather defeats the object of being able to go back several iterations. You'll only be able to go back a week, say, in "time".

    I agree entirely with your other points.

    BTW I had a Western Digital "MyBook" fail after only 6 months. It wasn't the HDD which failed but the actual interface electronics in the "book" housing. I had to buy a new housing (because it was cheaper than sending the entire drive back AND I got to keep my backups).


  • #6
    faceman
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 16,663 CMod ✭✭✭✭faceman


    Thanks for the feedback folks

    Went for a Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 500gb


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