which hard drive?

I'm looking to by my first portable hard drive for a G5 quad with OS 10.4.4. IT will be used to edit with FCP. Any recommendations as to what works and what doesn't? and/or what specs I should be looking for? I'm looking for something around 500 gb.

Thanks

G-RAID. Go for a FireWire 800 drive, not 400 if you can.



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search the forum for the term "firewire drive" and you will come up with TONS of info

I just went out and bought a 250 GIG external LACIE HD Firewire 7200 rpm, it works great, very fast.. firewire is better, Usb 2.0 is just as good though.

<<<Usb 2.0 is just as good though.>>>

You may get some arguement there. USB2 has some real problems when doing live video--either direction. Must better to stick with one of the FireWires.

Koz

> USB 2.0 is just as good though

Absolutely not. USB can't be used for digital video. It sends data in packets, so playback and capture won't be able to keep up. Unless you like your captured video to be in six-frame frozen stills with audio and video completely unsynced.

> I just went out and bought a 250 GIG external LACIE HD Firewire 7200 rpm

Don't get Lacie. This brand's got the highest per centage of breakdowns, misbehaviour, and complaining editors. In my own experience, Lacies have a 50 per cent chance of breaking down, and Maxtors are next. Get a G-Raid, OWC or Promax.

Thats what I thought Damn Comp USA guys...i always prefer firewire over USB any day

NEVER trust a person in a retail store! they almost never have any idea of what theyre doing. if they did, they wouldnt be working in a retail store

Also take into consideration that you wil want a RAID 0 set-up, for greater speed and efficiency (or RAID 1 for enhanced back-up protection. You The G-RAID series is the by far the best solution for starter RAID drives that are by any comparitive standard very affordable. I purchased a G-RAID 500 through BH Photo for about $420.00. These drives are also rated for media content, and have a built in fan to keep things cool. This is something to consider when getting tempted by the $99 250Gig drives that places like Fry's electronics are selling these days. Finally, the Lacie drives, do seem to be unreliable. I've experienced mulitple failures to mount with two separate drives. In one case, I ended up paying $500.00 to get my very precious content back.



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Hey folks thanx for the replies. I've been checking out the G-Tech stuff at their web site and they show a G-Raid and a G-Drive. From what I understand the Raid has two disks and a fan the Drive no fan and one disk. I presume the fan is best but what about the one versus two disk issue?

Thanks

The one disk drive basically is just that: a simple storage drive for content. The two disk drive is what makes it a RAID drive in the sense that it simultaneously uses both disks to share the load of information going in and out of the Drive connected to your computer. I think G-TECH sells the single disk drive a basic consumer hard drive for info storage. After all, for the everyday user, a RAID system is overkill. But if you plan on shifting around alot of big QT files and uncompressed media, you will want it.



www.slantyhouseproductions.com