Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 09 Oct 2009 07:02 AM |
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Can anyone recommend a brand or model of an external hard drive? I am looking to purchase one, but I have been reading mixed reviews on some of the better ones. I am looking something that is 1 TB and reliable. Thanks! |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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Heckle
Advanced Member
Posts:522
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| 09 Oct 2009 11:08 AM |
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I think that external HD's are a waste of money. You cant upgrade them. I recommend buying a dock and a HD to go with it. That way if that drive should ever go bad or get full you can expand. Heres what i have. http://hardwarebistro.com/index.php...ock-Review |
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| It's about destroying the status quo cause the status is not quo....The world is a mess and i just need to rule it. |
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HaVoc
Advanced Member
Posts:574
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| 09 Oct 2009 12:13 PM |
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Well, what are you planning on doing with the external? Do you want it for its mobility? Like to be able to take it places? If so, I recommend getting a LAPTOP hard drive enclosure, and pair it with a laptop hard drive. That is what I have. The advantages over a regular desktop sized hard drive is that it is obviously MUCH MUCH smaller, but also what I really like is the fact that it runs COMPLETELY on USB power. There is no need to plug anything into the wall. Obviously it might be a little bit more expensive, and your are limited to 750MB, but I personally love it!
If you wanted to go the desktop size route, I would go with Heckle's idea of a docking station, OR similar to what I just mentioned... get a hard drive enclosure and a hard drive and make your own... its MUCH cheaper and SUPER easy. All you do is take 2 screws out, put the hard drive inside, and close it up. It takes like 2 mins MAX to do. |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 09 Oct 2009 12:24 PM |
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I read about these docking stations before. What concersn me though is using an internal hard drive that has parts exposed to the elements. Heckle, what do you use? I have been looking at a few things. Is there any type of protective case I can purchase for an internal drive or do I just need to use a little TLC. |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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Heckle
Advanced Member
Posts:522
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| 09 Oct 2009 03:50 PM |
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I have them in static bags when not in use. Most of the time i just leave my main backup one in it.
Think some places sell little slots to store them in but HD sitting on your desk or whatnot in static bags will keep them just fine.
My main sitting in the dock is in no more danger than my drives inside the PC. |
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| It's about destroying the status quo cause the status is not quo....The world is a mess and i just need to rule it. |
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Solace
Basic Member
Posts:205
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| 09 Oct 2009 06:10 PM |
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I have a Maxtor External terabite that I use to store all of my movies, tv shows and other media. It is awesome and has not given me any problems whatsoever. |
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I can resist anything, except temptation. ~ Oscar Wilde |
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TerroN
Basic Member
Posts:185
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| 11 Oct 2009 06:29 PM |
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Just bought This. Wanted a NAS instead of a usb option for speed and steaming media. Works great. I plan on expanding it to 2tb from the 1 we have now. |
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Kasper
Veteran Member
Posts:1312
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| 12 Oct 2009 07:01 AM |
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i like that Terron. i need to look into something like for my data. |
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| “Be always sure you're right, then go ahead.”
- Davy Crockett |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 13 Oct 2009 09:31 AM |
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Oooooohhhhhh.....I like Terron's option. It's almost like having a mini server. Although I don't know what NAS means, I trust what you say. Does this thing just basically plug into my network via the router? Or does NAS refer to something else? |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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HaVoc
Advanced Member
Posts:574
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| 13 Oct 2009 11:11 AM |
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NAS = Network attached storage |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 14 Oct 2009 09:39 AM |
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Posted By HaVoc on 13 Oct 2009 12:11 PM
NAS = Network attached storage
So does this mean that it does plug into my network via the router or......? My wife gave me the go ahead to purchase whatever we need. I just want to be sure this thing is idiot proof. By idiot I mean someone with superficial knowledge of netework and setting up hardware. |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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Heckle
Advanced Member
Posts:522
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| 14 Oct 2009 05:25 PM |
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NAS often costs alot more than buying a dock and a drive though.
That NAS he bought costs about $100 and contains no drives yet. So thats another $200(1TB drive X 2) |
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| It's about destroying the status quo cause the status is not quo....The world is a mess and i just need to rule it. |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 16 Oct 2009 12:02 PM |
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Yea I know. I discussed the option with the wife. Do I need to get 2 drives right away? Or can I get by with 1 and get another later on? |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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TerroN
Basic Member
Posts:185
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| 17 Oct 2009 07:17 PM |
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I went with just one for now. I'm not sure if I want the second drive to add another 1tb for a total of two or to mirror the first one for a backup. Guess it'll depend on how much space we use. |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 19 Oct 2009 07:24 AM |
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One last question before I purchase this guy. According to some info/reviews I have been reading on the device - once the hard drive is formatted to use on said device, I will not be able to just plug in these hard drives to my main computer, if I choose to for whatever reason. Now what happens if the NAS device fails for whatever reason - Will I just basically have to buy an identical NAS device to recover my data? |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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Heckle
Advanced Member
Posts:522
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| 05 Nov 2009 11:53 AM |
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Never had a NAS so im not sure. about that. I would think that you could put it into a pc and it would see it as a new drive.
However....im wondering what OS the NAS uses. If it uses some OS to format the drives itself then there could be an issue. |
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| It's about destroying the status quo cause the status is not quo....The world is a mess and i just need to rule it. |
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HaVoc
Advanced Member
Posts:574
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| 11 Nov 2009 01:47 PM |
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So did you get this setup X? |
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Xerxes
Advanced Member
Posts:948
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| 12 Nov 2009 12:07 PM |
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That I did. So far so good. I need want to set up some of its unique features and I am trying to get the media files to show through my PS3. But between work, kids, and raiding I have little time to play around with the features. For now it is doing its inteded purpose and backing up all my important things. |
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| "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." - "Ulysses," Lord Tennyson |
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