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Best hard drive for my computer

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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
I have the new macbook pro retina 15 inch laptop and I cant figure out which hard drive to get for video/photo editing. It has a usb 3.0 port and 2 thunderbolt ports. I was looking into maybe getting a g tech hard drive and using a firewire adapter but I heard firewire is really slow. So then I thought about using eSATA to thunderbolt but you have to buy an adapter that costs $175. Then I looked into hard drives that were solely for thunderbolt but they are really expensive. So im stuck between a rock and a hard place as to which direction I should go. If you guys could give me some insight, that would be much appreciated. Thanks NS!
Nov 28 2012 6:59PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
You seem to have forgotten you have usb 3.0 :)

There are a TON of usb3 hard drives. What is your budget? How much space do you need? Do you need RAID 0 or 1?(if you dont know what these are, just disregard them for now) Answer this stuff and ill help ya.
Nov 28 2012 7:03PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
My budget is around 250. I was looking for around 2-4 TB of space. I think Raid 0 would be best but im not totally sure. Thanks for your help!
Nov 28 2012 8:05PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
Word. Honestly, you probably don't need raid 0. Raid 1 is nice for backup but also isn't needed.

For 2tb there are a bunch of 2tb usb3 drives. Check out OWC, gtech or lacie. When I'm not on mobile I could link you to some but I'm sure you could find them.
Nov 28 2012 8:22PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
Im looking at them now thanks and jw so you think i dont need a raid configuration at all? What about when people use hard drives for reading and writing? Sorry to ask a lot of questions im just new to this and I dont want to waist money on the wrong drive
Nov 28 2012 8:49PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
Raid 0 = speed, only really needed for certain situations

Raid 1 = mirror so you have a safe exact backup of your drive.

You don't NEED a raid 1, but its definitely nice. I went years without it, i probably got lucky though. You won't get 2tb of storage for $250 though, my 2tb+2tb raid was about 400 bucks.
Nov 28 2012 8:55PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
what about this one?

http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-Minimus-Desktop-External-301967/dp/B0042KFLJE
Nov 28 2012 9:00PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
Men

Check this
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB
Nov 28 2012 9:05PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
thanks i actually like that one better but do you think I should be using a hard drive for storage or to read and write files.
Nov 28 2012 9:17PM
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eheath
Posts: 61601 - Karma: 123,020
I do all of my editing off of externals.
Nov 28 2012 9:18PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
Ok i think im going to get a card reader too that ill hook up directly to the hard drive to transfer my files from my camera
Nov 28 2012 9:23PM
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NickVentura
Posts: 243 - Karma: 1,229
thanks again for helping me out dude +K
Nov 29 2012 3:58PM
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JuliusJ
Posts: 3778 - Karma: 2,106
I love ns. Thanks for this thread and info
Nov 29 2012 4:26PM
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