External hard drive - Buy this one?

[Key2]

Hi All

I need to buy an external hard drive and I've seen this one at Maplins.
I think it looks 'just the job'. I know about computers but not from a DJ point of view. Anything I'm missing here, before I buy it?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=217654&doy=12m8

Thanks
John:)

[Vectis]

Nothing wrong with these but they're big, fairly fragile for road use, and have an external power 'brick'.

I started out with this type of drive but quickly learned my lessons and now spend a little more on ruggedised 2.5" drives which are powered from the USB cable like the Freecom Toughdrive Pro. Nowhere near as cheap but virtually indestructible in my experience!

Shop around for prices. I recently bought a couple of 160GB drives for about £80 each (PCWorld online I think). Usually priced well at Dabs.

Edit: A quick froogle throws them up at £73 here (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=483570&source=froogle). or £78 from Amazon (http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2FFreecom-ToughDrive-160GB-External-USB-2%2Fdp%2FB000JWCF9S%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Delectronics% 26qid%3D1186947848%26sr%3D8-2&tag=pumbieworld-21&linkCode=ur2&camp=1634&creative=6738") with free delivery. I believe there's a 250GB version available now but I use the 120s and 160s.

[DJ Colin]

Hi All

I need to buy an external hard drive and I've seen this one at Maplins.
I think it looks 'just the job'. I know about computers but not from a DJ point of view. Anything I'm missing here, before I buy it?
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?TabID=1&ModuleNo=217654&doy=12m8

Thanks
John:)

If to be used for mobile its a bit on the large side. I use a Freecom Toughdrive Pro.

Colin

[Key2]

So that's two separate votes, both for the Freecom Toughdrive Pro.
I think I'll have a look at that. Thanks guys

John:)

[wayne128]

i've looked with interest at these toughdrives but my pcdj manual says i need at least 7200 rpm hd speed i see these toughdrives are only 4200 does it make a big differance
thanks wayne

[Candybeatdiscos]

i have a maxtor 500GB (£99) and a freecom 500 gig (£82) both bought earlier this year from dabs, no probs with the freecom but the maxtor got sent back today as power supply bit on the hard drive is kaput (might be my fault - i had it on radiator and didn't know wife tuned heating on (doh) but will wait and see what our friends at dabs say

[Tom]

usb2 is good but if you can get a hard drive with firewire or ethernet then the data transfer between laptop, pc will be so much faster and smoother and you can transfer anything much faster and quicker then usb2

[BeerFunk]

As stated in the first post, the drive will be for DJ use, so the transfer speed is really not the issue. Reliability and access time (or seek time) are the two most important factors. Reliability is something that is built up in a reputation, and you will hear differing stories, but generally Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor seem to be the biggest contenders. It's all down to experience though, if a user has a bad experience with a brand, they are likely to associate it with that brand for some time - even if they are one in a million other happy customers!

usb2 is good but if you can get a hard drive with firewire or ethernet then the data transfer between laptop, pc will be so much faster and smoother and you can transfer anything much faster and quicker then usb2
As mentioned, the speed is really not an issue unless you regularly transfer large amounts of songs to and from the drive.

Firewire is either double or triple the speed of USB 2, depending which version it is. Ethernet is definitely slower USB 2, assuming a 100MBit connection. Obviously a 10MBit connection would be even slower, and a gigabit connection would be faster (although less cost effective than firewire, I believe)

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I just bought another 500Gb Iomega HD from Ebuyer for £70 and it's fine. Metal case too, unlike a lot of them.

[wayne128]

just took delivery of the Freecom Toughdrive Pro off ebay paid for it saturday
came this morning at 7.30 (oh we laughed) well impressed ordering another allready