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View Full Version : A Bargain or What?


naut
12-12-2006, 22:33
A shop near me is selling Seagate 160 GB External Hard Drives for AU$149.95 (US$117.90). Now I'm finding this really attractive, as it would solve my disk-space problems. It's also received good reviews, so I think I'll be getting it. So what are your honest opinions?
Lemur
12-13-2006, 00:06
Well, the first question that springs to mind is how does the HD connect to your PC? USB? FireWire? If it's anything less than USB 2.0, I'd be cautious, and maybe walk away whistling ...
Forward Observer
12-13-2006, 04:40
A shop near me is selling Seagate 160 GB External Hard Drives for AU$149.95 (US$117.90). Now I'm finding this really attractive, as it would solve my disk-space problems. It's also received good reviews, so I think I'll be getting it. So what are your honest opinions?


I don't know about the hardware prices in Oz, but you should check out the big chain stores if you have one close by. I just purchased a Maxtor 320gig external for only $135 US. That's twice the storage as the unit you are looking at for only $18 (US) more. I bought mine at BestBuy, which is a big US chain electronics and appliance store, but I have seen comparable prices with the on-line retailers also.

Mine has a USB hook up but there are several comparable models on the market that offer either USB or firewire, and the Western Digital "MyBook" offers both types of connections in one unit.

Anyway check around because the bigger capacity externals are getting cheaper by the minute.

Cheers
naut
12-13-2006, 11:38
Lemur, sorry I should have specified, it is USB 2.0 with a 8 MB cache (sic).


I don't know about the hardware prices in Oz
Horrible to say the least. For a 320 GB drive it would knock me back AU$289.95! An I can't afford to splash that much.
naut
12-14-2006, 03:42
I don't know about the hardware prices in Oz, but you should check out the big chain stores if you have one close by. I just purchased a Maxtor 320gig external for only $135 US. That's twice the storage as the unit you are looking at for only $18 (US) more. I bought mine at BestBuy, which is a big US chain electronics and appliance store, but I have seen comparable prices with the on-line retailers also.
Managed to get 320GB LaCie for AU$199 or US$156.60, best part was that my parents bought it for me because I did so well in school this year. :2thumbsup:

One question, best format for it? currently its FAT32, but I'm thinking NTFS would be better.
Caius
12-14-2006, 19:58
One question, best format for it? currently its FAT32, but I'm thinking NTFS would be better.
Isnt better FAT32 than NTFS?
Lemur
12-14-2006, 20:01
Isnt better FAT32 than NTFS?
The opposite is generally true. Here's a primer on the subject. (http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=63)
caravel
12-15-2006, 10:19
If you can never envisage yourself connecting the drive up to a Linux or Win9x box, then NTFS is the obvious choice. It's quite simply a better file system. I am constantly coming across laptops running XP on FAT32! I have to defrag them, which takes an age on FAT32, and then convert the filesystem to NTFS, and then reset all of the permissions.
naut
12-15-2006, 13:01
Laptops still using FAT32? :inquisitive: