[BloodSugar00]

Hello there,

I did start a thread a few months back when I was initially, seriously starting to consider aquiring an external hard-drive and getting a feel for what options and varieties were out there, that market, however I didn't end up buying at that time, for various reasons. Well, although I didn't end up buying then I am at the point were I wish to buy now

. I will be using it externally, ie secondarily to desktop and/or notebook intergral hard-drives, and as an initial primary hub; that is, as a backup drive for all the data on my desktop and laptop, firstly, and then, also, to behave as a storage facility for an organised video collection and an organised music collection (ie CD's ripped to .FLAC), both. I had considered a 1TB variety, but, although I see myself buying much music for a considerable length of time into the future ie buying fast and heavy, and I plan to store films and TV series' video files in an organised manner on this external drive, I think 1TB is too much for my needs as I start this process off. So 500GB is plenty for now!

So.....I'd prefer to purchase online- e.g. with Amazon- and am just looking for manufacturer/model recommendations from within this market as I am almost completely new to it. So fire away!

Oh, and I'm all open to as small a size as possible, but I'm happ to buy a more fixed location style hard-drive for now and to then a aquire a more portable offshoot at a later date. Price, anything up to 100 GBP I'd be willing to part with (though, from initial browsing, I'm aware a lot of options in this memory capacity range are considerably cheaper than that).

Thanks in advance,

Steve

 

[b17m4p]

There's kindof two conflicting factors. On the one hand you want something with a fan because it will tend to make the drive last longer. On the other for audio this might be not desirable since it adds to noise. In the long term I think the best solution for audio is to have a network attached storage device, because it allows you to get something that will cool the drives and you can put it somewhere where you can't hear it. If this is too serious for you for now then you should consider if its more important for you to have the thing silent or to have less hassless/risks with drive failure.

 

[BloodSugar00]

Quote:

Originally Posted by b17m4p /img/forum/go_quote.gif There's kindof two conflicting factors. On the one hand you want something with a fan because it will tend to make the drive last longer. On the other for audio this might be not desirable since it adds to noise. In the long term I think the best solution for audio is to have a network attached storage device, because it allows you to get something that will cool the drives and you can put it somewhere where you can't hear it. If this is too serious for you for now then you should consider if its more important for you to have the thing silent or to have less hassless/risks with drive failure.

Thanks for the response b17m4p! I appreciate the consideration there, as I can see you've consciously relayed something that one might not take into account or be aware, as a first time buyer. I'm guessin that you're citing the noise of a fan as a disadvantage where one listens to music via a speaker system around their computer/laptop? At this point, I don't have something like that set-up ie IF I listened to music played by a computer hard-drive (laptop, desktop and/or external), it would be through headphones at this present time. The reason for this is that, as of yet, I havn't really begun to invest in any home-based audiophile quality equipment or rigs yet; my investment has been all portable really, thus far (though I do plan to venture into more home-based set-ups and rigs at some point down the line). Therefore, the external storage is to behave as exactly that really- a backup place to digitally store all my music/CD's in .FLAC, which I'll either listen to via headphones on my laptop or desktop or have in a ready state (CD's ripped, at least) for transfer to a DAP/PMP for portable use. I think, therefore, if I've understodd you correctly, a fan-based external hard-drive would be best as unit noise emittance isn't an issue for me and the presence of a fan will help the welfare and lifespan of the hard-drive?

 

[BloodSugar00]

Just to save anyone replying in the future when it's no longer needed, I have ordered a Buffalo Drivestation (1TB in the end) external hard-drive and so will no longer be needing advice and/or recommendations at this time. Thanks.