best portable hard drive? And getting a broken hard drive from apple

[konastab01]

due to my 6 month old MacBook hardrive failing, I'm looking for a potable hardrive.
Around 320gb should be fine? Well for the now anway.
As I lost all my Info and photos.
Also where's the best and cheapest places to go?
I'm hoping online but if there is a shop ie currys I can go and collect.


Pretty gutted as I only have about 10gb backed up and mac will keep the broken hardrive.
( has anyone been able to get the broken harddrive off apple?)
Maybe even paid a little for it.
The guy told me on the phone today told me they have to send it back and I have found out today that a friend might be able to get the data.
Even though apple told me it was lost and they coulnt get it off on there data transfer.
Said they couldn't get the drive to mount?
Thanks
S

[SimP]

After having 3 Freecom tough drives go down on me I've switched to a LaCie rugged FW800/USB drive that's silent, fast and (so far) reliable. But always be on the safe side and have 2 backups of everything....

[Peter_Legg]

I used to always use Aria, as it was local to me, and has grown massively over the years, they always have 'super specials' which last for a day, it's best for oem boxes (just the basic hardware in a brown box, as supplied to computer shops)

computer hardware, components, systems and peripherals at the lowest prices from IT supplier Aria Technology

also theres dabs

dabs.com - Laptops, Components, MP3 players, Software, Digital Cameras


I used to really rate lacie, but had a hard drive with an awful 5 pin power plug, i guess it split it into 12 and 5v in the powersupply. anyway the plug broke after about 3 months, i was working on something at the time so had to prise the box open and stick the hard drive into my computer. but generally they're good and i think that plug is obsolete now as most are powered from USB. I replaced this with a freecom which is now getting rather noisey (I do transport my drives alot), lacie have a good reputation, everyone i know editing movies (very hard drive intensive) seem to use lacie external drives.

[LFC_SL]

*Best*?

Well I would advise a backup to the backup. I own 3 western digital my passports and one self-built one carrying a seagate drive (OK my brother made it). All are fine. 2 western digitals and the self-built have run for the 2.5 years I have been at uni without issues

The 3rd WD I bought on the forum and has been without issue for months

A Freecom drive I purchased was dead but I exchanged it for the first WD passport I own

[horky]

I am also having difficulty in choosing a portable hard drive such as the seagate freeagent go or the western digital passport. I want it to have a fast data transfer rate, as I need to transfer large files between different computers. I would be carrying it in my backpack, so I'd prefer it to be lightweight and durable. Besides, I need an external hard drive enclosure. I was wondering if anybody could give me some info on what the best portable hard drives are out there... ?

PS - I'm only interested in USB2.0 and bus powered drives

[westham]

Best for me would be the G-Tech mini range of portable HDD. They are absolutely superb and come with all of the main interface ports (USB2, FW800 and so on).

Not only that but they come with a nice leather case and all the cables you could ever need in an Apple friendly white.

The make is superb too in aluminum and it looks like a mini MacPro!

Expensive but if you want one of the best they are worth it.

Try here for the range and some of the best prices.

Mike