---I don't know much about 200 gig drives, but I'm sure you could format it into 2 100 gig drives if you had to.

I THINK that you're correct; I'm by no means a techie, so you're going to have to do your own homework.
The way that I understand it is that Windows has a drive size limit (Win 2K, which is what I'm still using) has roughly a 130 gig limit. But that (as I've been told) is a limit PER drive... if I wanted two 120 gig drives, that would be fine. So, I imagine that partitioning a 200 gig drive into 2 100's (or whatever you choose) would be fine.

But then... I could be COMPLETELY wrong, too!

David.

#1. Yes, 200 gig drives are OK as secondary drives, you need to configure them properly. Recommendation is to get a card to manage the drive, unless your motherboard has the proper IDE configuration (ie. Ultra 100), Maxtor drives have a Ultra 133 card they include with their drives (internal desk top PCI card).

#2. The 137 Gig barrier is real. Again, your IDE device, be it a motherboard or external Firewire case will need to be able to recognize such a drive and allow for formatting.

#3. If your laptop accepts PCMCIA cards you could go Firwire, yet you'll need the external case.

I have a Maxtor 200G 7200K drive in an external firewire case. The following in quotes is a response from the support individual for the case manufacturer Granite Digital.

"Our firmware is written to use two different modes when issuing commands to
a drive larger than 137GB. Below the 137GB boundary, we use the classical
commands (28-bit LBA). Above the 137GB boundary we use the ATA-6 48-bit
LBA commands. However, there is a bug (it's really an architectural
mistake) in the Oxford Semiconductor OXFW911 which prevents the sending of
48-bit LBA commands. To circumvent this bug, we designed a Granite Digital
proprietary scheme for issuing ATA-6 48-bit LBA commands."

"I believe the drop in format performance must be due to the alternate
scheme for issuing commands above 137GB addresses. I'd like to reiterate
that we have not seen a drop in read/write performance beyond this boundary
- though that doesn't prove there isn't a drop. I'm going to conjecture
that the verify command used during a full format may exhibit different
timing, and that may push our alternate command scheme into a
pathologically bad case."

By the way, the drive funcations just fine reading and writing (during capture and renders) on my system. Is just the fact that from 0 to 137GB the drive formats at a rate of 50 MB/s (per the drive case LCD), yet it drops of to 6 MB/s after 137GB, extending the formating process to over 5 hrs (on my system). If I used the internal PCI card it took only 50 mins for the entire drive. I expect the drive will also perform at it's best in the internal configuration, yet I want it external for portability. These have been my observations of configuring my system.

Basically, be aware of the capabilities of the case to recognize the drive (update the case firmware if applicable), be aware that firewire performance is dependent on the host computer CPU and system performance (versus SCSI cards with processors), and finally the capabilities of the drive you purchase. Example, Maxtor ships it's drives with a "verification" process enabled for the first 10 power cycles. This impacts performance for these first 10 times you use your drive. Although you can get a program to immediately disable........

Jay

Why don't you just get a removable dry bay setup..? they don't cost much to install, and you can save HD's instead of CDs and DVDs, etc..I've got 98SE, so it's moot point for me, but I was told it's best to have all your audio on a dedicated drive irregardless...

Sorry...drive bay...drive bay...the hell's a dry bay...?

The problem with using a "dry" or drive bay configured to allow HD swapping is that on many computer cases there is no actual external access. You must either use a fully external drive case or dismantle the computer each time you want to change Hard Drives. No choice. That is the ONLY reason I would like to have a good Firewire drive.

Used to be that many cases had 4, even 5 drive bays, 3 or sometimes 4 of which were accessable from the front. No more. Only the CD and floppy are accessible in EVERY Dell or Gateway in my entire college, in every lab. Nasty design. Hate them.

I was told that one could be constructed, there are some nice ones out there apparently, for well under $100...I hosed my Gateway tower long ago, but seems to me that when I popped out the lower plastic cowling, there were spots to add drives, depending on what kind and depth, etc...many use that kind of config around here, where the whole drive is removed, or "snapped out", and a new one inserted in...it's a time tried and proven technique with good results, I guess...this may not jive with certain "agendas", but I can certainly see where it would be a viable alternative...collapsible tray, etc...it's not a new idea...consider making it your "3d drive"...I don't know...USB drives still bug me, and they are WAY more expensive, all things considered...if you're careful you want plenty of backup..

uh...but maybe not all on 1 drive...know what I mean..?