External Firewire or internal?

Jessariah67 wrote on 1/25/2002, 7:04 PM
Hey all,

Looking to replace my current dedicated drive (7200 rpm, 12G) to 40G or larger. Obviously, Firewire will be "easier," but more $$. Just wondering if the new 7200 rpm firewires (LaCie or Maxtor 3000) hold up for audio/video, or should I just replace my current drive with a bigger one?

I also need a Firewire card - any suggestions on a good one?

Thanks

Comments

Caruso wrote on 1/26/2002, 3:35 PM
I think it is totally a personal/$$preference, and I also believe either type of drive from a quality manufacturer will hold up.

If you don't have a firewire port and need to purchase a card, that will run your cost for an external drive up a bit (haven't priced one of those lately, could be $60 or so, I really don't know), but, personally, I prefer the external drives (mine are all 5400 RPM) for the ease of installation (I've installed many an internal ide, but with external firewires, you plug 'em in, and your finished) and the added flexibility.

I started with one external, now am up to three. They are daisy-chainable, and the 5400 rpm factor has never been an issue with my video editing.

If you have the budget, I'd definitely shoot for a larger capacity. I find that I start editing a project, and, before I know it, I've three or more renders that I don't want to delete, and, even with three 80-gig externals and two 30-gig internal ide's, I have to worry about running out of storage space.

My bottom line advice . . . do as your budget and taste allow, but don't think on the issue too long . . . there's too much fun to be had. Decide, purchase, and start having fun.

Caruso
Control_Z wrote on 1/26/2002, 7:19 PM
Internal eide will be faster, but that's usually not a big factor. Portability is why I prefer them - we can do i/o on one machine and edit on another.

fwiw, there have been reports of troubles with those LaCie drives. Just get a case and put your own drive in it.

The ADS Pyro 1394 card is the Gold Standard right now, but any TI chipset card seems to work fine.
SonyEPM wrote on 1/28/2002, 8:36 AM
I've only tried a couple, but I have not had great luck with 1394 drives. If anybody finds one that is rock-solid perfect under all DV editing scenarios, please let me know what that model is...I want one!
FuTz wrote on 1/28/2002, 4:52 PM
Control Z, who does these cases for the drives? What brands? Holy sh*t, I just bought a LaCie 120G drive 3 hours ago... what were the problems with those?
jsearles wrote on 1/30/2002, 10:55 AM
I was thinking of buying the Kanguru 100GB, 7200 external FW drive. Any suggestions or information about this druve? Thanks.
Control_Z wrote on 1/30/2002, 10:20 PM
You can find cases with any web search. I've got ADStech and MicroPro here. If you don't have too many machines you may prefer the much cheaper eide caddys e.g. http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=GN210

I wouldn't worry about your LaCie unless it gives you a reason to. It could just be a name that sticks in the mind when reading about troubles. I have no hard evidence at all.