Can you recommend any good terabyte models for me? Preferably with eSATA or Firewire.

I've had pretty good luck with my 500GB version of this:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0281707
I use it on firewire.

Make sure it has a fan on it. And check that the fan hasn't failed.

No fan is a bad idea- hard drives need cooling. I've had a HDD in my computer fail (temporarily) because it wasn't sufficiently cooled.

2- The prolific firewire chipset is unreliable- it will sometimes fail to write data (this takes several hours to fix). The new firmware versions solve this.

The chipset also doesn't play well with other firewire devices on the same bus.

I'd use USB2 or oxford chipset firewire instead.

have used seagate hd's for as long as i can remember. had one fail after 4 years - they replaced it with no questions asked.

am using a dlink 313 nas box on my lan (with fan), and a couple of laser boxes (without fans) with 320gb drives in them for archiving.

was using firewire, but find usb handier. if i was to capture with them, i'd opt for firewire, otherwise.... (and yes bob, i'd be far better off with a box with a fan, i know - but these are client hd's)

leslie

If it's only for a backup device the fan probably isn't that much of an issue. It's when you're continuously accessing the disk for long periods that they seem to get really hot and a fan would seem wise. Then again I've used a WD MyBook for a 48hour render and it didn't die. They're pretty good value as they've got USB, Firewire and eSATA connections. The one thing to watch out for if using them for more than backup is they have a power saving feature that spins the disk down. This doesn't seem to worry anything unless you use the eSATA connection. WIndoz XP seems to get into a bit of a muddle if you try to access the drive when it's not spinning and that's disconcerting if in the middle of an edit you hit Play and nothing happens for a few seconds.
I should say while these MyBooks don't seem to have a fan they do have a lot of vents.

Bob.

Would caution against using USB drives for NLE -- storage of finished videos is ok, but my WD MyBook (USB only) choked or hung regularly on long editing or rendering sessions. Even though the transfer speeds of firewire and USB 2 are comparable, the latter uses greater system overhead and many consider it not as reliable.

That's why I got the Free Agent Pro and use the firewire connection. I've done lots of lengthy edit /render sessions, and everything still works when I'm done. It doesn't have a fan though, probably something to consider as Bob mentioned.

I have been very happy with Seagate drives and while I have used both Maxtor and WD, I like Seagate's five year warranty.

I did have a Maxtor drive failed which was replaced, of course they are now part of the Seagate family. (customer service was excellent).

For strictly backing-up data I am now using Thermaltake's BlacX and am intringued by the concept. It does rely on a open design to cool the drives with the ambient air, but I have had no problems so far.

Chad

Thanks for the advice guys! I took your advice and just purchased a Seagate Free Agent Xtreme 1TB from Amazon, I'm sure it will work out just fine for backup since its the same brand HDD that's in my PS3.

If it's only for a backup device the fan probably isn't that much of an issue. It's when you're continuously accessing the disk for long periods that they seem to get really hot and a fan would seem wise. Then again I've used a WD MyBook for a 48hour render and it didn't die. They're pretty good value as they've got USB, Firewire and eSATA connections

Hey Bob, I'm also using the WD My Book Studio II (2 TB) in the RAID 1 config, purely as a constant backup, through firewire 800. It works great, gives me this peace of mind that every file is instantaneously backed-up, and on a redundant HDD system, too!

The only thing that worries me is that when idle, it sort of knocks from time to time (it's really loud, perhaps because the thin, perforated case is a good sound amplifier).

Does yours knock as well? I'll stress it's happening when the disk is idling.

"Does your knock as well?"

YES. I think that's the disk being spun down to save power. Either that or it parks the heads for protection.

Bob.