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Activity Forums Apple Final Cut Pro Legacy Best External Drive?

  • Best External Drive?

    Posted by Jason Smith on February 21, 2012 at 8:24 am

    I’m working on a 2010, 17 inch MacBook Pro, Lion OS, 8GB RAM, I7 dual core.

    Looking for the best external hard drive workhorse for FCPX.

    Seagate 3TB GoFlex for Mac & G Drive 3TB both have 7200 RPM. But now I’m hearing about chipsets? Oxford 911 chips? I may need a few drives and the Seagates are much less pricey. I know G Drives are great but do I need to go the pricier root? Will the Seagates be just as good?

    Nick Price replied 14 years, 2 months ago 4 Members · 4 Replies
  • 4 Replies
  • Andrew Rendell

    February 21, 2012 at 10:51 pm

    Don’t use USB2 as it struggles too much/isn’t really fast enough for high quality video. IIRC that MBP gives you firewire and an expresscard slot – firewire is ok, but I usually use an esata adapter in the expresscard slot and I can tell the difference between that and the firewire.

    As you’d be paying more for a firewire (or USB3) version of the GoFlex over the USB2 version, the price difference between that and the G Drive isn’t all that much. I have good experince with G Drives, so I’d personally go for that and regard the extra cost as money well spent.

  • Jason Smith

    February 21, 2012 at 11:23 pm

    Yes, sorry I meant to say that I was looking at the firewire 800 Seagate & G Drives. Both 7200 rpm & 3 TB. There’s actually a $150 price difference and might need a few so I’m hoping to save a few $.

  • Steve Eisen

    February 22, 2012 at 4:12 am

    [Jason Smith] “I’m hoping to save a few $”

    This is not a great time to find bargains on hard drive prices. Prices are not expected to drop for at least a year. With that note, do not skimp on hard drives. You WILL get what you pay for. Stick with G-Tech or check out the external drives from Other World Computing. Get an enclosure with eSATA and FW800. Speed is everything when editing.

    This is the best price I’ve seen on a 3 TB drive in awhile.
    https://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1310560&CatId=4357

    You can get this drive and the Voyager Q for a great external combo.
    https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/FWU3ES2HDK/

    Steve Eisen
    Eisen Video Productions
    Vice President
    Chicago Final Cut Pro Users Group

  • Nick Price

    February 22, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    Hi
    i have a 500gb graid that i have been using since 2004…cant really see beyond that! I like Iomega ultramax too but i have had 2/3 die in that time although they are replaced for free.
    nick

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