[Jan Laidlaw]

Yeah, I’ve considered this too. I’ve never backed up an esata drive before but my understanding is it has to connect through firewire to the computer, then through firewire from drive to drive for back up. But I wonder if I could back up by connecting through usb. I guess it depends on the esata drive and whether it has usb connection ability…

[Jan Laidlaw]

Thanks Steve.

I spoke to an OWC rep and they suggested (for my needs and budget) buying 2 external drives, specifically the OWC Mercury Elite Pro https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/MEAQ7S1TB32M/

He said that I could use esata for my video files for regular use then when I wanted to backup, use a firewire connection to connect the video file drive to the computer, and firewire to connect the drive to the other drive. I guess esata can’t be daisychained or something like that?

Do you use the voyager for a working drive or a backup drive?

For my purposes cost-wise the voyager doesn’t seem worth it since I’d only be using one main working drive anyway and I’d need two voyagers plus 2 drives to be able to use a working drive then a back up. Or so the tech guy said…

Thoughts?

Jan

[Jan Laidlaw]

Hi Mio

The Firestore FS-4 looks interesting, but when I do eventually upgrade the camera later, then I’ll bet I’d need to upgrade that too?

I also need something that will store the files for my little Kodak Playsport when I need to work with them.

At this point I’m rethinking the 15″ and I might go with the 17″ MacBook Pro with an ExpressCard slot, an ESATA ExpressCard and external ESATA hard drive.

Thanks to all for for the additional insights.

Jan

[Jan Laidlaw]

Thanks for all the input and suggestions. I’ll accept the overall opinion that it’s at best risky and possibly a scam.

I saw the B&H link, but I’m Canadian and that package is only available to Americans. The price for me is $1,199.00 (Canadian).

Thanks for the info about purchasing an older version and upgrading. I’ll also check into packages for buying the system and the software together.

Then there’s the decision about Applecare and whether it’s worth it… I thought Applecare included some support for FCP, but it looks like there is a separate video support contract which is really out of my budget range. https://store.apple.com/ca/product/MA698ZM/C?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

Has anyone used Applecare support for helping with FCP, or is Applecare really just insurance on the hardware?

Thanks again everyone for the feedback.

Jan

[Jan Laidlaw]

>You can plug in a External FW drive to the Comp.
>Plug the camera via FW into the Ext. HD to capture.
>FW drives are fastest enough for DV editing.
>FW are great for backing up your media too.

>Chris Tompkins
>Video Atlanta

Chris – just to clarify, are you saying I can plug the camera directly into an external Firewire hard drive (which is plugged into the computer) to capture using Final Cut Pro?

If that’s what you mean, is there any concern about Firewire drives dropping frames? Does the Firewire external drive slow down rendering? Any other disadvantages or advantages?

Do you have any specific products or brand names to recommend?

Thanks for your feedback.

Jan

[Jan Laidlaw]

Thanks for the info Jason and all.

I know my camera is totally out of date. I have been out of the video loop for awhile and I need to upgrade, as I can afford to. Is there a camera out there in the $2 or $3,000 range that compares to the XL1 with reliable storage? Or, if not, can you recommend minimum reliable low cost professional”ish” camera? Or if there is another thread somewhere for that, I’d love to check it out.

For now though I need to use what I have as my budget allows, and to begin with most of my projects will be for the internet so I’m not sure that they merit all the $$ involved with a new camera just yet. (I actually have a Kodak Playsport for $150 that surprisingly does just fine for some of the Youtube stuff that I’m doing and since I can keep it in my pocket, I can get shots I wouldn’t otherwise.)

It’s about $400 – $500 more for a 17″ MacBook Pro with the hard drive I want. I actually think I’d prefer a smaller more portable laptop, so it’s a bit frustrating that the 15″ has these limits. But I need something reliable so I’ll consider the 17″ as well. I’ve experienced systems that drop frames or crash or are painfully slow and I really need a system that just works so I can just do what I need to do. Decisions, decisions…

I’ll check out the link you gave for older models too.

Thanks again.

Jan