i don't know which hard drive to buy .

V

Voytek_Stitko

Well-known member
I bought Vegas DVD yesterday ;D and now I am looking :o for an external hard drive.

I will edit on my laptop and will need probably 120GB.

I checked MAXTOR and WESTERN DIGITAL.

My question is: should I buy USB or Fire Wire disk? I just do not know what is the difference. ???
Or maybe having laptop connected with my camera I can only get one of those. ??? ???
But which one: USB or the one which can be connected via USB and Fire Wire?

Thank you for explanation.

Voytek
 
Re: i don't know which hard drive to buy .

They are simply two different interfaces. What you need to make sure of is that you're getting an enclosure with a USB2 interface as opposed to USB1.1, which was the last generation. You cannot run DV files from a USB 1.1 drive without dropped frames.

Getting an enclosure with both interfaces is more flexible as you can always use the other interface if one is taken up on the system you're using. Also, even if you never plan to use another system, you probably will end up needing to open up a file on another system for some reason or another :) Having both interfaces basically covers all bases so that you can be more confident that you'll be able to connect your drive to pretty much any computer out there.

USB2+Firewire combo enclosures are more expensive than the enclosures with just one of the interfaces (tho just by $10 usually), but I always hold out for the combo enclosure. :)
 
Re: i don't know which hard drive to buy .

USB2 Fire Wire - ok, so let's say I will gowith MAXTOR.

But on the web page, they have hard drives with interfaces:
1) USB 1.1/2.0 ------------------------80GB
2) USB -------------------------120GB
3) Fire Wire/1394/iLink/USB-------160 GB

So if I have laptop and I will connect my camera to to it, which hard drive can I buy?
Sorry I just dont know.

Jesus, I am moron.

Thanks,
Voytek
 
Re: i don't know which hard drive to buy .

All DV cameras connect to computers (for video capture) via firewire (also called iLink and IEEE1394). Therefore, you could use your USB port on your laptop (if available). I'm not sure what kind of laptop you have, but most laptops have at least 2 USB ports (you would need to verify if they are USB2 ports) and 1 firewire port (but not always, you would need to verify it for yourself).

Also, it's much much cheaper to by the HD and enclosure separately. HDs are sold so cheaply these days (there were sales for a 160GB for $60 the other week), and you can get a good enclosure for less than $50 dollars. Just another option besides buying an "external hd" for a premium price.
 
Re: i don't know which hard drive to buy .

Transfer rate:
USB 1 ... slowwwwwwwww
USB 2.0 > 420Mbt/sec
Firewire (iLink) =400Mbt/sec
Firewire 2 = 800Mbt/sec

USB protocol provide faster access time, but firewire faster block transfer. If you want use external drive to store big chunk of date, go with firewire, if you using as work harddrive for editing and offten access, go with USB 2.0

USB 2 and Firewire 2 both can work with previos versions.
Be sure your computer have interface card that fully compitible with external harddrive you buying, including version. For best prefformance.
 
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