Need assistance selecting external hard drive.

[i3lueHorneT]

Hey guys,

Looking to get an external hard drive for music and photo storage, have some questions:
1. Is it true that so long as the storage format is Fat32 both Macs and PCs can read and write to it?
2. Can all drives to formatted to either Fat32 or NTFS?
3. Can all drives be used as plug and play, that is should simply connecting the hard drive to the computer allow for its use and show up as a drive without the need for working with any additional software?
4. How do you use your external hard drive, anything of note or worth mentioning? I'm wanting to use mine to play all my music off of and exchange among my friends laptops/iPODs - something quick and simple that I could hook up at school and trade around some music, anything I should be aware of before purchasing?


What I'm looking for in an external hard drive:
1. Don't need that much space, 200GB would be more than plenty.
2. Rather not have any lights or indicators.
3. Rather not need any additional power other than USB, but not a big deal otherwise.
4. Work with Mac and PC.
5. Not require any additional software, simply plug in and works.


I've been looking at a couple Western Digital drives on NewEgg:

Western Digital My Book Essential 2.0 WDH1U5000N 500GB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136175

Pros: Overall fits what I'm looking for, 4 stars with 180 reviews.

Cons: Lights up. A good portion of people have rated this low citing failure and corruption issues shortly after purchase, after reading 20 similar comments I'm really turned off from this one.


Western Digital My Passport Essential WDME3200TN 320GB USB 2.0 Black External Hard Drive - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136227

Pros: Fits very well with what I'm looking for, 5 stars with 100 reviews.

Cons: One reviewer mentioned a bright white light, for whatever reason it's not pictured like WD's My Book is. Though very highly rated, a good number of people have mentioned it does not comply with USB power standards, and may require more power from the USB than available to a lot of laptops - it would seem mainly older laptops (is that right, would newer laptops (both Mac and PC) have more available power when running off a power cable?). I would need to get a USB Y power splitter if this is the case, which I have been unable to find, if someone could look one up and post a link or mention where I might get one and approximate cost that would be great.


Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[Old Hippie]

Just a few things for you to ponder......

1. Only 2.5" external drives can be run on USB only. That would be like your second link (Western Digital My Passport Essential ) and depending on the drive and USB port, may require a USB "Y" cable (http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=usb+y+cable&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=5175227973842904156#ps-sellers). All 3.5" drives will require external power.

2. The main problem with these prebuilt units lies with the troubleshooting/warranty issues. If the drive conks out under warranty, opening the case to TS will void your warranty. It may just be the case interface that's faulty, but when you send it back, your data will be gone.

3. I have no specific recommendations for prebuilt units other than to stay away.

4. I do have recommendations for a 3.5" "Roll 'Ur Own" set-up. Grab an Antec MX-1 (http://www.svc.com/mx-1.html), whatever HD that suits your fancy, and put the drive in the case.

5. It really sounds like you want a 2.5" unit. I have no recommendations for a case but I still wouldn't buy a prebuilt because the other problems are the same.

6. You can format any drive the way you want but I believe you'll need Fat32 for a Mac to read it.

[i3lueHorneT]

Thanks for the advice, I understand my risk in the case of a prebuilt unit and have decided on the WD Passport. Found the Y cables cheap at ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-A-Male-to-Mini-5-Pin-Y-Cable-for-external-hard-Disk_W0QQitemZ350170833982QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Cables_Adap ters?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116 and also found out that WD will supply and ship a free Y cable if I call support and let them know I need one.

Thanks again.

[Old Hippie]

Glad I could help and good luck!