roger.carruthers

Anyone have any recommendations for a nice _quiet_ external hard drive ?

~250 GB, USB 2 or Firewire doesn't really matter - bus powered would be

nice, (though it seems that most bus powered drives are a bit slow, so maybe

not) - above all though, I want something quiet,

Anyone have any recommendations for a nice _quiet_ external hard drive ?
~250 GB, USB 2 or Firewire doesn't really matter - bus powered would be
nice, (though it seems that most bus powered drives are a bit slow, so maybe
not) - above all though, I want something quiet,
Cheers
Roger

ot-quiet-external-hd

you can research silent computer parts at 

you can research silent computer parts at http://www.silentpcreview.com/  

Bus powered drives are usually 2,5" notebook harddrives. Thus at 5400 or 4200 RPM. Because they are at a lower speed, they will generate less heat and noise, but are also slower.

Firewire is faster because it uses less cpu power, so that's recommanded.

lacies seem pretty quiet to me. i heard mybooks are noisy.

That's worrying - I've used various Lacie's at work and found most of them

to be pretty noisy (especially the Big Disk), and not that reliable either

- and the Mybook was one of the ones I've seen recommended as being quiet!

Can anyone comment on the Formac XTR Oxygen or Freecom, both of which claim

to be quiet (but then so does the Mybook!)

> lacies seem pretty quiet to me. i heard mybooks are noisy.

That's worrying - I've used various Lacie's at work and found most of them
to be pretty noisy (especially the Big Disk), and not that reliable either
- and the Mybook was one of the ones I've seen recommended as being quiet!
 Can anyone comment on the Formac XTR Oxygen or Freecom, both of which claim
to be quiet (but then so does the Mybook!)
Cheers
Roger

>
> lacies seem pretty quiet to me. i heard mybooks are noisy.
> --
> www.myspace.com/binray

I bought a couple of Formac 259 XTRs after my 10 month old LaCie died 

suddenly one morning (and it took many months for them to sort it out 

as well). I think the Formacs arequite a bit quieter than the LaCies 

- I don't know how they are on reliability, though my suspicion is 

that there's always going to be one or tow bad apples in any 

On 30 Mar 2007, at 11:15, Roger Carruthers wrote:

> That's worrying - I've used various Lacie's at work and found most 

> to be pretty noisy (especially the Big Disk), and not that reliable 

> - and the Mybook was one of the ones I've seen recommended as being 

> Can anyone comment on the Formac XTR Oxygen or Freecom, both of 

> to be quiet (but then so does the Mybook!)

I bought a couple of Formac 259 XTRs after my 10 month old LaCie died  
suddenly one morning (and it took many months for them to sort it out  
as well). I think the Formacs arequite a bit quieter than the LaCies   
- I don't know how they are on reliability, though my suspicion is  
that there's always going to be one or tow bad apples in any  
manufacturers barrel.

> That's worrying - I've used various Lacie's at work and found most  
> of them
> to be pretty noisy (especially the Big Disk), and not that reliable  
> either
> - and the Mybook was one of the ones I've seen recommended as being  
> quiet!
>  Can anyone comment on the Formac XTR Oxygen or Freecom, both of  
> which claim
> to be quiet (but then so does the Mybook!)


ive got three lacie D2's in front of me and i hardly ever notice them

At 9:11 AM +0100 3/30/07, Roger Carruthers wrote:

>Anyone have any recommendations for a nice _quiet_ external hard drive ?

http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm

The case has a built in heat sink and doesn't have a fan. It's pretty quiet, although you can still hear some of the drive noise.

Chris Muir | "There are many futures and only one status quo.

cbm@well.com | This is why conservatives mostly agree,

 | and radicals always argue." - Brian Eno

At 9:11 AM +0100 3/30/07, Roger Carruthers wrote:
>Anyone have any recommendations for a nice _quiet_ external hard drive ?

I got a drive from G-Tech: http://www.g-technology.com/Products/G-DRIVE.cfm

-- 
Chris Muir           | "There are many futures and only one status quo.
cbm@well.com         |  This is why conservatives mostly agree,
http://www.xfade.com |  and radicals always argue." - Brian Eno


i say it again. research storage. they actually record the sound of the drives so you know how loud each one is in dB. hence, objective.

My 1TB LaCie is extremely noisy with a cyclical, pulsating racket. The 

LaCie tech that I corresponded with told me it was probably the fan. He 

told me to "stick a toothpick into the vent hole" to test that 

probability. I didn't take him up on it. I don't recommend them though 

it's otherwise been pretty dependable and is going on 2 years old.

My 1TB LaCie is extremely noisy with a cyclical, pulsating racket. The 
LaCie tech that I corresponded with told me it was probably the fan. He 
told me to "stick a toothpick into the vent hole" to test that 
probability. I didn't take him up on it. I don't recommend them though 
it's otherwise been pretty dependable and is going on 2 years old.

On 3/30/07 5:51 AM, bin ray wrote:
> lacies seem pretty quiet to me. i heard mybooks are noisy.
> --
> www.myspace.com/binray
>


If you don't mind tinkering with hardware, the quietest external HD you can

possibly get is a do-it-yourself laptop HD in an OEM enclosure. This way you

will save a couple bucks on the HD itself, while quality small-form-factor

enclosures can be found under $50. These commonly have no fans and in most

cases do not require external power supply. I would recommend Mac users fw

enclosures as Macs have traditionally offered powered 6-pin fw ports, while

on Win PCs I would recommend going with USB 2.0 which should also allow for

such enclosures to be powered via the USB port. Some enclosures offer both.

The key is to do some research before buying enclosures, as some happen to

be a pain to assemble, while others are of questionable quality. OTOH, most

laptop HDs are of decent quality. I would also recommend going with 7200RPM

models as data throughput gains between 5400 and 7200 models are at times in

If you don't mind tinkering with hardware, the quietest external HD you can
possibly get is a do-it-yourself laptop HD in an OEM enclosure. This way you
will save a couple bucks on the HD itself, while quality small-form-factor
enclosures can be found under $50. These commonly have no fans and in most
cases do not require external power supply. I would recommend Mac users fw
enclosures as Macs have traditionally offered powered 6-pin fw ports, while
on Win PCs I would recommend going with USB 2.0 which should also allow for
such enclosures to be powered via the USB port. Some enclosures offer both. 

The key is to do some research before buying enclosures, as some happen to
be a pain to assemble, while others are of questionable quality. OTOH, most
laptop HDs are of decent quality. I would also recommend going with 7200RPM
models as data throughput gains between 5400 and 7200 models are at times in
excess of 25%.

This route had occurred to me and I was wondering if it would be OK to bus

power a 7200 rpm drive (via Firewire, most likely) as most bus powered

I bought one of those questionable USB 2 enclosures and regretted it

straight away; it's noisy, hot as hell and the port looks like it will

On 1/4/07 03:30, "Ivica Ico Bukvic" wrote:

> If you don't mind tinkering with hardware, the quietest external HD you can

> possibly get is a do-it-yourself laptop HD in an OEM enclosure. This way you

> will save a couple bucks on the HD itself, while quality small-form-factor

> enclosures can be found under $50. These commonly have no fans and in most

> cases do not require external power supply. I would recommend Mac users fw

> enclosures as Macs have traditionally offered powered 6-pin fw ports, while

> on Win PCs I would recommend going with USB 2.0 which should also allow for

> such enclosures to be powered via the USB port. Some enclosures offer both.

> The key is to do some research before buying enclosures, as some happen to

> be a pain to assemble, while others are of questionable quality. OTOH, most

> laptop HDs are of decent quality. I would also recommend going with 7200RPM

> models as data throughput gains between 5400 and 7200 models are at times in

This route had occurred to me and I was wondering if it would be OK to bus
power a 7200 rpm drive (via Firewire, most likely) as most bus powered
drives appear to be 5400 rpm.
 I bought one of those questionable USB 2 enclosures and regretted it
straight away; it's noisy, hot as hell and the port looks like it will
probably fall apart in a few weeks...
Cheers
Roger

On 1/4/07 03:30, "Ivica Ico Bukvic"  wrote:

> If you don't mind tinkering with hardware, the quietest external HD you can
> possibly get is a do-it-yourself laptop HD in an OEM enclosure. This way you
> will save a couple bucks on the HD itself, while quality small-form-factor
> enclosures can be found under $50. These commonly have no fans and in most
> cases do not require external power supply. I would recommend Mac users fw
> enclosures as Macs have traditionally offered powered 6-pin fw ports, while
> on Win PCs I would recommend going with USB 2.0 which should also allow for
> such enclosures to be powered via the USB port. Some enclosures offer both.
>
> The key is to do some research before buying enclosures, as some happen to
> be a pain to assemble, while others are of questionable quality. OTOH, most
> laptop HDs are of decent quality. I would also recommend going with 7200RPM
> models as data throughput gains between 5400 and 7200 models are at times in
> excess of 25%.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Ico
>
>

> Rodrigo. I'm crashing everytime I try to instantiate your fuzzy

> object AND there's no fis file with the download.

Same here, 12" Powerbook, OS X 10.4.8, Max 4.6.2...

keith manlove schrieb:
> Rodrigo.  I'm crashing everytime I try to instantiate your fuzzy
> object AND there's no fis file with the download.

-- 
Stefan Tiedje------------x-------
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[OT] Quiet external HD