I use an external hard drive for backing up onto and for storing images. I had a Lacie firewire 160 gb drive with a fan all in a snazzy dark blue plastic casing that was very noisy and wore out after a year or so. I replaced that with a Lacie firewire 250 gb drive that had a textured metal case (effectively a drive inside its own heatsink) that had no fan, was thus very quiet, and seemed to promise better things. After a similarly short life this too is now showing signs of imminent demise.
I want to use two external drives so that if one dies suddenly, everything is backed up again on the other. But this is going to cost twice as much and I cannot predict that they will last longer than these two did. I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas. A tech guy did say that you just can't predict how long a hard drive will last and that's basically all there is to it- you buy them, they work for an unpredictable period, then you replace them. I'm wondering if leaving them switched on all the time is part of the problem. It probably isn't- the one with the internal fan was really noisy and I only switched it on when I had to. The current one is silent and has just been left running, but this may not mean much- it seems to power down when not used for a while and takes a moment or two to get up to speed when accessed, so it's effectively off most of the time- I think. Any suggestions? Prices have dropped since I last bought one of these, but as always I'm going to need something bigger this time, and now I'm going to need two of them. And so it goes on. I wonder- am I unusually unlucky? And are there any external hard drives currently that seem a better bet than the others- or do we just assume them all to be about as reliable as one another and choose based only on size, style, connection type etc? TIA for any inspiration with this. -- Joe B. -- Mac UK is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 123Inkjets.com <http://lowendmac.com/ad/123inkjets.html> Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Mac UK list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/mac-uk.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-uk%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
