Post by: RNKIII on October 26, 2010, 09:23:53 PM
And the blue light on my 1TB OMC Mercury Elite FW800/400/USB/Esata was out.... Tried turning on and off... nada... tried reseating power plug and cables.... nada....
When I turned on the power switch it looks like a single 'pixel' in the center of the blue LED is flickering.... and, of course. this would happen after their 8pm Central time tech support cutoff...... So will have to wait till tomorrow to contact them....
Not sure what will happen to my TM data... TM tells me it successfully completed the previous backup at 4:50 PM today. Do have a SuperDuper! backup on a daily basis also.
First failure (after 1 year and 3 weeks of use) of an OWC drive.... Does not leave me with a great feeling...
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: kimmer on October 27, 2010, 02:32:24 AM
Post by: krissel on October 27, 2010, 03:32:00 AM
At any rate, get yourself another drive ASAP and rotate them for backup.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 27, 2010, 11:27:21 AM
QUOTE
get yourself another drive ASAP and rotate them
That's about the best we can do. Of course, if we'd just create less world-changing files/documents, we could keep all those GBs of data on a floppy! 
But I've got to get busy sharing my monumentally important data so the universe can benefit from my skill. In the meantime, I need to buy YAGD* to back up the back up so I can reformat it so I can back up the new back of my new internal drive that I reformatted as a single partition since I never get the two sizes right, anyway.And then there is Judy's backup drive...
And our granddaughter's MBP...
Can you imagine what it must be like to maintain backups of backups of backups of ... For most any business?!!!
*Yet Another Gigabyte Drive
BTW, I assume you will let OWC know that they will be expected to honor their warranty. One week can be wasted in shipment!!!
But I'd also recommend buying a separate drive and enclosure for at least two reasons:
1. You will automatically get a longer warranty on the drive itself.
2. You can specify the drive that you buy. Buying the preinstalled combo may not let you do that, even OWC needs to make a profit and most drive last well past their warranty. But the cheaper ones mean more profit...
I'm just say'in...
Post by: jcarter on October 27, 2010, 01:22:56 PM
http://www.amazon.com/LaCie-All-Terrain-Fi...3823&sr=1-8
Its this one,
LaCie Rugged All-Terrain 1 TB FireWire 800/FireWire 400/USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive 301924
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 27, 2010, 03:09:47 PM
Post by: jcarter on October 27, 2010, 03:29:13 PM
Its probably there, just these old eyes dont spot it.
Jane
Post by: Paddy on October 27, 2010, 03:52:02 PM
For all we know, it's a Seagate in there and you really don't want one of those at the moment - they've had really awful reliability lately. My advice is to always buy your drive and your enclosure separately. This LaCie is a "portable" drive - by its size and weight it will be a 2.5" drive in there and it will be a slow drive with a small cache, for the very simple reason that there aren't any 2.5" drives of that capacity that are fast and have big caches. (it will be 5400 or 4800 RPM with an 8MB cache - guaranteed) You pay a premium for the 2.5" form factor too.
As you're backing up stationary iMacs, I see absolutely no reason to spend the extra $$ on a smaller (but slower) drive.
My choices?
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822136284 (5 yr. warranty - I have 1 of them, and another 2.5" Caviar Black in a laptop)
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Cavi...S/dp/B001C271MA (slightly cheaper at Amazon)
OR:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...N82E16822145304 (3 yr. warranty - I have 2 of them)
http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-Deskstar-7K1...2565&sr=1-2 (cheaper still at Amazon)
For cases, I'm partial to my Macally (I have the version without FW800, but it's available with now):
http://www.amazon.com/Macally-GS350SUAB-Hi...1810&sr=1-1
Or there is the OWC case:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20Wor...g/MEP924FW8E2O/ (they're available as "garage sale" items at the moment for $67.50)
Post by: RNKIII on October 27, 2010, 03:52:24 PM
So off to the Post Office to send it off...... "Usually fixed in 1 day" according to the gentleman...
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: jcarter on October 27, 2010, 04:08:37 PM
Thank you!
I will go thru these tomorrow and look at them all. Actually I need to take the unit with me to my brother's house and some people who I am giving some (free)help with their new Macs and their pictures. Being portable is a big plus for me, and not another power brick too.
And I really dont mind if they are slower in speed, as Ive got plenty of time.
Jane
One of my Photoshop classmates just told me that the Western Digitals were the best he could recommend.
I added this edit later tonight.
Post by: Paddy on October 27, 2010, 09:13:26 PM
Just sayin'...
And if your classmate was talking about WD internal drives - yes, I agree. I don't agree on their external drives (prepackaged) - they've been problematic with Macs lately.
Post by: jcarter on October 28, 2010, 07:38:50 AM
I just opened my new MacWorld magazine and on page 65 there are 3 portable HDs on the recommended list,
eGo Mac Edition, by Iomega.com This one sure is small and portable!
Mercury-on-the-go, by macsales.com
and
Pocket iT1pkt72320 by istoragepro.com
Perhaps have time to go to our local Mac store today and see what they recommend.
They did recommend the LaCie 1TB one.
Then very soon I can get the new 27 iMac.
Just been so much going on around here with the unusual warm weather, that Ive not been paying much attention to computer stuff.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 28, 2010, 02:30:36 PM
They will hardly ever recommend anything they don't have in stock (Nordstrom, being at least one exception). They will naturally recommend what they have in the store, and not unusually the one with the biggest profit. I'm not saying anyone is dishonest or out to steal your money, although I have heard that that occasionally can happen! 
And, Macworld exists to make money, also. If they think there is a subject that is of interest to more readers, they will write something about it. That they review various products is helpful for those who may not know a hard drive from a bump in the road! What they say about each product is most likely accurate (few companies seem to enjoy libel suits!). But they may not be telling you the whole story or even what you need to know, much less a better solution.
The point is, Jane, absolutely none of those portable drives you listed are actually made by any hard drive manufacturer. I'm not even sure that any of the fewer than half a dozen drive makers even make consumer ready boxes, I haven't ever checked... The only way to assure you get the current most reliable drive is to do it your self; one drive, one enclosure, (usually) one screw driver and 15 minutes. The only thing easier is falling off a log and I don't recommend doing that, anyway.
Post by: jcarter on October 28, 2010, 03:32:43 PM
Though our Apple store(independent), will match any price I come in with and order it for me.
They do this for the APC ups I bought too.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 28, 2010, 04:47:50 PM
QUOTE
ur Apple store(independent), will match any price I come in with and order it for me.
Great, if you can open the door to their store, you can put a drive in an enclosure. Not sure I understand why you would want to even involve them, however. Just adding more 'middle-men.' 
Would you call your electrician to come replace a light switch for you? (I know, your husband IS an "electrician!") Sure, if you don't have the time or inclination to use a screw driver, someone else will be glad to do it for you and accept a small profit for doing it. You, however, don't appear to have a 9 to 5 job... 
Post by: jcarter on October 28, 2010, 04:59:25 PM
Then a bit of instruction, and I will go for it, and order it before I get the new iMac.
The APC UPS is going to be sold to me at cost, so I wont worry about it.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 28, 2010, 05:12:54 PM
BTW, all single drive enclosures are portable. And I never recommend any hard drive be bus powered, slow ones might get away with that all the time, faster ones (7200 rpm) will use as much of the ports power as is available, when something else on that buss needs power, which one will get it?
As for "instructions," to loosen a screw, turn it counter-clockwise when viewing from above, to tighten it, turn it clockwise. A tip I always suggest is to turn a screw counter-clockwise just enough to hear/feel the threads back completely out. At that point, start turning it clockwise to be assured that it will not be cross threaded. Other than that, you're on your own, with a little help from hubby, I'm sure.
I gotta go...
Post by: jcarter on October 28, 2010, 06:23:26 PM
Jane
machanics not a problem for me, but how do you know that its compatible, and all the stuff that grandmothers dont know about portable hard drives? If I see it done once, I am on board, but I really have not seen this, so I just look back at my GTech HD and my old LaCie one and realize that I bought them, plugged them in and that was that.
Speed and money is not a problem with me, I just want something I can plug into usb, and both firewires, grab the thing stick it into my pocket, and go to my brother's house and more.
Ease of use is my priority, and I sure do not want another powerbrick.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 28, 2010, 07:42:02 PM
No matter how it's powered, you'll have to carry at least one USB/FireWire cable. And, as Paddy mentioned, if it is powered by the computers USB port, it may actually require two of them. The mini usually has four or more, I doubt if any MacBook has more than two. I cannot understand not wanting to be sure that it maintains its power during the transfer. Dropping the writing due to low power will likely completely destroy the directory and require reformatting. The larger the drive, the longer the reformatting. That's a lot of trouble just so you don't have to carry two cables.
My priorities are obviously not yours.If you are willing to take the chance of power/drive failure so you can have the smallest, slowest drive, then go for it. On my fixed income retirement, I can't afford to pay more than my monies worth. Nor do I have time to do Google searches for others who already know how...for free!
You asked for advice/opinions, I gave you mine. The ball is now in your court.
Post by: jcarter on October 28, 2010, 08:01:29 PM
I dont have a MacBook, just iMacs (so far).
A lot of this can be confusing for me, thats why I always hit TS before I buy anything.
Cables not a problem, its that darn powerbrick that is a pain. The USB whether its one or two is OK.
I would assume it would maintain power during the transfer?
I wonder if the technology will ever get to the point that these little thumb drives with their flash memory could ever get up to 1 TB or more, gee that would be nice.
Anyway, I am looking at all the options, and am in no rush.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on October 28, 2010, 08:28:43 PM
But I think I've found exactly what you need! It uses a Hitachi 3.5" drive, also. While it doesn't have FireWire, it is darn near fire proof! <ioSafe SoloPRO Waterproof / Fireproof USB 3.0 Hard Drive>
[attachment=1999:iosafe_s...ive_fire.jpg]
[attachment=2000:iosafe_s...th_sides.jpg]
And! There is no power brick! [attachment=2000:iosafe_s...th_sides.jpg]
Post by: Paddy on October 28, 2010, 10:18:56 PM
Jim.FIFTEEN POUNDS...does it come with its own trolley?
https://iosafe.com/pdf/SoloPRO_Spec_Sheet_8.4.10.pdf
Anyway - to be serious, Jane, losing power during a data transfer can cause nasty problems. I NEVER use bus-powered drives for backup. They're no bigger than a hardcover book. You're mainly going to be using this for backing up your iMacs, no? Get a proper 3.5" drive that you assemble yourself, with a power cord. All of my external drives have power bricks that are connected by cords on BOTH ends, so you don't have a huge wall wart, and they're not particularly heavy either.
Seagate, Western Digital and Hitachi all make their own external drives, but I wouldn't buy a Seagate because of drive reliability problems with that company right now, and the Western Digital external cases/interfaces have been problematic for some. Hitachi cases are USB only from what I can see and get only so-so reviews.
I have 6 or 7 external drives on the premises - and I've not bought a single one of them preassembled. They were all carefully researched (drives and enclosures) and so far, I've been very pleased with all. My cases are Macally, Vantec, Rosewill and Armor. They're all aluminum (better heat conduction) and they have a variety of connections, largely depending on when they were purchased and who/which computer they were for.
Post by: jcarter on October 29, 2010, 07:53:23 AM
Thank you for all your help and instructions.
I think that I should perhaps buy one of each!
One to take with me(or a larger thumb drive), and one to back up my Macs.
Jane
Post by: RNKIII on November 03, 2010, 05:37:45 PM
Received 'A' replacement 1tb ext. drive from OWC this afternoon..... 
NOT my 1tb drive, but 'A' clean drive in my old case with a referb power brick!!! 
Immediately placed a call to OWC Customer Service to discuss the matter..... Was told that "on RMA's OWC 'is not responsible for lost or damaged data', you should have backed the data up prior to sending it to us." Well, DUH!!, the drive was DEAD how was I supposed to back it up??? "OH, yea."
Proceeded to explain 'carefully' what I had been told by the previous tech..... And received 3 'heart felt' apologies in the process....his heart not mine!!!
Asked to speak to his manager and was told that 'they were currently in a meeting'..... Yea, sure..... Asked that said manager contact me as soon as he was available to further discuss the situation...... Now after 5 PM and no returned call.... Will follow up 'early' tomorrow morning.
Not a happy camper!!!! Said HDD had about a year's worth of Time Machine backups on it. Do have current Super Duper! backup and TM is working on beginning a new 'base' one as I write this..... but that will only go from now forward, no going back in time at this time..
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: krissel on November 04, 2010, 01:39:02 AM
Post by: kimmer on November 04, 2010, 01:54:12 PM
I'm thinking twice about getting another OWC drive.
Post by: RNKIII on November 04, 2010, 07:48:07 PM
I told him that that information was not forth coming from OWC in any of the communications I'd had with OWC prior to him, and felt that a simple inclusion of that information on the returned RMA items or from the Customer Service person I'd spoken with yesterday would have satisfied me.
Another 'heart felt' apology and the 'promise' to look into having more information available to those involved with RMAs...
TM is running on the replaced 1tb HDD without problem. (so far)...
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: Xairbusdriver on November 06, 2010, 08:40:12 AM