External backup hard drives.
 

I'm going to try to not get too picky about this. I basically filled my 40gig Maxtor firewire external HD and I'm about to buy a new drive. I want to get something big though, like around 150+ gigs. I've always had my eye on the nice LaCie drives. Are they still one of the best and fastest?

Thanks for any info guys.
-T

I haven't attempted it with Maxtor enclosures but most allow you to exchange drive mechanisms with little effort. Since 200GB IDE drives go for as little as $50 that could be something to explore.

I've heard good things about LaCie drives. I know someone who does video production and is in the process of buying one of their 500GB external drives.

-BD

I hope they're good i just bought one last night online, the LaCie Porsche 250GB/USB, just waiting for it to arrive tomorrow. Everyone i spoke to said they were good though so i'm confident.

That sounds like an excellent start. I think I'll keep an eye out for the line of drives. Thanks!
-T

Ever, Lacie are mainstream mechanisms in their own line of cases. They do make some innovative RAID versions if cost and physical size aren't important but otherwise it's the same as your Maxtor. Speed is dependent on the computer, bridge chipset, and drive mechanism, in that order. With FireWire400 you just aren't going to see much beyond 20MB/s filecopy (2-way).

Pick up another enclosure for $35-50. Add a drive of whatever size and you're set. For performance and reliability I've had better luck with WD, Seagate, and Hitachi mechanisms than with Maxtor.