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LRussoPhoto · Apr-29-2012, 04:22 PM #1

Looking for a new reliable portable drive to store photos on. Needs to be quick and go back and forth from pc to mac. Doesn't need to be huge, 1 tb is fine. Have a Buffalo mini station that I am very disappointed in, nothing but problems.

Art Scott · Apr-30-2012, 05:16 AM #2

I like Seagate FreeAgent Go and but do know know if they will swap from pc tp mac...I use the 2.5" form factor for travel.

cmason · Apr-30-2012, 07:09 AM #3

Mac and Windows platform share support for USB ports as well as the FAT32 format.Any USB drive that is formatted FAT32 will work in both Mac and PC. This covers just about all portable external drives.

Anything beyond this and you get into issues. Mac and Windows support different hard drive formats: Mac supports HFS+, its native format, and can read and write FAT32. Windows supports NTFS, and can read and write FAT32 (plus older ones, but not relevant in large hard drives). Mac's typically come with USB, Firewire and now, Thunderbolt connections. Windows machines usually come with USB, but almost never Firewire and no Thunderbolt yet.

I have had great success with Western Digital My Passport Drives. Nearly any of them will work but they also make a 'Passport Studio' drive that are 'Mac specific' which simply means they are preformatted for HFS+, and support Firewire and USB, but otherwise they are just hard drives.

You can get USB 3.0 drives, but Mac does not support USB 3.0, so keep this in mind.

Art Scott · Apr-30-2012, 10:17 AM #4

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmason

You can get USB 3.0 drives, but Mac does not support USB 3.0, so keep this in mind.

USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible with USB2.0 connections, you just would not get the greater speed of the 3.0...... Correct??

cmason · Apr-30-2012, 11:48 AM #5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Art Scott

USB 3.0 drives should be backwards compatible with USB2.0 connections, you just would not get the greater speed of the 3.0...... Correct??

Yes they are backwardly compatible, a USB 3.0 drive will work fine in a USB 2 slot. But of course, in a USB 2 slot its no faster: you will be limited by the speed of the port.

On a Mac, there is only support for USB 2 ports, therefore you will be limited to 480 Mbits/sec, though in practice, its less. On a machine that supports USB 3.0, you can get up to USB 3.0's 5Gbits/sec. (Firewire is 400/800 Mbits/sec)

Sam · Apr-30-2012, 03:23 PM #6

Have a look at the Lacie Rugged series.

Sam

LRussoPhoto · May-09-2012, 12:07 PM #7

Sorry for not responding, I havent been recieving notifications. Anyway, I wound up getting the Seagate, so far so good, lol.


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Apr-29-2012, 04:22 PM #1
LRussoPhoto ^OP Major grins Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Jersey Posts: 377	Looking for a good portable drive Looking for a new reliable portable drive to store photos on. Needs to be quick and go back and forth from pc to mac. Doesn't need to be huge, 1 tb is fine. Have a Buffalo mini station that I am very disappointed in, nothing but problems. __________________ D300s D90 Nikon 18-105mm,Nikon 18-200mm,Sigma 24-70mm f2.8, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 http://LouRusso.SmugMug.com

Apr-30-2012, 05:16 AM #2
Art Scott Have PASSPORT will TRAVEL Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: WICHITA, KS USA Posts: 9,125	I like Seagate FreeAgent Go and but do know know if they will swap from pc tp mac...I use the 2.5" form factor for travel. __________________ "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website A ZENFOLIO 10% Discount Coupon CODE - A8K-Q2K-VPG

Apr-30-2012, 07:09 AM #3
cmason Old dog, new tricks Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 2,431	Mac and Windows platform share support for USB ports as well as the FAT32 format.Any USB drive that is formatted FAT32 will work in both Mac and PC. This covers just about all portable external drives. Anything beyond this and you get into issues. Mac and Windows support different hard drive formats: Mac supports HFS+, its native format, and can read and write FAT32. Windows supports NTFS, and can read and write FAT32 (plus older ones, but not relevant in large hard drives). Mac's typically come with USB, Firewire and now, Thunderbolt connections. Windows machines usually come with USB, but almost never Firewire and no Thunderbolt yet. I have had great success with Western Digital My Passport Drives. Nearly any of them will work but they also make a 'Passport Studio' drive that are 'Mac specific' which simply means they are preformatted for HFS+, and support Firewire and USB, but otherwise they are just hard drives. You can get USB 3.0 drives, but Mac does not support USB 3.0, so keep this in mind. __________________ Photo Blog

Apr-30-2012, 03:23 PM #6
Sam San Jose CA Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: San Jose CA Posts: 6,131	Have a look at the Lacie Rugged series. Sam __________________ www.samlinvillephotography.com

May-09-2012, 12:07 PM #7
LRussoPhoto ^OP Major grins Join Date: May 2011 Location: New Jersey Posts: 377	Sorry for not responding, I havent been recieving notifications. Anyway, I wound up getting the Seagate, so far so good, lol. __________________ D300s D90 Nikon 18-105mm,Nikon 18-200mm,Sigma 24-70mm f2.8, Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 http://LouRusso.SmugMug.com


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