iomega portable hd

sinarsinar
edited December 2008 in advice
I have an Iomega portable hard drive that gave up (hit the floor). It was an 80 gig. I thought I'd replace the drive with another. They now offer a 160 gig drive. My question is...can I put in a larger drive or does the the older casing only handle a max 80 gig drive.

Comments

  • bluesheadblueshead
    edited December 2008
    Make sure it was the drive that died.. or the case.. first.. at this point its probably cheaper to get something else.. iomega is not that good any more for macs.
  • flakflak
    edited 4:54AM
    Yeah, go for another manufacturer. I'm surprised Iomega is still around.
  • chrischris
    edited 4:54AM
    sinar - pcworld recently had a WD 1tb drive for £80 or £90.
  • chrischris
    edited 4:54AM
    http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/product/seo/959744 it's gone up a bit since i bought one, but they have a slightly cheaper 'mybook' one shown on the same page.
  • francofranco
    edited 4:54AM
    I likes my mybooks. I'd certainly invest in the larger drive, myself. They are so cheap now and obviously the space will provide MUCH more breathing room for you.
  • sinarsinar
    edited December 2008
    trick is, the drive in question was very small and only used to transfer files to and from various locations. I only liked it because it fit in your pocket and made life easy when transferring large files from studio to home and other macs. edit...it's a 2 1/2 inch hd
  • mickmick
    edited 4:54AM
    my thumb drive(s) fill that function now. i've one just for macs, one for peecees, and one big one that's formatted for both/either.

    handydandy. my mac one's bootable with some systems (that was a PITA to set up).


    save the case and the harness, sinar; you never know....
  • chrischris
    edited December 2008
    dude, that wd elements drive will fit in your pocket, too :)

    (as long as your pocket is big enough... but seriously, it's pretty small!)
  • flakflak
    edited 4:54AM
    Yeah, there are many companies that sell 2.5-inch external drives. Seagate's got a pretty nice one, too - called the FreeAgent Go. ;)
  • sinarsinar
    edited 4:54AM
    I'll check out pc world over the holidays, I miss the little thing. Just photographed a slew of pen drives for Fuji, I liked the 16 giger but they asked for all merch back...shame!!!
  • francofranco
    edited 4:54AM
    You could always consider a passport drive which is likely even smaller. I have the western digital and it's pretty awesome. You don't get as much for your money with them but they are still not badly priced. 250gb = £55, 320gb = £65 or less on amazon.

    Be warned though that if you're using an older Powerbook, the USB2 port doesn't put out enough power for it so you have to use a powered USB2 hub or get a Y cable. Newer machines power them just fine.
  • sinarsinar
    edited 4:54AM
    Franco, how old of a powerbook or just any powerbook? otherwise sounds great!
  • francofranco
    edited 4:54AM
    Well, mine was the last generation of the powerbook before the MacBooks were released and the port didn't power it, I'm not sure if that was true across all releases or not (would be worth a google if you're on an older model).

    It was a pain to have to carry around a powered USB2 hub but it was cheap (£5 I think) and also, combined with the drive it was still lighter and smaller than any mains powered drive I own so still might be worth it for you. If you can find a Y cable, that would be even better - it will need to plug into both USB2 ports on the laptop but is just a cable versus the hub, so more convenient.
  • BiffBiff
    edited 4:54AM
    Sinar, the iPod classic line makes an excellent (if not that cheap) portable hard drive. Single USB port power, bootable.
  • francofranco
    edited 4:54AM
    That's true too. I use mine as a back-up portable drive. But the 120 capacity is very limiting for what I do, and much more expensive than a passport.
  • sinarsinar
    edited 4:54AM
    My last one fell lightly on the floor, and all files were lost. Capacity is a requirement but the bigger they are the more info to lose. I just want small and portable. the classic ipod is an option if I decide to replace my old one (20 gig)
    I hate the idea of a Y lead, but seems that's the way they are going. even the seagate. I might just pick up a 2 1/2 in drive to put in the old case till later in the new year. I have 5 externals at home holding 3+ tb, so the storage part is ok. just moving portions of it different comps. is my main issue.
  • francofranco
    edited December 2008
    I thought I was a hard drive junky but you out capacity me!

    Yeah the Y lead was hard to find as well, which is why I opted for the powered hub. Again, a pain of a workaround - but I'm now on a MacBook and one USB2 port is all I now need for it.
  • BiffBiff
    edited 4:54AM
    Regardless of generation, most "portable" drives with a 2.5 inch drive in them require the dual lead with USB- I'm sure there are some, but if you're rolling your own drive, I don't beleieve I've ever seen a single lead DIY case. If you can find a portable 1.8 drive, then that's a single lead every time. It's got less to do with USB2 than it does the USB voltage spec- it's less than half that of firewire.

    That said, I've seen 32 gig flash drives for $50 and less, speeds vary somewhat, though.
  • sinarsinar
    edited 4:54AM
    I'm waiting for the price of the 32 gig flash cards to come down in the UK they are in the £70 region. That would be ideal. I guess the fact my little portable was a firewire answers the single lead question, but what about ipods as drives they are single usb2 leads. Or am I missing something regarding replacing the drive in the little iomega portable with like for like (80 gig Hitachi 2.5)
  • BiffBiff
    edited December 2008
    iPods have 1.8 inch hard drives- enough power is provided by USB to run them.

    Sure, you can replace the drive, assuming you can get the case open without destroying it, and it's not the bridgeboard that's the problem. The bare drive is probably PATA. Don't get SATA!

    I've got no data on if your case can handle the 160 and not see it as a 128 gig.
  • flakflak
    edited 4:54AM
    Also, for the drives that require both USB cables to be plugged in - some laptops, particularly PowerBooks, have two USB ports...one on each side. Both leads can't be plugged in at the same time, requiring a hub or something.

    A FireWire drive, or an iPod, sounds like much less hassle. I'd do that.
  • francofranco
    edited 4:54AM
    flak said...Also, for the drives that require both USB cables to be plugged in - some laptops, particularly PowerBooks, have two USB ports...one on each side. Both leads can't be plugged in at the same time, requiring a hub or something.

    A FireWire drive, or an iPod, sounds like much less hassle. I'd do that.
    Can't be plugged in at the same time? That contradicts everything that I read about the Y cable.

    Anyway, it sounds as if sinar has a plan. All routes seem to have their advantages/disadvantages. I'm sure he'll figure out what works for him.
  • rbernatorbernato
    edited 4:54AM
    ^^I think flak means that the two ends of the Y cable can't be plugged into the ports at the same time on a PowerBook or MacBook Pro because you can't reach the two porst being on the two opposite sides of the mac ;-)
  • francofranco
    edited December 2008
    Ah, I see. It's not necessary for the MacBook Pro because a single port puts out enough power but on the PowerBook end, I hadn't read that - it was a solution for some users when I was researching it (specifically with regards to the PowerBook as that was what I was on, surely there are varying lengths for Y cables? /shrug).
  • flakflak
    edited 4:54AM
    Yeah, maybe they're longer on some drives - I bought a 2.5-inch enclosure myself, and both ends can't reach both sides of the PowerBook at the same time.

    Most of the time, it's very handy that Apple put the USB ports on each side, but this is definitely a problem.
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