Laptop Hard drive---internal/external? cache size? priorities discussion

[mandolarian]

First choice is the cheap, non-ugly OWC Slim eSATA. It's ranked as one of the better cards: http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/EXP34SATA2F1/

With that card you can select a 2TB drive without the FW performance headaches.

[synchronizer]

I suppose that 3GB/s is good enough! Hopefully the card really IS good.

So you would say that the 2GB Glyph is my best shot? I'm not sure if Amazon adds any tax to its products. I might want to check...

[mandolarian]

3GB/s is awesome. Not that any single hard drive can hit that rate, even with 'air' data and a tailwind.

That card seems to get the best pro and user ratings. If you can trust other users and reviewers.

[synchronizer]

Okay, I'm getting somewhere! Still, it may be more wise for me to purchase a 1TB since not all computers have eSATA. Imagine if I need to showcase something on a computer with only USB! (ugh). Of course, I'd use eSATA at home. Anyway, here is the amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Glyph-Technology- ... 040&sr=8-3

I'm not sure if there are any hidden charges.

[mandolarian]

Don't see any hidden charges up front, but wouldn't be really hidden if it was obvious.

[synchronizer]

Okay, so just to confirm: the difference between 32mb and 64mb cache, even over fw800, won't actually be drastic, am I correct?

[ford442]

correct

[synchronizer]

~and the difference still isn't significant over eSATA? Well then, I think the 1TB Glyph is probably the best choice then.

Thank you for your help!

[synchronizer]

Okay, so I'm about to choose either the 1TB Glyph GPT50 or the 2TB, but can someone remind me why there are performance issues with over 2TB via firewire800, and can he also post evidence to support his claim?