I want to buy an external hard drive to store my pictures on, but I'm not sure what size.  What do you guys have?

I use two methods of backup storage for my photos.  First I burn every event/session to it's own CD and archive it, and for active live storage I have a Western Digital 350g External Drive.  I treat my external drive like I do my website gallery system, I remove them from my drive (and my site) after 90 days.

If a client comes back after that time, I can pull them off the CD after they pay the re-posting fee.

Buy that 500 Gb My Book for $199... probably can find it cheaper even somewhere online... that's a great deal...

RAW files add up so fast, it's good to have lots of space... I filled up my 250 Gb one in no time. :(

I have a 500gb that I bought fromTigerDirect.  I think it was just a little over $200.  I think it is a Fantom Drive.

If you're a fan of "price per serving" like me, take the size of the drive and divide into the cost, that will give you a price per Gbyte.  That can help you determine a sweet spot for prices. 

500GB Maxtor HD SATA I/II , 16 meg buffer + 7200rpm 5yr warranty $133

Pick up that drive and then buy an empty external enclosure.   

Enjoy!

 

I'm on a Mac and I would only want to have an external drive that is FireWire compatible. That being said - I always bought the largest capacity I could afford.

I have 3 external hard drives right now. They are all LaCie - a 600GB, 250GB, and a 160GB (I believe). I haven't had any problems with these drives - though I did have my first hard drive go to hell really, really quickly ... it was an Iomega 120GB. I was in college at the time and found that almost everytime I needed it - the drive would freak and say it needed to be reformatted - meaning, I lost everything. Well, I stuck with CDs/DVDs until I could get a LaCie.  

Oh - PS - iPods make good backup drives, too. I have had the 3rd, 4th, and now I just got the 5th generation iPod. This one holds 80GB - and it's portable. I got the iPod Camera Connector too -

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6054002/wo/Qp2aGtknx16P3hpOnGI2laZmI2K/1.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.0.3

 I can plug in my CF cards with this connector and have the iPod upload them. The only thing better would be if an iPod could read RAW (it will only show you JPGs after the upload, if you shot in that format). But other than that - I use it on all my non-studio shoots!

 

Get the exposure right straight out of the camera and shoot J-peg and there will be more room. (just say no to raw).

I have the maxtor 250 gb externals. But you can get some great deals now. I personally use several 250's instead of putting all my eggs in one basket. :)

"I'm on a Mac and I would only want to have an external drive that is FireWire compatible."

 

 

except that USB2 is as fast or faster than firewire.......