We want you to own at least two hard drives: a high performance portable external drive and a slower, higher capacity, external drive. The first drive is commonly referred to as a “Media Drive” as it will be functioning as a scratch disk for Final Cut Pro, Pro Tools and other professional applications. This means that the data that is captured and/or saved directly to this HD will reside solely on this HD. With that in mind, its important that you choose a reliable HD that has a FireWire 800 connection and that you backup the contents of this HD regularly. For your purposes here at the Journalism School, a minimum speed of 7200 RPM and FireWire 800 port of your external HD is required.
Portability Factor
In addition to your laptop, you will find yourself working at different stations at the school and for the purposes of collaboration have to share/transfer your files/sessions with other classmates. We find the portable bus-powered HDs to be more convenient for this reason. This way you won’t have to seek out a power outlet or have to remember to bring the power adapter when you are shuttling from place to place.
Proper Care
You have put a substantial amount of money into your equipment, so you’ll want to take care of it. Many failures of portable equipment have more to do with improper user practices than with pure hardware failure. When traveling with your HD, it is important that you:
- Do not walk around/travel with your HD while it is on.
- Remove any attached cables before storing.
- Make sure it is in a safe and secure location during transport.
- Do not put weight on your HD .
Bus-powered Drive Recommendations:
G-Technology 750GB G-DRIVE mini High-Speed Portable Drive
Price: $149.99
FireWire 800, FireWire-400 (via included cable), USB 2.0 Interfaces
7200 RPM
3-Year Limited Warranty
LacCie 500GB Rugged Triple Interface USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive
Price: $159.99
USB 3.0 & FireWire 800 Ports
7200 RPM
3-Year Limited Warranty
AC-powered Drive Recommendation:
G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE External Hard Drive
Price: $151.99
Perfect w/ Storage-Heavy Applications
eSATA, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 Interfaces
7200 RPM
3-Year Limited Warranty
