external hard drive question

[ggmmss]

i have a compaq computer with no firewire. i need an external hard drive to dedicate for audio i am interested in the maxtor one touch hard drive it is a usb 2.0 drive has anyone had problems with the usb 2.0 i know digi recommends firewire but i dont have a choice thanks.

[macr0w]

I have 2 maxtor one touch 160 gb drives that I have used for about a year now. I have not had any problems with them at all. I use firewire though not usb. Get yourself a firewire pci card like the one recommended on the best desktop thread. The adaptec 4300, watch the chipset though I think the TI chipset is the one to get. Look at the compatability page.

[evaclear]

A lot of people don't start out with a PC that has a FW port. You just need to spend $50 on a FW card.

I've read a number of posts on sample library forums that suggest USB-2 is more comparable to the speed of firewire 400 that the original USB. Personally, i wouldn't go near USB.

[cruisemates]

I have used a USB-2 external drive with no problem. I have a live session (a 16-trk live show with almost three hours of music on it) where all 16 trks were recording simul (on a Mac) which I mixed on my windows PTLE with no problem.

USB-2 is a hair faster than firewire, but it is not technically supported by Digi. All I can say is I had no problem with it.

I guess it depends on your application. Mine was a one-time session. If I were building a main system to use for years I would want to use firewire for compatibility, but USB-2 did work just fine for me.