Firewire is like a USB port, just a different way of connecting things to each other. It is not necessary these days, I don't think as USB ports are pretty universal.
I use a PC, so I don't know how good they work for Macs, but I don't see why there should be any difference. I have a 500gb Seagate and a 750gb Maxtor. I've used the Seagate for years and it rocks. The Maxtor I recently got and I haven't any opinions on it yet. My dad's used both brands without complaints though, and he likes them both.
This is my recommendation on getting an external hard drive: get the biggest one you can afford, because you're getting these for more space, and things take up space, and they add up over time. With bigger ones, you don't need to get as many as often. They sell 1 terabyte ones these days and larger. I got my 500gb one about 4 or 5 years ago, and between music and vids, I've maxed it out already. Media files like what you're thinking of storing take up a lot of space (as you well know), so it's best to get the biggest one that you can afford, as you will eventually end up running out of space, and you will eventually need to either 1) buy a new HD, or 2) get rid of stuff.
When I got my external, my dad recommended to partition it (i.e. split it into sections). This prevents from total hard drive failure. So for instance, I split mine up into 3 parts. So if one part becomes corrupted, the other two parts won't be, and I'd at least have saved some of my data. If I hadn't partitioned my harddrive, then I'd have lost everything instead of just one section.
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I use a PC, so I don't know how good they work for Macs, but I don't see why there should be any difference. I have a 500gb Seagate and a 750gb Maxtor. I've used the Seagate for years and it rocks. The Maxtor I recently got and I haven't any opinions on it yet. My dad's used both brands without complaints though, and he likes them both.
This is my recommendation on getting an external hard drive: get the biggest one you can afford, because you're getting these for more space, and things take up space, and they add up over time. With bigger ones, you don't need to get as many as often. They sell 1 terabyte ones these days and larger. I got my 500gb one about 4 or 5 years ago, and between music and vids, I've maxed it out already. Media files like what you're thinking of storing take up a lot of space (as you well know), so it's best to get the biggest one that you can afford, as you will eventually end up running out of space, and you will eventually need to either 1) buy a new HD, or 2) get rid of stuff.
When I got my external, my dad recommended to partition it (i.e. split it into sections). This prevents from total hard drive failure. So for instance, I split mine up into 3 parts. So if one part becomes corrupted, the other two parts won't be, and I'd at least have saved some of my data. If I hadn't partitioned my harddrive, then I'd have lost everything instead of just one section.