is it can be geek tiem nao?

[hope]

Would anyone like to share their experience/suggestions with external hard drives? I am planning on buying possibly two (a desktop and a portable), here are my initial thoughts:

1) A desktop HD of between 350-500GB. Primarily I need something to back up my iMac, which has a hard drive of 300GB. So I will probably need to format it for Mac so it works properly and I can use Time Machine. I'm thinking of getting more than 350GB so that I can either: a) take into account any expansion of my own machine in future, or b) partition it and have about 200GB of archive space for things like movies or TV shows I've already watched, raw vids, etc; and 300GB+ in another partition for the backup.

Currently I have a WD Elements 500GB that I bought in the UK. It doesn't seem to be working properly, though - I've had difficulty formatting, unmounting, even just getting the computer to recognise it. Time Machine won't work on it, and backing up manually invariably hangs after a while.

So I am considering:
* a LaCie 320 or 500GB; I've found some recommendations for LaCie from Mac users, though they are expensive
* a Maxtor 500GB - some mixed reviews, but more affordable


2) I am also after a portable drive of between 150-200GB. I am after something light and cross-platform that I can use to tote around files to and from other people. I am pretty settled on a WD Passport 160GB; it has excellent reviews around the place and is reasonably affordable.


So, considering the above, if you have opinions or knowledge on the following, drop me a comment:

* Firewire. I'm not quite sure what it is, though I think I might have it on this machine, as it is very new and fancy. Should I be looking for this in an external HD?

* What brands can you rec or anti-rec? For Mac, or cross-platform, or in general?

* Any specific products you can recommend from your experience or otherwise?

* Any other considerations I'm missing?


Thank you in advance, o geeky ones, if you have the time/inclination to help me out here :)

Comments

[embroiderama]

I have a Maxtor that's been working great, and I've had no problem using it with both the Mac and the PC. I pulled the USB out of the PC and plugged it into the Mac, and the drive just popped up on the screen. Yay! I used it to transfer my files.

[embroiderama]

Oops, not a Maxtor. Just checked, and it's an I/O Magic 320 GB. It's oval-shaped and can sit flat or propped up in a little stand, and it does have an on/off switch. I always kept it on before, because my music was on there, but now I'll just be turning it on when I plug in the laptop to snag or save video files. :D

[hope]

I/O as in Iomega..? I think I definitely need one with an on/off switch.

[embroiderama]

I'm not entirely sure, but it's this one. I've never had any problem with it at all. And it's kind of pretty. ;)