My iMacs internal drive is getting full, and what with the recent good deal on Aperture, it will only get worse so....
I currently run a 500Gb Iomega for time machine, a caddy with a 320 WD for Superduper and the iMac has a 250Gb internal.
Any reccomendations for brand or deals you have seen would be appreciated.

There are some very good deals on Western Digital 'Elements' drives at the mo. I got a 2TB one for 75 quid I think. They're bare bones drives - they give you a power cable & USB cable and that's it, no bundled software etc but they are silent, don't seem to get too hot, don't have massive distracting activity lights on the front or anything. WD kit has generally been more reliable than Lacie drives for me. I had a MyBook (from the same people) before though and that was a nightmare - tried to install all sorts of crap on my computer and was temperamental whenever I switched it off. Mind you it was connected via firewire 800, I dunno if that's a particular trouble-generating factor. I've also got an Iomega drive that's just been rolling along for years but they do tend to be a bit pricier.

With the Elements range you basically get a drive. and nothing else. For the least money possible. Given you'd be dropping it into an existing setup that might make it a good deal for you.

Jon

Thanks Jon I'll look into the Western Digital ones, sounds ideal.

Amazon do the 1Tb version for £46.79 and 2Tb for £79.99 they look just the ticket.

I just took delivery of a 1TB WD Elements drive - as it's only a few days old, it's rather too soon to say anything conclusive apart from yes, it works, it's been fine so far.

I use a VoyagerQ docking station with various 3.5" and 2.5" internal drives.
The drives sit vertically in the docking station and behave like any other hard drive once mounted in Finder.
I use it with a FW800 connection but it supports USB, eSATA and FW400 too.
It's a very good bit of kit.
However, if you want a self contained drive I can also recommend Verbatim's SureFire portable hard drive.
It's an external, cased 2.5" drive - I use the 500GB version.
It connects by USB, FW800, FW400 (via supplied 800-400 converter cable).

Mark

I'm now looking for a external HD to back up stuff from my iMac. Anyone got any update on the quality of the Western Digital HDs?

I usually buy LaCie but the latest one, a 500GB d2, is having a few niggling problems and may just die suddenly as LaCie drives often seem to do.

My WD Elements is soldiering on. Nothing to report really. I'm thinking the 2TB might be worth a try for Time Machine™ duties.

Exactly what I'm planning to do. Glad to hear that the WD HD is working out well.

Got one of these just last week for this very purpose. On an aesthetic note, I lie the solid black case. Very minimalistic.

I got one of those 2TB RAID MyBook thingies the other week. No complaints here.

How loud is it? I have an older one, and every now and then the fan kicks in like a jet taking off. I've decommissioned it because of this.

Apart from a little noise when starting up, and the heads seeking, it's almost as silent as my MacBook Pro. Which is to say, it makes very little noise.

It also has a groovy LED lightshow on the front, more for entertainment than any actual use, but it's fun.

The Elements disc does its job. Only caveat is it does not sleep and wake with the computer, which is only a minor niggle. Otherwise it is quiet, cool running and its led isn't too bright either.

To be honest, I rather prefer the fact they don't sleep. The number of USB drives I've had over the years that have had problems coming out from sleep and not mounting or taking ages to do so makes the small extra power drain the better option. Especially as they are virtually silent and don't give off all that much heat.