Can anyone suggest a disk drive that also has plenty of memory please? Or am I better going for a Super Drive and separate memory unit (whatever they are called)?
MacBook Air memory/disk drive
- Thread starter JoelSim
- Start date
C'mon nerds... PJP, JD, anyone?
I need to send my Christmas list to Santa, she's running very behind this year and I need to help her out.
I need to send my Christmas list to Santa, she's running very behind this year and I need to help her out.
Any USB2.0 drive will do (though eSATA might be handy and USB3 is no the horizon). Just go for whatever floats your boat. The flavour of memory now extends up to 2TB at 3.5".
From a more practial perspective, I'd probably go for a 2.5" model, which would safe you carrying a power supply around. The biggest drives of this form factor have 500GB capacity.
From a more practial perspective, I'd probably go for a 2.5" model, which would safe you carrying a power supply around. The biggest drives of this form factor have 500GB capacity.
Cistron:
Any USB2.0 drive will do (though eSATA might be handy and USB3 is no the horizon). Just go for whatever floats your boat. The flavour of memory now extends up to 2TB at 3.5".
From a more practial perspective, I'd probably go for a 2.5" model, which would safe you carrying a power supply around. The biggest drives of this form factor have 500GB capacity.
Thanks for your reply, but I'm not sure I understand what you've said. I know very little about computers. What I'm looking for is enough storage for maybe 200 CDs (lossless) and some photos, and a disk drive to import CDs.
Is there a particular model that would work well on a MacBook?
Any USB2.0 drive will do (though eSATA might be handy and USB3 is no the horizon). Just go for whatever floats your boat. The flavour of memory now extends up to 2TB at 3.5".
From a more practial perspective, I'd probably go for a 2.5" model, which would safe you carrying a power supply around. The biggest drives of this form factor have 500GB capacity.
Thanks for your reply, but I'm not sure I understand what you've said. I know very little about computers. What I'm looking for is enough storage for maybe 200 CDs (lossless) and some photos, and a disk drive to import CDs.
Is there a particular model that would work well on a MacBook?
Hi Joel,
I think you've confused us initially, but now it is clearer what you mean: you want one product that has a CD drive to rip CDs and store them at the same time (i.e., has a hard drive built-in), right?
I'm not an expert on this but don't think there is a product exactly like that. Well, there is the RipNAS, reviewed in the UG to New Technology 2010 (p. 80), and that's a NAS (a network-attached storage device) with a CD drive, so that can be connected directly to your home network, but I think you'd still need something to stream the music through.
But I think for your needs any CD drive and any big hard drive will do, so you could get the dedicated CD drive for the Mac Air which, I think, is no longer very expensive, and get the fastest, biggest and best-looking USB hard drive to go with it. This is on the understanding that you would stream music through your Mac. If you want to stream it directly from the hard drive, you'll need a NAS, but, again, get the CD drive separately, it'll be much cheaper!
I hope this helps and is not too confusing! (And I hope I've got all of this righ, if not: correct me, resident geeks!)
Hedgehog
I think you've confused us initially, but now it is clearer what you mean: you want one product that has a CD drive to rip CDs and store them at the same time (i.e., has a hard drive built-in), right?
I'm not an expert on this but don't think there is a product exactly like that. Well, there is the RipNAS, reviewed in the UG to New Technology 2010 (p. 80), and that's a NAS (a network-attached storage device) with a CD drive, so that can be connected directly to your home network, but I think you'd still need something to stream the music through.
But I think for your needs any CD drive and any big hard drive will do, so you could get the dedicated CD drive for the Mac Air which, I think, is no longer very expensive, and get the fastest, biggest and best-looking USB hard drive to go with it. This is on the understanding that you would stream music through your Mac. If you want to stream it directly from the hard drive, you'll need a NAS, but, again, get the CD drive separately, it'll be much cheaper!
I hope this helps and is not too confusing! (And I hope I've got all of this righ, if not: correct me, resident geeks!)
Hedgehog
robjcooper
Well-known member
Hi Joel.
Just to confirm you have a MacBook Air and not a MacBook ?
If it is the Air, for importing CDs then you could get the Apple External Superdrive, which is both a cd and dvd burner/player. But it is quite expensive at £64. However, if it's just CDs you want to import any external cd drive with a USB2 connection should be fine. Take a look on Amazon - search 'cd external'. They have a rom drive (read only) for £12.19. Ebuyer have a nice looking Samsung DVD/CD drive - SE-S084B - available in a couple of colours.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165711
They also do the Apple Superdrive for £59.
eSATA is of no use to you as no Apple computer has this interface fitted and USB 3 spec has only just been ratified and nobody is yet using it.
For a hard drive, choose a well known brand like LaCie, Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor. You do have the choice of either a desktop drive (which will have a power supply and contains a 3.5 inch disc drive) and which can have any capacity up to 2TB. Or you can get a portable drive which will have a 2.5 inch hard drive and no power supply as it takes its power from the USB port. With the MacBook Air I would be wary of anything over 250GB as usually the bigger capacity drives need to be powered from 2 USB ports and your Air only has 1 (my 320GB Western Digital will only run using both the USB ports on my MacBook.) Whatever drive you buy, you must remember to reformat it in Mac OS Journaled to get the best out of it with your Mac - most of them come formatted for Windoze (either FAT32 or NTFS). If you're not too sure how to do that re-post and I'll try and help.
Also, don't forget that as you only have 1 USB2 port you cannot run both the CD Drive and your external hard drive at the same time unless you buy a powered USB2 hub (Belkin make some nice ones). You could encode your CDs onto your internal hard drive and then copy them out to your external drive, but you have to be careful when telling iTunes where they are, as it is quite easy to 'confuse' it - I spent a long evening re-linking my whole iTunes library after one of my kids decided to 'move' a couple of songs.
There is another option which could help you with the cd drive. If you have another computer in your house with a DVD/CD drive and a wireless connection, then you can use that to grab your CDs using something called Remote Disc. Scroll down the link here to the apple store and look at the pulldown under Remote Disc.
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/features.html
It should work with either a Mac or a PC, but I've never tried it.
Hope that helps a bit - don't forget with storage that you can never have too much and it's never fast enough !
Enjoy !
Rob
Just to confirm you have a MacBook Air and not a MacBook ?
If it is the Air, for importing CDs then you could get the Apple External Superdrive, which is both a cd and dvd burner/player. But it is quite expensive at £64. However, if it's just CDs you want to import any external cd drive with a USB2 connection should be fine. Take a look on Amazon - search 'cd external'. They have a rom drive (read only) for £12.19. Ebuyer have a nice looking Samsung DVD/CD drive - SE-S084B - available in a couple of colours.
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/165711
They also do the Apple Superdrive for £59.
eSATA is of no use to you as no Apple computer has this interface fitted and USB 3 spec has only just been ratified and nobody is yet using it.
For a hard drive, choose a well known brand like LaCie, Western Digital, Seagate, Maxtor. You do have the choice of either a desktop drive (which will have a power supply and contains a 3.5 inch disc drive) and which can have any capacity up to 2TB. Or you can get a portable drive which will have a 2.5 inch hard drive and no power supply as it takes its power from the USB port. With the MacBook Air I would be wary of anything over 250GB as usually the bigger capacity drives need to be powered from 2 USB ports and your Air only has 1 (my 320GB Western Digital will only run using both the USB ports on my MacBook.) Whatever drive you buy, you must remember to reformat it in Mac OS Journaled to get the best out of it with your Mac - most of them come formatted for Windoze (either FAT32 or NTFS). If you're not too sure how to do that re-post and I'll try and help.
Also, don't forget that as you only have 1 USB2 port you cannot run both the CD Drive and your external hard drive at the same time unless you buy a powered USB2 hub (Belkin make some nice ones). You could encode your CDs onto your internal hard drive and then copy them out to your external drive, but you have to be careful when telling iTunes where they are, as it is quite easy to 'confuse' it - I spent a long evening re-linking my whole iTunes library after one of my kids decided to 'move' a couple of songs.
There is another option which could help you with the cd drive. If you have another computer in your house with a DVD/CD drive and a wireless connection, then you can use that to grab your CDs using something called Remote Disc. Scroll down the link here to the apple store and look at the pulldown under Remote Disc.
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/features.html
It should work with either a Mac or a PC, but I've never tried it.
Hope that helps a bit - don't forget with storage that you can never have too much and it's never fast enough !
Enjoy !
Rob
Interesting thread for me. My son is getting a larger hard drive for his Macbook for christmas and I was struggling to the point that I`ve asked him if he can order one himself and I`ll give him the money for it. (Not very christmassy but he will get some surprises too!) He`s coming home from Uni on Saturday and there is in fact a jiffy bag that arrived here a couple of days ago with his name on it so I`m hoping that will be the new hard drive. I`m also hoping it`s made by one of the manufacturers that have been mentioned on this thread. If there`s any problems/doubts I may come back to you all for advice. Like Joel says there isn`t that much time left!
Joel, good luck with yours and I hope you don`t think I`m trying to hijack your thread?
Joel, good luck with yours and I hope you don`t think I`m trying to hijack your thread?
robjcooper
Well-known member
Hi Survivor,
Sure Joel won't mind you joining in.
If you need any advice with that new drive, if indeed that's what is in the jiffy, then just post any questions and I'll try and help.
The more Macs the merrier.
Rob
Sure Joel won't mind you joining in.
If you need any advice with that new drive, if indeed that's what is in the jiffy, then just post any questions and I'll try and help.
The more Macs the merrier.
Rob
robjcooper:
Hi Survivor,
Sure Joel won't mind you joining in.
If you need any advice with that new drive, if indeed that's what is in the jiffy, then just post any questions and I'll try and help.
The more Macs the merrier.
Rob
Many thanks Rob.
Hi Survivor,
Sure Joel won't mind you joining in.
If you need any advice with that new drive, if indeed that's what is in the jiffy, then just post any questions and I'll try and help.
The more Macs the merrier.
Rob
Many thanks Rob.
John Duncan
Well-known member
Joel, you're confusing me with the word 'memory'. I'm surmising, as others have done, that you want a disc drive to put CDs and DVDs in, and you also want an external hard drive for storage, right?
Thanks for all your replies.
Just to clarify:
Most importantly I want a CD drive and have been looking at the Superdrive. I can stream through my Mac and using the DAC on my CDP which is all set up with Airfoil/AE etc and I already use for Spotify.
I was just wondering whether there was a better solution than the above as my MacBook Air only seems to have 2Gb memory built-in which I know isn't a lot as I have 16Gb on my iPhone. Does this not mean that if I have lossless files in iTunes then I'm only going to be able to store about 10 CDs? Or am I missing something here?
Just to clarify:
Most importantly I want a CD drive and have been looking at the Superdrive. I can stream through my Mac and using the DAC on my CDP which is all set up with Airfoil/AE etc and I already use for Spotify.
I was just wondering whether there was a better solution than the above as my MacBook Air only seems to have 2Gb memory built-in which I know isn't a lot as I have 16Gb on my iPhone. Does this not mean that if I have lossless files in iTunes then I'm only going to be able to store about 10 CDs? Or am I missing something here?
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
JoelSim:
Thanks for all your replies.
Just to clarify:
Most importantly I want a CD drive and have been looking at the Superdrive. I can stream through my Mac and using the DAC on my CDP which is all set up with Airfoil/AE etc and I already use for Spotify.
I was just wondering whether there was a better solution than the above as my MacBook Air only seems to have 2Gb memory built-in which I know isn't a lot as I have 16Gb on my iPhone. Does this not mean that if I have lossless files in iTunes then I'm only going to be able to store about 10 CDs? Or am I missing something here?
Joel, it has 120gb of storage (hard drive) and the memory is 2gb but this is plenty - it has nothing to do with how much you store on the drive.
Thanks for all your replies.
Just to clarify:
Most importantly I want a CD drive and have been looking at the Superdrive. I can stream through my Mac and using the DAC on my CDP which is all set up with Airfoil/AE etc and I already use for Spotify.
I was just wondering whether there was a better solution than the above as my MacBook Air only seems to have 2Gb memory built-in which I know isn't a lot as I have 16Gb on my iPhone. Does this not mean that if I have lossless files in iTunes then I'm only going to be able to store about 10 CDs? Or am I missing something here?
Joel, it has 120gb of storage (hard drive) and the memory is 2gb but this is plenty - it has nothing to do with how much you store on the drive.
Yep, I think you're confusing "memory" with "storage". Memory is what's used for working on a task, eg playing music, and Storage is where the data (music) is, well, stored.
You can think of it like the memory is your desk space, and the storage is your filing cabinet or shelves.
Your iPod has 16GB of storage, and your MacBook Air has 120GB.
Your MacBook Air also has 2GB of memory, which is plenty for the tasks it's working on at any one time.
I'd recommend you get the Apple MacBook Air Superdrive (shop around though, at Amazon it's only £47 rather than £65) for importing your CDs and then look at some kind of external USB 2.0 hard drive if you need more storage.
It's worth remembering of course that if you decide to put your music library onto an external hard drive that isn't on your wireless network, it'll be a bit of a chore with a MacBook Air - because you only have one USB port and so can't have both Superdrive and hard drive plugged in at the same time. Probably better to get either: a hard drive that connects to a wireless network (called an NAS) itself; or: a hard drive plugged into a wireless access point (eg Airport Extreme). Either one also gives you the benefit of not having to have the drive 'plugged in' when you want to listen to your music.
Of course, it might be worth checking how much hard drive space you have on your MacBook Air - if you have plenty of space on there, then you don't need an external drive except for backup.
You can think of it like the memory is your desk space, and the storage is your filing cabinet or shelves.
Your iPod has 16GB of storage, and your MacBook Air has 120GB.
Your MacBook Air also has 2GB of memory, which is plenty for the tasks it's working on at any one time.
I'd recommend you get the Apple MacBook Air Superdrive (shop around though, at Amazon it's only £47 rather than £65) for importing your CDs and then look at some kind of external USB 2.0 hard drive if you need more storage.
It's worth remembering of course that if you decide to put your music library onto an external hard drive that isn't on your wireless network, it'll be a bit of a chore with a MacBook Air - because you only have one USB port and so can't have both Superdrive and hard drive plugged in at the same time. Probably better to get either: a hard drive that connects to a wireless network (called an NAS) itself; or: a hard drive plugged into a wireless access point (eg Airport Extreme). Either one also gives you the benefit of not having to have the drive 'plugged in' when you want to listen to your music.
Of course, it might be worth checking how much hard drive space you have on your MacBook Air - if you have plenty of space on there, then you don't need an external drive except for backup.
Brilliant. Thanks for all your help. This is exactly what i wanted to know.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
Gerrardasnails
Well-known member
JoelSim:
Brilliant. Thanks for all your help. This is exactly what i wanted to know.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
It's just great having you on the computer-based music section!!
Brilliant. Thanks for all your help. This is exactly what i wanted to know.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
It's just great having you on the computer-based music section!!
Gerrardasnails:JoelSim:
Brilliant. Thanks for all your help. This is exactly what i wanted to know.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
It's just great having you on the computer-based music section!!
Playlists for when people come round.
Brilliant. Thanks for all your help. This is exactly what i wanted to know.
I shall now file my CDs on my shelf rather than on my coffee table.
And buy a Superdrive...
Much appreciated, computer nerds.
It's just great having you on the computer-based music section!!
Playlists for when people come round.
200 cd's is not a lot - about 65 Gb hard disk space ripping lossless - before you buy anything, how much free space is there still on your hard disk to start with? The superdrive seems to be the first thing to get for ripping.
Also note that external disks are not always silent, some have fans, some are louder than others, some are more portable than others, The G-tech's seem rather cool, if style is more important than Gigs per pound. You can use it with firewire and use the cd superdrive on usb.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001GP8GYK/ref=dp_otherviews_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&img=4
Also note that external disks are not always silent, some have fans, some are louder than others, some are more portable than others, The G-tech's seem rather cool, if style is more important than Gigs per pound. You can use it with firewire and use the cd superdrive on usb.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001GP8GYK/ref=dp_otherviews_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&img=4
Thanks Pete. The only thing that matters to me is sound quality, and of course I don't want to spend millions of hours ripping.
I imagine that I have a huge amount of space on the hard disk as I only really use it to surf the web, and do a small amount of work when I'm out and about. I've certainly not added/downloaded much.
I imagine that I have a huge amount of space on the hard disk as I only really use it to surf the web, and do a small amount of work when I'm out and about. I've certainly not added/downloaded much.
robjcooper
Well-known member
Joel,
If your OH has a Macbook, you don't need to buy a superdrive as you can access her DVD/CD drive using Remote Disc. The software to enable this should be on the OSX install disc that came with your MacBook Air. Instructions are on this link:
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/features.html
Scroll down to 'install wirelessly with Remote Disc' and open the pull down menu which gives you instructions on how to do this.
May save you £50 to spend on some new cables!
Computer Nerds suffer Windows, creatives enjoy Apple.
Rob
P.S. You can't use a firewire drive as Pete suggested, as your MacBook Air (and the new unibody MacBooks) doesn't have a firewire port !
If your OH has a Macbook, you don't need to buy a superdrive as you can access her DVD/CD drive using Remote Disc. The software to enable this should be on the OSX install disc that came with your MacBook Air. Instructions are on this link:
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbookair/features.html
Scroll down to 'install wirelessly with Remote Disc' and open the pull down menu which gives you instructions on how to do this.
May save you £50 to spend on some new cables!
Computer Nerds suffer Windows, creatives enjoy Apple.
Rob
P.S. You can't use a firewire drive as Pete suggested, as your MacBook Air (and the new unibody MacBooks) doesn't have a firewire port !
Ah, didn't know Apple ditched firewire from its notebooks. So actually you may not have to buy anything if your hd still has room for now. Bummer. Or some flowers for the Mrs. to compensate for the Macbook use and changing the cd every 5-10 minutes while ripping.
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