Hard drive question(s)

[wurm]

Okay, I'm at a point where I'm seriously considering getting another hard drive. Here's the situation. I have a 20" iMac core2duo with the 250GB internal drive. I also have a 400GB in an external Firewire/Usb 2.0 case which I currently use just for backups. I'm thinking of buying a 250GB PATA drive for $50, that I'll put in a USB 2.0 external case that's on sale for $20. I'll then use that for backups and use my Firewire for audio sessions, freeing up some space on my iMac's internal drive.

I see no need to go with SATA, or in light of the earlier thread about PATA soon being phased out, is it a mistake to even consider it? I would think as long as there are cases to be bought, the data will be able to be read, no? And if PATA is truly soon EOL, then I may wait for some even better sales, but I wanted to see if the thinking is at least sound. Finally, for backups, USB 2.0 should be fine, right?

Thanks.

[wowzer]

I wouldn't buy technology for the future. I'd buy for the present. As long as you've got a firewire case, I'd say that PATA will be usable for the future. Just because Seagate is discontinuing the PATA, doens't mean Maxtor (it's other name brand) will. There's also WD, which I'm sure will continue making PATA. I didn't read the prior discussion about it, but if you need the HD space now, PATA will be fine, IMO.

GL

[Golfer]

If you do big backups or a lot of them, I'd go with a Firewire case over a USB case. I think you'd be a lot happier in the long run. Even Firewire 400 kicks USB 2.0's butt for transfer speeds in real world usage.

[wowzer]

What golfer said. I must have missed the USB interface...I have a dual firewire and usb2 case. The usb2.0 interface is slow and very tempermental. The firewire simply works.