[P1] External hard Drive

[George Slusher]

>I'm not very handy (a huge understatement), and I'm assuming something that
>costs nearly $200 assembled, and only about $95 when bought in separate
>parts, must require some skills to put together. Or is it as easy as
>ordering the two components, sticking one into the other, and you're good to
>go?

You'd need to be sure that the case and drive come with all the pieces 
you need--brackets, screws, cables, etc--and instructions on putting it 
together. It's probably not as much a problem with HDs in external cases 
as it can be for internal drives. Some years back, a friend decided to 
upgrade the HD in a G3 tower. She's handy with tools, so she got the 
pieces. Turned out that one of the cables on the HD was too short to fit. 
She was able to fix it without much trouble (she cut and installed a new 
cable), then raised Holy Hell with the supplier she bought it from, who 
had told her that it was "ready to be installed."

Part of the difference is the labor to assemble and TEST the HD--do you 
have some way to test it?--and part is in the warranty. If you buy a 
fully-assembled hard drive, it will be warranted as is--if something goes 
wrong, you know whom to call. If you make your own, it might be difficult 
to prove which supplier's hardware is the source of the problem. (There 
may be other differences in the warranty, as well--length, ease of 
getting service, etc.) In the PC world, it's not uncommon for dealers 
(and savvy users) to build their own computers for a substantial savings 
over buying a full-up machine from Dell, HP, Compaq, etc. (There 
apparently are not-so-honest dealers who will scam buyers with 
dealer-built machines that don't perform as they should.) We don't have 
that situation in the Mac world with new computers, but it can happen 
with used computers that have been modified/upgraded. As the user, you 
might get into the middle of a p*ssing contest between manufacturers, 
both claiming that the other one's hardware is the source of the trouble. 

Another difference might be in the chipset that interfaces the HD and the 
Mac. The experts can tell you which chipsets are the best--I wouldn't 
know, myself. 

Some HDs also come with software that may or may not be useful--it pays 
to check it out, as it might just be window dressing for your purposes. 

I've found that about $200 is a common price for a 120GB FW hard drive 
from one of the "name" souces (Lac Cie, Equest, etc.) from a major 
dealer. Sales may bring the price down a bit. MacMall may still have 
their "free shipping" promotion going on. That could save a little money.

George Slusher/Eugene, OR
gslusher at rio.com