Kinda confused here. Looking to buy a new external drive for my new P2 setup G4 laptop combo. Any suggestions as to what I need? 200G for day use - 1TB for entire shoot Im thinking, but what setup / brand and model # is the optimum setup for speed , reliability and compatibility?

Thanks

Well, since no one else is jumping in, I'll give my 2 cents:
I use LaCie external firewire drives nearly exclusively. SO FAR, I've had 0 failures and my oldest drive (which isn't in DAILY use anymore) is 7ish years old (80GB, FW400). I know a client of mine who has had excellent results with a G-RAID external as well. I avoid the WD MyBook series for capture (even though I use one to store finished DVD disk images) as they spin down after 10 minutes of no use without an option to change this. Others are using the WD MyBooks without issue.

As for a P2 solution, USB2.0 may work for you. For DV/HDV capture over FireWire, I strongly suggest using the FireWire connection. Just my .02

Good luck and good shooting!