Anyone have experience with the WD Studio LX HD and FCP
 

Here's a link to it. Amazon.com: Western Digital My Book Studio LX 2 TB FireWire 800/USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive (Aluminum): Electronics

Any recommendations out there for using this HD with FCP. I'm looking for a 2tb. Do you have a better recommendation? I"m hoping not to have to pay more than $200. I was giving thought to an dock and putting in internal drives with them but didn't think they would work too well speed wise

Bryan

I have one of those, and it works just fine. I also have a Voyager dock -- it works just as well. And a Lacie Quadra -- also works just fine. Not sure what you are getting at, speed-wise -- connect via Firewire 800 & use a fast HDD all will be good.

Note that the 'aluminum' of the WD drive is a thin veneer -- decoration, really. The aluminum of the Lacie is a solid, machined piece ... a substantial heat sink that feels built to last. The WD is pretty, but not solid. The Voyager works very well, and makes ready use of the ever growing stack of SATA drives I have laying around. It will doubtless break first, as the inserting and removing of drives will bust something eventually -- at which point I'll buy another.

HTH

GB

I have always used WD drives without a single issue. However, I recommend either a USB 3.0 or eSATA connector if speed is a priority.

I thought FW800 IS the fastest? Is USB 3.0 or Esata faster?

We use a lacie 1tb drive in the field. I forgot what model, but it has the orange silicon around the edges of it.

Firewire 800 is fast and steady -- but USB 3 is faster. It remains to be seen how that will translate in a system loaded with USB devices, but it is the newer technology and offers great promise for speed.

Having said that, the speed gain may well outstrip your HDD -- unless you are working with a very capable RAID, you won't gain anything by moving from FW800 to USB 3

In order of speed: FW400, USB 2, FW800, eSATA, USB 3, if I remember correctly ...

Cheers,
GB

I might look at that Voyager Dock then if you like it. I've just heard that not all Firewire can be the same...meaning you buy a cheap firewire drive, you might not get the throughput. I have a dock/USB2 now and I like but generally I have been told you need the external drive to be Firewire to get decent performance.

Is this the dock you use? NewerTech Voyager Q Quad Interface SATA 2.5" & 3.5" Hard Drive Dock

Yes, that's the dock I use.

My experience with Firewire has been entirely positive, going back to my earliest FW400 external drives through to my newer FW800 drives & dock. I recognize that new technologies may be faster, but USB 2 was potentially faster than FW400 -- I never saw reliable speed in practice from USB 2 devices.

Cheers,
GB