Help me find storage for my MP3 collection

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I was wondering if you guys could do me a favour and give me some computer advice. My computer at home has two HDD's, one of which is taken up by system and programs etc and the other holds media, namely half of my music collection which I've been painstakingly ripping to mp3 from CD. I eventually intend to get rid of a lot of the original CDs but don't want to risk HD burnout and losing 12 years worth of music collection in the process - let's just say I'd be inconsolably depressed!
So my hard disk is chocka with MP3s and is rapidly running out of space. Not being particularly savvy of hardware matters, I was wondering whether you could recommend something like a third Hard Drive (maybe a bit of an overkill?) or I was thinking something like a Seagate portable drive or external hard drive which I could play music off using USB or something like that (as I say, I'm a total novice at this kind of thing). I need to be able to access the files but I want to make sure they have the minimum risk of being damaged or erased.

I was thinking of getting something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/USB-2-0-EXTERNAL-ALUMINIUM-300GB-HARD-DISK-DRIVE-A3S_W0QQitemZ150027248583QQihZ005QQcategoryZ16178QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem but I'm wary of purchasing the wrong thing.

― dog latin, Friday, 1 September 2006 11:30 (seventeen years ago) link

back your mp3s up to dvd-roms in the meantime.

― konaldoddz, Friday, 1 September 2006 12:12 (seventeen years ago) link

back your mp3s up to dvd-roms, the end.

― M Grout (Mark Grout), Friday, 1 September 2006 12:12 (seventeen years ago) link

If your concern is longevity, go with the 3rd hard drive. Or get a tape drive.

DVD-Rs are great but they are prone to scratches, bad disks, etc. I've burned DVDs, deleted stuff, and a year later go back to the DVD to find it can't be read.

Even if a hard drive fails it's easier to recover data from it than from a bad DVD.

Don't get rid of your CDs though. I guess you're not too concerned about sound quality, but they are the ultimate backup aren't they?

― Nu-Edward III (edward iii), Friday, 1 September 2006 12:23 (seventeen years ago) link

DVD means I'd have to use something close to 20 disks and then every time I want to access my music collection, I have to find the correct disk and play it in my computer which'll only deck the CD player and make adding things alphabetically very confusing.

Someone recommended this thing, anyone know if these are good?

http://play.com/Electronics/Electronics/RGNNR/3-/1102656/Buffalo_300GB_DriveStation_External_Hard_Drive_USB2_0_HDD/Product.html

― doggy latin, Friday, 1 September 2006 12:24 (seventeen years ago) link

the point of DVD-R backups is portability and not relying entirely on one format and location for your data. they are as reliable as anything else.

― konaldoddz, Friday, 1 September 2006 12:25 (seventeen years ago) link

I'd still go with DVD-Roms, the cheapness outweighs the risks. (I am cheap.)

UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE LAZY THEN

― ESTEBAN BUTTEZ IN THA HIZZOUSE, Friday, 1 September 2006 12:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Don't get rid of your CDs though. I guess you're not too concerned about sound quality, but they are the ultimate backup aren't they?

Well, I find 192Kbps+ is enough quality for my ears in general. I'm thinking of ditching the CDs because I keep having to move house and as I don't have a Hi-Fi any more I'm just playing everything off of MP3 anyway these days. My CDs now sit on a rickety old shelf downstairs gathering dust and being used as roach by my stoner flatmates. Carrying the bugger round with me every time I move is a bitch. Obviously I'll keep the good ones for posterity but there's tons of semi-precious stuff that could do with being given away or sold.

― doggy dog dog, Friday, 1 September 2006 12:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Help me find storage for my MP3 collection

No.

― lawl, Friday, 1 September 2006 13:33 (seventeen years ago) link

external hard drives are good and all but all of them are prone to failure, corruption, and burnout. back stuff up to dvds for storage; get another external if you're running out of space and need easy access. but don't rely on it.

― akm (akmonday), Friday, 1 September 2006 15:09 (seventeen years ago) link

i share an mp3 collection w/a friend of mine. every couple months we swap new stuff, maintaining the same collection. when a drive fails (which is inevitable) it's backed up by the other person - even protecting against fire, theft and other local problems.

if you're not going to do that, get another drive or two and mirror that shit or you will lose it eventually. the cheapest way to run multiple external drives is to get a bay that fits a bunch of internal drives, like this one: http://cooldrives.com/qudrmifi80dr.html

― jhoshea (jhoshea), Friday, 1 September 2006 18:25 (seventeen years ago) link

that hard drive would certainly work, but it seems a bit expensive--dunno about uk electronics discounters, but i can find a 400GB drive for $100US. you'd still need an enclosure (maybe $20 more), but £92.50 seems exorbitant.

― m00kiepr00f (m00kiepr00f), Friday, 1 September 2006 18:31 (seventeen years ago) link

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