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I have 2 PCs (Windows XP Professional & Vista Home Premium) and a new IMAC (OSX 10.5.8 // leopard).

I'm looking to purchase a wireless hard drive and I'd like to know your thoughts on what is out there, the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing.

I'm leaning towards the Time Capsule but it seems like it's quite a bit of money. Let me hear your thoughts, and shopping advice.

Update:

Hey guys. Thanks for the advice.

You're all probably right. You know what I forgot to mention? One reason why I was thinking of going wireless is because the USB ports on my Vista HP Pavilion no longer work. It's the motherboard I'm sure; and I have all my data on this computer (80gigs) that I'm trying to get off. Trying to network these computers and transferring large amounts of data isn't working for me either. I just can't think of anything else clever.

Man oh man. Will I have to burn it all to dvd?

Insanity!

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They would have to pay me to use a wireless hard drive. – ChaosPandion Oct 16 '09 at 21:58
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i'm good with it as long as they bought it for me and don't expect to get it back in the same number of pieces. i'm sure it has some lovely components that could be put to better use. :) – quack quixote Oct 17 '09 at 2:50
You can connect the mac to the PC directly via ethernet... that should help you network problems. apple.com/support/switch101/migrate – Chris Nava Oct 17 '09 at 4:29
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4 Answers

up vote 1 down vote

A NAS may be useful - you can connect it to a wireless router, and share it to the computers on your network.

It's not the drive that is wireless, it's the router. The drive connects to the router, and hence can be accessed wirelessly.

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Good idea. Add something like a WD World Book and you can use wireless or wired. It is Time Machine compatible as well. Even an option to access over Internet – Dave M Jan 12 '10 at 16:49
Indeed, I use a WD MyBook World Edition (I think most other MyBooks are direct to computer) - it is usable by any computer on my network, and is a useful way to share common files. – Grant Palin Jan 12 '10 at 17:21
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up vote 0 down vote

I share my sentiment with ChaosPandion. I'd look at some sort of cheap JBOD system like Drobo, plug it into one of the USBs and share it.

Drobo also offers a proper NAS solution if you're willing to splash out a bit, so that you don't have to use one of the boxes' USB ports.

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up vote 0 down vote

You have to understand, anything wireless is exposed to the "air" of network sniffers and hacking in a much easier format. It poses a security risk. It is one thing to put your computer that is hopefully well protected on the internet, but you are usually pretty well protected behind the router. With a wireless HDD broadcasting itself would only entice someone to fiddle with it. Even if the broadcasting is disabled, wardriving can easily pickup such devices.

I'd agree with the previous post, to buy a USB drive from Western Digital and share it. Your other two computers can access it via a network connection.

Of, you'd have to have your computers networked for them to find your computer that is sharing the drive. Then there are also the mini NAS drives (Network Area Storage), if you don't want to use USB but rather ethernet.

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hey.. do you know a good instructional or tutorial on how to network my mac and vista so i can transfer files between them? – miss chohoh Oct 16 '09 at 23:07
Try this: tektodo.com/2008/05/22/… Hope it helps. – AdminAlive Oct 16 '09 at 23:14
While I agree that a NAS on the LAN or attached via USB/FireWire is a better option, unless you're using WEP there is nothing (security wise) wrong with a Wireless NAS (assuming a secure password, natch). – AnonJr Oct 16 '09 at 23:42
Well, reduce the output power then ... so it's usable only in the 1m radius. I quite like the idea, ... no cables in bag. – ldigas Jan 12 '10 at 16:28
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up vote 0 down vote

If the USB ports aren't working, buy a USB card for your PCI slots. The USB bus probably took a dump or there is something weird going on in the registry. I've seen it happen a lot when USBs stop recognizing devices. If that's the case, get a card, they are cheap, 20-30 bucks I think. It will be cheaper than a wireless HDD.

If you install it, here is a video on how to install PCI devices:

youtube.com/watch?v=I2iCxPi1o7E

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thank-you! I think I found what you're talking about.. digital4shop.com/big/4-port-expresscard.jp I never thought of going this way, i haven't used the pci slots for anything before. thanks! – miss chohoh Oct 16 '09 at 23:16
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