[BigBosstrom]

I've got a 6yr old iMac. I want to get an external memory to store all of my music cd's so I know I'll never lose them. I have roughly 400 right now and plan on eventually having 500-600.

I just want something fairly inexpensive. How much memory do I need (10GB, 30GB or more)? I'd also like it to be a USB or FireWire so it will be easy.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[mac_mogul]

Typically, one music CD contains roughly 100mb of music. This means that eventually you plan on having approximately 600,000 mb of music on hand. This can translate to be anywhere from 400-500 GB of storage space. This could be very expensive.
LaCie Would be your best bet for a quality product.

[Qiranworms]

Do you intend on compressing them to AAC or MP3? Or are you ripping them "raw"? If you're going to compress, it's significantly less space. If not, it's as mac_mogul said...(except I can't vouch for or against that brand)

[BigBosstrom]

What about this memory?

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_t...sterid=2641557

Would something like this work?

What's the difference between this and some of the more expensive memory?

Also, something I forgot to mention is I'm putting all my cd's onto iTunes. I think this may compress the files a little so I can get more into less space.

Thanks

[mac_mogul]

Originally posted by BigBosstrom
What's the difference between this and some of the more expensive memory?

Also, something I forgot to mention is I'm putting all my cd's onto iTunes. I think this may compress the files a little so I can get more into less space.

Thanks

I did my calculations based on song file size in iTunes usuing 192kbps sampling rate on AAC audio. Approximately 17 songs per CD -- times 600. A Pocket Sized 40GB HD will hold roughly 7,000 high-quality songs. I'm not sure how many CD's it would hold. Definitely NOT 600. If you plan on storing actual CD's of music, you will definitely need 500+ GBs of storage space.

Originally posted by BigBosstrom
Would something like this work?

This is actually a very poor choice for external storage, especially with a desktop computer like the iMac. The DiskGO! was originally created for people on the move who use laptops and notebook computers. I think you would be very unhappy with a pocket HD. The price is much more per/GB with the portable drive, than with the LaCie drive. I really think that the higher-priced, larger storage unit would be the better investment.

[BigBosstrom]

I just got through importing 421 songs. So far it has taken up about 1.74GB. So if I import 4210 song I'm guessing it would be around 17.4GB.

How about a 50GB or 100GB memory. Doesn't that sound right?

Sorry for all the questions. I really don't know what I'm doing here. I'm just trying to find something of reasonable cost.

Thanks

[mac_mogul]

Originally posted by mac_mogul
Typically, one music CD contains roughly 100mb of music. This means that eventually you plan on having approximately 600,000 mb of music on hand. This can translate to be anywhere from 400-500 GB of storage space. This could be very expensive.
LaCie Would be your best bet for a quality product.

ARGH! I was doing my math all wrong! :mad:

You are correct! anywhere from 50gb to 100gb will hold your CD's just fine!
I have no clue what was making me think that 100 times 600 equals 600,000 :freak:

This is correct:
100 x 600 = 60,000mb
60,000mb / 1024mb = 58 GB

I would suggest an 80gb drive. This will leave room for more if necessary.

[homerj14]

get a Terabyte USB FLash Drive

[Brtnboarder495]

Since when are there terabtye USB flash drives? I'm sure they're real cheap ...

And if every CD has about 12 song on it, and a song of 3:30 in length in Mp4 format, it's about 3.5-4mb in size. So that's about 50mb for one CD.

I'd say 100mb would only be CD's with 20 songs of songs that average out at 3:30. If you have about 12 songs of 4.5-5mb in size, it's probably going to figure out around 75mb. So ... in theory then, if you have 600 CD's, times the average maximum amount of space of music on a CD (100mb), that's 60000 = ~ 55GB. So I'd think the iPod Video 60GB would work (it's actually about 57GB, not 60GB).

Or you could just get a 100HD external HD like others have suggested.

And BTW, when your "storing" files for long-term use, it's called a Hard Drive (HD), not memory. Computers use memory to retain files for short amounts of time when running or opening files or applications.

[homerj14]

hah i was kiddin