We define a drive as "portable" if it does not need a power supply and attaches easily to the computer.

Flash drives, drives that use "flash" memory, also called "thumb" drives are NOT considered portable drives by the guys at Braintree Athletics. These drives are not yet large enough to hold an entire digital game film. They are great to have, and they can hold lots of other kinds of information, but they haven't built one yet that will hold ten gigabytes of data (ten gigabytes is a little more than one game film).

Portable drives come in two basic versions. USB2 and Firewire. Both of these use "bus power" to make them work. Simply plug in the drive and they work as they draw power from the attached computer.

Each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

USB2

USB2 portable drives are very easy to attach. Most newer computers come with a built in USB2 port. If your computer has more than one USB2 port, you can attach additional USB2 drives, one drive per port. It takes about six minutes to move an average size game film onto a USB2 drive. USB2 drives are less expensive, generally, than the Firewire drives described below. Be careful, beware, and read twice all the information on the box and do not buy a USB1 drive. They are incredibly slow.

Advantage:

1. Cost.
2. Most computers, Macs and PCs, come with USB2 ports built in.

Disadvantage:

1. Cannot attach a USB2 drive to a USB2 drive.
2. They cannot be "daisy-chained", you are limited by the number of available ports.

Firewire

Firewire drives are also very easy to attach. Firewire ports are standard on all Macintosh computers, but are not always found on a PC. It is fairly easy to add a Firewire card to a desktop PC or laptop through the addition of a separate card. Firewire comes in two versions, Firewire 400 and Firewire 800. Macintosh computers come with at least one 400 port. Some may come with both a 400 and 800 port. Firewire 800 is twice as fast as Firewire 400. Portable Firewire 800 drives are difficult to find however. Firewire 400 and USB2 have relatively similar transfer speeds.

Advantage:

Firewire drives can be attached to each other. This allows you to attach as many as 72 different drives! A portable Firewire drive can be attached to a larger, attached Firewire drive without having to unplug anything from your computer.

Disadvantage:

1. Cost - $25 more - approximately.
2. Most PC's do NOT have Firewire ports and will need one added.

Combo!

This might be the best choice of all! Lacie's Mobile Hard Drive has both a Firewire and USB2 port. This would allow you to make your intital connection to your Mac with the Firwire port and after making all the file transifers moving the drive to your PC and using your USB2 connection. You can find it on Apple's web site, Lacie's Web Site or through most online computer equipment suppliers. It's $119.95 on Apple's web site, product number: TD269LL/A