Skype me, baby!

Can't share my pet's name, not PC enough; but I'd sure like a pair of those fantabulous speakers!

Two thousand five hundred and fourteen replies? Holy Batman on a pogo stick!

It doesn't cost €600 - I bought one as a Christmas gift for a client just two days ago for €519 (incl. 19% VAT) from a perfectly reputable retailer (cyberport.de). And yes, it already arrived.

Everything is a limiting factor - the drive, 2.5" drives are always slower than 3.5" ones, even at identical rotational speeds; the drive itself, not every manufacturer tries to squeeze every last ms out of their products; the bus, not much point in using a 7200rpm drive via FW400; as well as the FW-chipset used in the enclosure (Oxford has a good rep here).

If speed is king and money isn't a factor, get a LaCie 2.5" RAID (up to $700), or an external enclosure from http://www.wiebetech.com and buy your own 7200rpm drive at newegg. If you live in Europe, you may also want to look at enclosure from http://www.macpower.com.tw.

These WD, Seagate, etc. drives are compromises - max. revenue for the manufacturer @ lowest possible cost. Doesn't mean they're crap per se, but nothing to write home about performance-wise.

I have the FW400/320GB version of this drive; cheesiest looking plastics ever, not even an activity light in the front, and - worst of all - can't be used with standard FW cables (WD provides their own). Cheap at the register, and cheap is what you get. Not recommended.