Seems like lately I’m playing a fun game of “he said” with OWC Chris S. In this installment, I once again have to commend Chris for his well phrased examination on all the features and benefits offered by the Mercury Elite-AL Pro “Triple 
Interface” single bay storage solution.
However, that was back in late July and the “now” news is about lower prices on the “Dual Interface” version of this professional grade storage solution. Featuring FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 interfaces and capacity from 80GB to 2.0TB starting at just $74.99, you just can’t find a better combination of value, performance, and award winning “buy with confidence” reputation in Mac or PC desktop storage.
Here’s a quick “tale of the tape”:
- Oxford 934SSA based performance bridge solution
- Two 1394A pin 6 pin FireWire 400 ports, One USB 2.0 port
- FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 connecting cables included
- Up to 32MB drive cache
- Fully bootable and ideal for applications, A/V, photos, music, etc.
- Certified for Audio/Video and Time Machine
- Compact, shock resistant Aluminum design
- $200 retail value utility bundle: Prosoft DataBackup III (OS X), NovaStor NovaBackup (Windows), Carbon Copy Cloner (OS X), and Intech Speedtools (8.6-10.5.x)
- Fully Mac & PC compatible
- Industry leading 3 year Solution Warranty
So, now that I’ve got your attention, let’s get to the main course…bring on the models!
80GB 7200RPM with 8MB Data Buffer $74.99
160GB 7200RPM with 8MB Data Buffer $ 89.99
250GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $ 95.99
320GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $ 97.99
500GB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $107.99
750GB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $134.99
1.0TB 7200RPM with 16MB Data Buffer $137.99
1.0TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $149.99
1.0TB Enterprise 7200RPM 32MB Buffer $189.99
1.5TB 7200RPM with 32MB Data Buffer $194.99
2.0TB GreenPower w/32MB Data Buffer $299.99 (A $30 drop!)
All of the above models can be found at: https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/400+USB2/
And if you’re a DIY’er, we even offer 0GB “Add Your Own Drive” Kits from $49.99 so you can build a solution with your own supplied hard drive! And of course, we offer the resources you need to make that install easy like free installation videos in our Tech Support area.
I have a PowerMac G4 Digital Audio (466mhz). and have upgraded it with a owc 1.0ghz processor, Radeon 9000 card, 1gb ram. I have a new OWC Mercury Elite Pro 80 GB firewire 400/USB 2.0 External drive which i purchased for storage but have now realized I don’t have the need for significant storage. I still have 15 GB out of 30 GB free space on the original harddrive.
Here’s my question…… is it a good idea to use my external drive as my main bootable drive???? I’m thinking the firewire 400 would be alot faster and of course i have more space if i need it. Is there any reason not to use it as ur permanent main drive???
thanx
Joe
Your G4 is certainly capable of booting off of the external, and can be set to do so by selecting the drive from the Startup Disk preference panel.
However, even with the stock 5400 RPM drive, I believe you’ll still wind up being faster booting from the internal drive, the limiting factor being the FireWire 400 bus. While certainly faster than USB, it still doesn’t quite meet the built-in ATA bus’s speed.
Judging from your brief description of your setup, I would recommend continuing to boot to your internal and use your external drive to make regular backups. Fortunately, all our Storage Solutions come with a full suite of backup software. It would be on the CD that came with your Elite. Just follow the instructions, and you should be on your way.