So the plan here is to revolutionize Project Management at my new company.
Yep, you heard it here first.
So the first thing I told the company was that I was going to need a decent portable hard drive, so as to facilitate simpler/quicker/more effective synchronization between my laptop and my desktop…and they did well, I thought.
I was presented with a new LaCie Mobile drive, and I was stoked. LaCie usually rocks the party (rocks the partaaay).
Upon unwrapping, I noticed that the drive comes with two USB cables: one for data, and and one for power (only to be used in the rare event that it’s necessary). I plugged in the data one, and watched the light blink blinkin’ like P Diddy for three or four minutes. It didn’t mount.
Self, let’s give it a go.
Sure enough: my Powerbook doesn’t provide enough bus-side power to run the external drive without plugging in a second USB cable just for power. If you’ve got a 15″ Powerbook, you know that you have to native USB ports – one on each side of the machine. Using both of those ports for one short-cabled device turns your Powerbook into one of those lanyard-wearing, iPod Shuffle-using employees at the Apple store (read: strapped, and difficult to use).
This isn’t going to work. I need an external drive (50 GB or less) that will run on either USB power alone, or Firewire power alone – ON MY POWERBOOK. Help, Internet.
And for all of you PC laptop users who are chuckling to yourself, saying “they all work fine on mine…hehe,” don’t blame me when your computer melts down for refusing to follow the USB power specification.
Nov
26
