A few days ago, an external hard drive with over 1.5 terabytes of data on it, slid off the keyboard area of my laptop and hit the floor. It landed on carpet, so I was hoping it survived. It spins and the lights come on – but my computer won’t recognize it. Fortunately, most of the important stuff (the VH files that I’ll eventually use for blu-rays) are backed up elsewhere, so no major losses.

This is the second time in a couple of years that I’ve lost an external hard drive in this fashion. I have finally taken action.
I present you the Velcro Strap On External Hard Drive ® by Guitard Technologies:

At first, I thought you said you had an external strap on.
Just get a desktop machine !!!
Cool idea.

I have a desktop, but prefer the convenience of a laptop. Not to mention, the laptop is a lot more powerful than the desktop (which is getting pretty old). One thing I really like about the laptop is that I can kick back in the recliner and work in comfort. When a video is ready for encoding, I can take the external hard drive to the desktop – and use it to do the encoding. This way the laptop is free for other things.

I use my laptop as a desktop. I hook up the laptop to a 24″ HD monitor, and 2.1 sound system, external hard drives, mouse, and keyboard.

Then if I want the convenience of traveling, I just unhook and go. Try that with a desktop. I haven’t had a desktop in many years.

I thought a picture of a velco strap-on was coming….

You should market that. Seriously.

Just remember us little guys when you become rich and famous, Randy.

jroundy: I use my laptop as a desktop.I hook up the laptop to a 24″ HD monitor, and 2.1 sound system, external hard drives, mouse, and keyboard.

Then if I want the convenience of traveling, I just unhook and go.Try that with a desktop.I haven’t had a desktop in many years.

Same here, get the best of both that way.

jroundy: I use my laptop as a desktop.I hook up the laptop to a 24″ HD monitor, and 2.1 sound system, external hard drives, mouse, and keyboard.

Then if I want the convenience of traveling, I just unhook and go.Try that with a desktop.I haven’t had a desktop in many years.

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The reason I don’t do this is because I like the flexibility of working on the computer anywhere in the house. If you are connected to a big monitor, external keyboard, etc. – you basically have the same constraints of a desktop because moving all that stuff around is very inconvenient.

guitard: The reason I don’t do this is because I like the flexibility of working on the computer anywhere in the house. If you are connected to a big monitor, external keyboard, etc. – you basically have the same constraints of a desktop because moving all that stuff around is very inconvenient.

Not if you have a second laptop…. In this day in age, you really need two computers, because if one craps out you’re screwed until you can get another. So I have two laptops, with almost identical set-ups, and software. I like the security of having another as a back-up.
I basically use one as a mobile device, and the other as a desktop, that can easily become mobile if needed.
I’ve never had a computer crap out on me, but if and when it happens, it won’t be that big of a deal. I will just begin shopping for another back-up laptop.

jroundy: Not if you have a second laptop….In this day in age, you really need two computers, because if one craps out you’re screwed until you can get another. So I have two laptops, with almost identical set-ups, and software. I like the security of having another as a back-up. I basically use one as a mobile device, and the other as a desktop, that can easily become mobile if needed. I’ve never had a computer crap out on me, but if and when it happens, it won’t be that big of a deal. I will just begin shopping for another back-up laptop.

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A powerful workstation (tower setup) makes life a lot easier for video editing / production. You can have three or four internal 2-3 TB drives, an extremely powerful video card, lots of RAM, etc. And on top of all that – it’s a lot cheaper than a laptop with similar specs (although when it comes to internal hard drives – you are very limited when it comes to laptops).

So having a second laptop to essentially operate as the processor for a work station makes no sense for what I do with a computer.