Need Advice On An External BackUp Plan for FLAC Files Options

[Leavenfish]

My first post, so be gentle – I am so-so literate about computers but will get lost in more heavy details. Using the search option, I have poured over the forum for the past 24 hrs trying to get pointers to help me create a back up drive for my CD music collection which I want to save as FLAC files…and well, I am getting confused so let me just ask for help. Here is my situation:

I have an 8 yr old Dell Laptop – Inspiron 8200- with a 60GB HD. 46BG are used. USB 1 (I guess USB 2 did not exist back then).

GOAL: I have 300 or more CD’s and would like to burn those directly onto an external HD - not rip an album to my Laptops HD, then export to the External HD - that should take more than twice the amount of time needed since I would constantly have to delete the FLAC album files from my puny laptop HD. I will probably store them in single album folders to make it easy to move specific content to a PMP. I am not tied to that idea though.

PURPOSE: To be able to pull the FLAC files from the external HD directly onto a Portable Music Player and album at a time or individual songs from different albums. Currently, I have a 2GB Samsung P5 (can only hold 20 or so FLAC files at a time, the sound is really nice, believe it or not) but will be getting (probably) the Corwon S9 32 GB before long.

I will get a new Laptop later this year with a 500 GB HD, but would like to get started storing my music now, perhaps then I can use the external HD as a simple back up for the FLAC files, importing maybe half of the music on the new computer.
My girlfriend bought me a 320 GB Western Digital Passport Essential. I am returning it after having trouble disabling the infernal ‘WD Sync’ – even following instructions on the WD website, I continue to loose data…and/or now when I send albums to it, they apparently go there…but disappear. If I try again, I can’t use the same Artist-Album convention as it says the file already exist…but I can’t find it. One great big headache. The ‘Sync’ idea is not for me, I just want an external storage place. BTW I am using the free Express Rip from NCH software for this...works great when I rip straight from CD to my laptops HD.

SUGGESTIONS?
Does anyone have an idea of how I can better go about this or does this look like a reasonable plan?
Can anyone recommend a 500 GB (that should be enough, but 1T is affordable) external HD that would be ideal for this? I am really soured on the WD at the moment. I've been eyeing either a Seagate Freeagent Go or an Iomega eGo - PC World Mag 02/2010 gives the mac version their top honor for Top Portable Hard Drives. Just started searching so neither may be what I need.

I have seen a lot of people here willing to share their experiences so I am hoping some of you will continue to do this - even if you have not had the issues I am beset with but just have some good advice to share. It will be appreciated.

---Leavenfish

[trout]

I also suggest a drive enclosure or dock, and bare OEM drives.

[Leavenfish]

Thanks for all the good advice. One thing I was also wondering about - and this may really sound stupid: will the fact that all these drives are USB2 and my old laptop is a first gen USB make any difference other than the slower transfer speed?

I say that because when I was directly ripping to the WD Passport Essential, I would notice that after sending the the FLAC file from the external drive to the portable music player software displayed on my laptop...there would be skipping and a little crackling at times when I later played back the FLAC file on the PMP. When I ripped to the laptop, then tranfered to the external HD and then sent the FLAC files to the PMP, I never had that happen.