Any more external drive suggestions? Specifically something compact and reliable.

I use a Lacie Porsche portable 250GB firewire 400 drive. So far no problems. I use mine for a bootable clone of my internal hard drive, using CCC to clone.

I bought a Buffalo 300 GB Firewire/USB for $130 or so (in the US). It's been fine.

For a couple years now I've been using a Maxtor 300GB firewire 400 external drive. Knock on wood, it's been holding up well. I keep it locked up in a safe with my camera gear, firearms, etc. It's not technically a 'portable' but it's small, light, and I've brought it a couple places.

As I've only got about 60GB left available in it, I'm thinking of going the RAID route. Getting into video has really eaten up the space, as my primary machine is a G4 mini which came with only a 40GB HD. But, as I'm paranoid about losing all my data with breaking and entering, I'll probably just get another external firewire, to be able to keep it in the safe.

Although I hate LaCie for their lack of support (read not existing) I still like their products.

I have had good experiences with the Porsche drives but I wouldn't use them if you intend to put your drive to heavy use since they don't have fans.

That's why I just recently got two of their Quadra drives and must say that I really like them. They have quiet fans and quiet disks (Seagate). I made a mirrored Raid of them and the speed is amazing. They have FireWire 400 / 800, eSATA, and USB interfaces.

They were only a little more expensive than the Porsche drives.