Is there any advantage to using a SATA hard drive vs a usb external drive with the Istar mini performance wise... if not i was looking to just buy a 500gb Lacie external on amazon, since i needed one anyway...would that work just as well as anything or would something perform better...or would i be better off just getting an eSATA/firewire/usb device

I ordered a 2.5" laptop drive enclosure (with drive 250 mb)
with esata and usb outputs. Another option would be the WD "my book" with esata usb and firewire outputs they refer to them as triple interface. I am awaiting every thing to be delivered so I don't yet know how well things will work together.
Ej

There are two advantages to using a SATA hard drive with the ISTAR:

It allows you to install the extra Networked Media Tank utilities for running the BT client etc. According to ISTAR, this is not supported on a USB hard drive.
It leaves the USB port free so that you can connect a USB keyboard for typing URLs etc. (Not sure if USB hubs are supported.)

There are two advantages to using a SATA hard drive with the ISTAR:

It allows you to install the extra Networked Media Tank utilities for running the BT client etc. According to ISTAR, this is not supported on a USB hard drive.
It leaves the USB port free so that you can connect a USB keyboard for typing URLs etc. (Not sure if USB hubs are supported.)



Powered USB hub is supported (confirm by test).