Thanks for the quick reply.

Okay, so today i'm aiming at a 250gig WD drive if i can find one thats 7200rpm. that'll give me 50 gig extra room, and a truckload of faster data i/o

I'm happy to do the transfer on my desktop, and by pulling out my other drives, nothing can go wrong with the precious data. But i'll definately look into eSata.

Thanks so much, Will be doing the process today or tomorrow and I'll be sure to update the result, for other NooB's!

[edit first post, i meant to say 5,400rpm, not 5,200rpm :S]