Adrian,

Some things to consider:

My first 160GB drive failed 2 weeks after ripping all my CDs to it. Luckily, I had it partitioned into three slices. I was able to move one of the partitions to a new drive and a friend was able to recover 90% of the bad one using some utility. I suggest partitioning that new drive into smaller chunks incase one of the partitions develops a problem.

The drive failure forced me to buy a 2nd hard drive that I could use as a backup while the bad drive was sent back. I think it cost $40 after rebates (120GB). Even though the original CDs are technically a backup in themselves, I don't like the idea of spending two weekends re-ripping them when the hard drive crashes.

My setup is a USB external drive -> laptop w/MusicMatch -> Xitel HiFi Link -> optical cable -> Outlaw 950. I've played song tracks simultaneously from my laptop and the original CD using the 950 to switch back and forth. If there is any difference in SQ, it is too small for me to notice during casual listening.