If I was you I would install PFS or SFS. SFS can be found on Aminet, but I haven't tried it yet. I have only heard good things about it though.
I use PFS2 on my A1200T, and since I've installed it I haven't had 1 checksum error at all, and I installed it in december or so.
The checksum error will come if the computer uses ffs and resets while accesing the disk. The long boot time is when the disk validates itself, but it can't do the trick everytime. Sometimes you'r stuck with a partion you can only salvage by formatting it.
I tried doing the claw while I was accesing my PFS hdd, and nothing happend. It just started up without any errors, and I've tested it a couple of times.
I prefer PFS over FFS as it's more reliable, and the docs claim that it can be up to 400% faster than FFS. I haven't got that much improvement on my drive, but it's definetely faster.
