Any recommendations for external hard drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Googs
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Googs

Hello all

I'm looking for some recommendations of external hard drives. I need
to occasionally carry around a lot of data (about 120gb and slowly
growing). I want a good quality external hard drive which has a fast
data transfer and about 180gb of storage space, but as small and light
as possible.

Any suggestions of what models i should be looking at? Is usb 2.0 the
fastest connection to an external hard drive?

Thanks
 
Previously Googs said:
Hello all
Click to expand...
I'm looking for some recommendations of external hard drives. I need
to occasionally carry around a lot of data (about 120gb and slowly
growing). I want a good quality external hard drive which has a fast
data transfer and about 180gb of storage space, but as small and light
as possible.
Click to expand...
Any suggestions of what models i should be looking at? Is usb 2.0 the
fastest connection to an external hard drive?
Click to expand...

If money is not an issue, get a 2.5" drive. Cooler and more shock
resistant. Otherwise make sure you get a case with good cooling.

And while USB 2.0 is definitely not the fastest interface
by a fair margin (eSATA is), it is typically available on most
computers.

Arno
 
If money is not an issue, get a 2.5" drive. Cooler and more shock
resistant. Otherwise make sure you get a case with good cooling.

And while USB 2.0 is definitely not the fastest interface
by a fair margin (eSATA is), it is typically available on most
computers.

Arno
Click to expand...

Cheers for the info Arno.

Should i be looking for (or staying away from) any particular brands
or models in your opinion?

What connection do i need to have on my laptop in order for eSATA to
work? As far as i can tell i've only got usb and firewire.
 
Cheers for the info Arno.

Should i be looking for (or staying away from) any particular brands
or models in your opinion?

What connection do i need to have on my laptop in order for eSATA to
work? As far as i can tell i've only got usb and firewire.
Click to expand...

After looking around a bit, i'm leaning towards the Seagate Freeagent
Go 160gb, it's got some really good reviews.
 
Cheers for the info Arno.
Click to expand...

You are welcome.
Should i be looking for (or staying away from) any particular brands
or models in your opinion?
Click to expand...

Well, don't get Maxtor. Theri drives die when hot and their enclosures
are badly cooled. Personally I don't trust WD. LaChie is design
over reliability. For 3.5" disks and USB, I use Agrosy enclosures
with Samsung disks (self assembled, not hard). This combination
stays reasonably cool even under load. But don't put Maxtor or
other high-power disks in there, they may heat up to the point of
catastrophic failure. Link: http://www.argosy.nl/product/hd360u.htm

Sorry for the complex answer, but the market is a mess, with many
products that will desert you, form over function, lies, "high
reliability" devices that are anything but and the like.
What connection do i need to have on my laptop in order for eSATA to
work? As far as i can tell i've only got usb and firewire.
Click to expand...

Hmm. You would need to get an eSATA interface card. Probably not worth
the effort. Use the USB, it will still give you something like
20MB/sec. You can also get the Argosy enclosures with USB+FireWire,
if you want to try that.

Arno
 
After looking around a bit, i'm leaning towards the Seagate Freeagent
Go 160gb, it's got some really good reviews.
Click to expand...

Looks good to me. Just remember to get more than one.

Arno
 
Googs said:
I'm looking for some recommendations of external hard drives. I need
to occasionally carry around a lot of data (about 120gb and slowly
growing). I want a good quality external hard drive which has a fast
data transfer and about 180gb of storage space, but as small and light
as possible.
Click to expand...

If you dont care about the price, that means using a laptop drive.
Any suggestions of what models i should be looking at?
Is usb 2.0 the fastest connection to an external hard drive?
Click to expand...

Nope, esata is much faster.
 
Should i be looking for (or staying away from) any particular brands
or models in your opinion?
Click to expand...

I prefer to assemble it myself from the components.

That way you retain the full 3-5 year warranty on the drive.

Otherwise you are stuck with the universal 1 year warranty on assembled externals.
What connection do i need to have on my laptop in order for eSATA to work?
Click to expand...

esata, which means a card for the laptop.
As far as i can tell i've only got usb and firewire.
Click to expand...

Yes, that is typical. You likely dont really need the fastest, firewire should be fine.
 
You are welcome.


Well, don't get Maxtor. Theri drives die when hot and their enclosures
are badly cooled. Personally I don't trust WD. LaChie is design
over reliability. For 3.5" disks and USB, I use Agrosy enclosures
with Samsung disks (self assembled, not hard). This combination
stays reasonably cool even under load. But don't put Maxtor or
other high-power disks in there, they may heat up to the point of
catastrophic failure. Link:http://www.argosy.nl/product/hd360u.htm

Sorry for the complex answer, but the market is a mess, with many
products that will desert you, form over function, lies, "high
reliability" devices that are anything but and the like.


Hmm. You would need to get an eSATA interface card. Probably not worth
the effort. Use the USB, it will still give you something like
20MB/sec. You can also get the Argosy enclosures with USB+FireWire,
if you want to try that.

Arno
Click to expand...


I've got about a dozen Maxtors of various vintages.
They do tend to run a bit hot, but none has ever quit on me.

I also have about a dozen WD portables (no brick required, they're
powered by USB).
The latest (160 GB Passport) are about the size of a pack of
cigarettes (but thinner), and easily fit into a shirt pocket.
CostCo is selling them for $109 at the moment.

USB (2.0) isn't superfast, but it serves my needs.
I have one USB 1.1 computer, and the only time I notice the slowdown
is when I'm copying gigabytes of data.
 
Previously Zoltan said:
I've got about a dozen Maxtors of various vintages.
They do tend to run a bit hot, but none has ever quit on me.
Click to expand...

I have had around 50 run in servers for 3 years in a climatized
server room. No fatalities. I have had one heat up enough for
catastrophic failuer in an external enclosure. There arae also
frequent postings here ofrom people that have lost Maxtors.
I also have about a dozen WD portables (no brick required, they're
powered by USB).
The latest (160 GB Passport) are about the size of a pack of
cigarettes (but thinner), and easily fit into a shirt pocket.
CostCo is selling them for $109 at the moment.
Click to expand...

Oh, my primary problem with WD is that they are lying to
their cistomers. Because of this it is impossible to
say whether they have some larger problem or not. So my
advice is to stay away from WD.

Arno
 
OP asked:
SIIG makes a 2-port eSATA Express Card adapter for laptops:
http://siig.com/product.asp?catid=10&pid=1099
Kingwin makes an external eSATA enclosure with a power brick:
http://kingwin.com/jt35eubk.asp
You can buy various eSATA cables here:
http://www.firewire-1394.com/sata-cables-shielded.htm
and here:
http://svc.com/esata-cable.html

eSATA would give you speed, cheap desktop hard drives, and
the ability to boot from external storage. Downside - you'd be
carrying around a lot of stuff.

*TimDaniels*
 
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