External Hard Drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steven B. Butts
  • Start date Start date
S

Steven B. Butts

I am about to purchase a USB2.0/1394 external drive for my notebook. I need
to know a few things before I do. Is there an increase in performance at all
from a 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM drive or a drive with 2 Megs of cache to a drive
with 8 Megs of cache with the limitations of 1394? Also, how much does the
brand of drive or external housing unit matter as far as speed and
reliability go? I am leaning towards a Samsung 160GB drive.

Thanks,
Steve
 
I am about to purchase a USB2.0/1394 external drive for
my notebook. I need to know a few things before I do.
Click to expand...
Is there an increase in performance at
all from a 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM drive
Click to expand...

Yes, but that may only be noticeable when moving a lot
of data to or from the external drive, say with ghost etc.
or a drive with 2 Megs of cache to a drive with
8 Megs of cache with the limitations of 1394?
Click to expand...

I doubt you'd be able to pick that with a proper double
blind test without being allowed to use a benchmark etc.

I dont believe anyone can do that even with an internal drive.
Also, how much does the brand of drive or external
housing unit matter as far as speed and reliability go?
Click to expand...

It can make quite a bit of difference, particularly with reliability.

Some drive/housing combinations can get stinking hot,
particularly with the worst combination of a drive that
gets hotter than usual even when mounted in the main
PC case, and no fan in the external housing, and with a
plastic case. Some drives like the Barracudas rely on
conduction to the metal bay stack for cooling and a badly
designed external case can see the drive get stinking hot.
I am leaning towards a Samsung 160GB drive.
Click to expand...

Presumably a P80. Great drives in my opinion, VERY
quiet which is very desirable with an external case.

I wouldnt put one in a plastic external case with no fan tho.
I would put one in a decent aluminium external case with no fan.
 
Thank you for your response.
Yes, but that may only be noticeable when moving a lot
of data to or from the external drive, say with ghost etc.

I doubt you'd be able to pick that with a proper double
blind test without being allowed to use a benchmark etc.

I dont believe anyone can do that even with an internal drive.
Click to expand...

Well, I do plan on doing alot of transferring of files around one Gig and
larger.
I'll be moving around large media files to and from my computer and other
computers.
I'll be transferring large game folders of 3 Gigs and more.
I'll be backing up my smaller hard drive on a regular basis.
I also plan on running a private server to allow others to access these
files.
It can make quite a bit of difference, particularly with reliability.

Some drive/housing combinations can get stinking hot,
particularly with the worst combination of a drive that
gets hotter than usual even when mounted in the main
PC case, and no fan in the external housing, and with a
plastic case. Some drives like the Barracudas rely on
conduction to the metal bay stack for cooling and a badly
designed external case can see the drive get stinking hot.
Click to expand...

I plan on getting an aluminum case that from what I've read has good heat
dissipation.
Is heat the only thing I have to worry about?
What about quality of contruction and speed?
Presumably a P80. Great drives in my opinion, VERY
quiet which is very desirable with an external case.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. The model number is SP1604N or SP1614N for 8MB.
 
Thank you for your response.
Click to expand...

No problem, thats what these technical newsgroups are for.
Well, I do plan on doing alot of transferring of files around one Gig and
larger.
I'll be moving around large media files to and from my computer and other
computers.
I'll be transferring large game folders of 3 Gigs and more.
I'll be backing up my smaller hard drive on a regular basis.
I also plan on running a private server to allow others to access these
files.
Click to expand...

In that case I would certainly get a 7200RPM drive, but
not bother about the 8MB cache unless its free or close
to that or you want a 3 year warranty that only comes
with the 8MB cache versions with all except Samsung.
Samsung has 3 year warrantys on all the versions.
I plan on getting an aluminum case that from
what I've read has good heat dissipation.
Click to expand...

Yes, and thats particularly desirable with
drives that get rid of heat by conduction from
the main drive frame to what its mounted in.
Is heat the only thing I have to worry about?
Click to expand...

Its also desirable with an external drive case that
there is some sort of shock absorption mounting
so that the drive doesnt get jerked around when
the case is bumped with the drive running.
What about quality of contruction and speed?
Click to expand...

Desirable to go with either a firewire or firewire/USB2 case
because firewire has significantly lower protocol overheads
than USB2. Handy to have USB2 as well as firewire for
ocassional quick and dirty uses on systems that only have USB2.
I'm not sure. The model number is SP1604N or SP1614N for 8MB.
Click to expand...

Yep, thats a P80. www.samsunghdd.com
 
What about quality of contruction and speed?
Desirable to go with either a firewire or firewire/USB2 case
because firewire has significantly lower protocol overheads
than USB2. Handy to have USB2 as well as firewire for
ocassional quick and dirty uses on systems that only have USB2.
Click to expand...

That's exactly why I'm getting the USB2.0/1394. I don't even have
USB2.0. I just thought it would be handy. However, I was actually
talking about the quality of the case affecting the speed of the IDE
to 1394 conversion. Do some enclosures handle this better than
others? I wasn't sure if that is anysort of bottleneck or what.

Thanks again for helping me out. I'm glad I found this place.
Would you mind taking a look at this drive and tell me any reasons
I shouldn't get it?
http://www.coolerexpress.com/sa3usb20fiex.html

Thanks,
Steve
 
I just wanted to add this question as long as I'm talking to
a knowlegable person. What drive would you buy if you were I?
 
That's exactly why I'm getting the USB2.0/1394. I don't even have
USB2.0. I just thought it would be handy. However, I was actually
talking about the quality of the case affecting the speed of the IDE to
1394 conversion. Do some enclosures handle this better than others?
Click to expand...

Yes. Cant tell you off hand which ones are better tho, check the reviews.
I wasn't sure if that is anysort of bottleneck or what.
Click to expand...

Not that so much as some are better than others.
Thanks again for helping me out. I'm glad I found this place.
Click to expand...

No problem, thats what these technical newsgroups are for.
Would you mind taking a look at this drive
and tell me any reasons I shouldn't get it?
http://www.coolerexpress.com/sa3usb20fiex.html
Click to expand...

Cant see anything against it, but its a bit light on on the fine detail.
 
I just wanted to add this question as long as I'm talking to
a knowlegable person. What drive would you buy if you were I?
Click to expand...

I'd certainly get that hard drive. In fact I have just bought one.

Gets more complicated with the external case tho.
 
I've been using an ADS DualLink USB2/1394 (includes internal fan)
enclosure 24/7 for over 8 months with not one problem, plus it runs
very cool compared with an external Maxtor DV3000 1394 with the exact
same drive (which runs very hot, especially when stacked when it gets
burning hot plus it has dropped offline a few times with a flashing
green led).
 
I've been using an ADS DualLink USB2/1394 (includes internal fan)
enclosure 24/7 for over 8 months with not one problem, plus it runs
very cool compared with an external Maxtor DV3000 1394 with the exact
same drive (which runs very hot, especially when stacked when it gets
burning hot plus it has dropped offline a few times with a flashing
green led).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've looked at those. I've heard good things about
them, but I'm looking to go as small as possible - 3.5"
with no fan.

I've heard good things about Coolmax.
http://www.coolmaxusa.com/product/product_usb_list_02.html#
 
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