Question about external drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jorge Cervantes
  • Start date Start date
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Jorge Cervantes

I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I saw
this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not have SATA
drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive? TIA. Jorge
 
Jorge said:
I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I saw
this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not
have SATA drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive?
Click to expand...

No. Not if you don't have eSATA.

I bet it can use the USB connection... (If you have USB 2.0 anyway.)
You *may* be able (doubtful) use the FireWire connection (FW) they mention
(1394...)

But you do not have eSATA unless you added it with a card on those 4-5 year
old systems and if you had added it - you would know and not have asked,
"Can my computer use eSATA external drive?".

(eSATA - Google it.) ;-)

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )
 
I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I saw
this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not have SATA
drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive? TIA. Jorge
Click to expand...

Not without you installing a card, and it is doubtful that the card
will work in those computers.
 
Jorge Cervantes said:
I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I saw
this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not have
SATA drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive? TIA. Jorge
Click to expand...

You did not do your homework.
The hard drive is eSATA. The interface has 3 ways to interface to include
eSATA, USB2, and Firewire to the PC. The interface is your focus for all
these computers as to working with the drive, not eSATA specifically. The
operating system is also a concern regarding full recognition of the entire
hard drive according to WD's website. There are 2 general links,
westerndigital.com and wdc.com, depends how much you like to type.

Specifically in my opinion, I don't trust any external hard drive product.
I'd rather make my own to include a separate external enclosure and separate
hard drive. But, since you're asking general questions regarding hardware
compatibility without revealing your specific hardware, maybe you should go
with such a product.
 
I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I
saw this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not
have SATA drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive? TIA. Jorge
Click to expand...

It says it connects by USB or Firewire, so ... your question is
confusing. SATA, eSATA, etc. are all going to be taken care of inside
the external case. You don't care as long as you have a USB 2 or
firewire connection for it. You would only care about eSATA if you
wanted to install it inside your computer instead of as an external
drive, in which case it's a different set of issues.

I hope you're not buying it from eBAY. Please, be very careful. Newegg
seems to have the best price I saw in a quick check on it.

excerpt from wD
Easy to set up, easy to use - Installation is a snap because you
don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's ready to
use.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience
and compatibility among multiple computers.
Fits right in - Takes no more space than a paperback book. Collect
two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a shelf.
Smart and energy efficient - Turns itself on and off with your
computer.
PC and Mac compatible - Works with both Windows® 2000/XP/Vista and
Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later
Ideal for
a.. Instant storage
b.. Easy to use
c.. USB 2.0
d.. Saving and organizing your digital photo collection

System Requirements
a.. Available USB port
b.. Windows® 2000/XP/Vista®
c.. Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later

Package Includes
a.. External hard drive
b.. USB cable
c.. AC adapter
d.. Quick Install Guide



HTH

Twayne
 
Jorge Cervantes said:
You did not do your homework.
The hard drive is eSATA. The interface has 3 ways to interface to
include eSATA, USB2, and Firewire to the PC. The interface is your
focus for all these computers as to working with the drive, not eSATA
specifically. The operating system is also a concern regarding full
recognition of the entire hard drive according to WD's website. There
are 2 general links, westerndigital.com and wdc.com, depends
how much you like to type.
Specifically in my opinion, I don't trust any external hard drive
product. I'd rather make my own to include a separate external
enclosure and separate hard drive. But, since you're asking general
questions regarding hardware compatibility without revealing your
specific hardware, maybe you should go with such a product.
Click to expand...

Actually if you look again, he gave the exact information needed to find
it at WD or anywhere else. And eSATA isn't part of the picture unless
you take the drive out of hte case.
 
Jorge said:
I have 4-5 years old computers at home and office.
I was thinking about buying external drives during this holidays. I saw
this ad today:

Western Digital 1TB MyBook USB/FW/eSATA $126

This external drive comes with eSATA drive but my computers do not
have SATA drives.
Can my computer use eSATA external drive?
Click to expand...
It says it connects by USB or Firewire, so ... your question is
confusing. SATA, eSATA, etc. are all going to be taken care of
inside the external case. You don't care as long as you have a USB
2 or firewire connection for it. You would only care about eSATA
if you wanted to install it inside your computer instead of as an
external drive, in which case it's a different set of issues.

I hope you're not buying it from eBAY. Please, be very careful. Newegg
seems to have the best price I saw in a quick check on it.

excerpt from wD
Easy to set up, easy to use - Installation is a snap because
you don't really install this drive, you just plug it in and it's
ready to use.
USB 2.0 interface - A simple connection that offers convenience
and compatibility among multiple computers.
Fits right in - Takes no more space than a paperback book.
Collect two or more and they nest neatly together like volumes on a
shelf. Smart and energy efficient - Turns itself on and off
with your computer.
PC and Mac compatible - Works with both Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
and Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later
Ideal for
a.. Instant storage
b.. Easy to use
c.. USB 2.0
d.. Saving and organizing your digital photo collection

System Requirements
a.. Available USB port
b.. Windows® 2000/XP/Vista®
c.. Mac® OS X 10.4.8 or later

Package Includes
a.. External hard drive
b.. USB cable
c.. AC adapter
d.. Quick Install Guide
Click to expand...

Twayne,

I believe you may be the confused one here.

eSATA is "External SATA". It is a connection similar to USB and Firewire.
SATA, PATA, IDE, EIDE, etc are the classic 'internal' (although I don't like
using that word - as you can have firewire/usb ports that are only
accessible inside a computer case) connect media to the computer.

I cannot actually expalin it in more simplistic terms than this:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_eSata

I have several external drives now that I use on my newer computers via
eSATA and on my older machines via USB and FireWire. It's just a different
external connector/different cable with different capabilitis (performance
levels.)

I believe you quoted the wrong drive.

I bet this is the one the OP was asking about:
http://www.frys.com/product/5554200

Which would be this one on Western Digital's site:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=374

Looking at the specifications, you can see why someone might want eSATA
instead of USB or Firewire:

FireWire 800
Serial Bus Transfer Rate (1394b) 800 Mbits/s (Max)
eSATA
Serial Bus Transfer Rate (eSATA) 3 Gb/s (Max)
FireWire 400
Serial Bus Transfer Rate (1394a) 400 Mbits/s (Max)
USB 2.0
Serial Bus Transfer Rate (USB 2.0) 480 Mbits/s (Max)


BTW - I say that is the drive the OP speaks of because it meets their
specifications exactly.

Frys.com has the Western Digital 1TB MyBook Studio Edition Triple Interface
External Hard Drive WDH1W10000N for $120 + $6 shipping = $126 shipped.
Supports connection via USB 2.0, FireWire 400/800, and eSATA.

( They (those who posted the Black Friday deal) even provide a review:
http://bensbargains.net/deal/76029/ )
 
Twayne said:
Actually if you look again, he gave the exact information needed to find
it at WD or anywhere else. And eSATA isn't part of the picture unless
you take the drive out of hte case.
Click to expand...

Actually, hard drives used inside external drive boxes are not
much different from the drives put inside computers, viz., IDE,
SATA, SCSI, etc. "eSATA" designates an external SATA port, which
is evidently available with this WD external hard drive setup
(i.e., a hard drive inside an external hard drive case) in
addition to USB and Firewire.
 
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