External Hard drives

MasterSprtn117 · 06-14-2008, 11:48 AM

My computer's old and it's only got 40gb.

Yes, yes, I know. It's small. Some of you guys probably have a music collection that's larger than that. Maybe even twice as large. Soo...I'm thinking about getting an external hard drive to I can save all the things on my computer I really don't want to lose (music, movies, psp stuff, and family pics) because I think the hard drive might be slowly corrupting. What do I need to look for when buying an external hard drive? I don't one that takes forever to get stuff onto and off of it, but don't really want to pay alot. Any recommendations?

brahmasoccer09 · 06-14-2008, 12:03 PM

If anything, look for price. The big guns (WD, Seagate) tend to make their own, but lots of their HDs end up being rebranded. Sometimes its easier to buy a big internal one and then just put it in an external case to save the money. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2243358,00.asp

Dizzy · 06-14-2008, 12:10 PM

You can find some excellent deals on HDDs if you look in the Sunday ads.
I'll also recommend Seagate and Western Digital... they both have 5 year warranties and tend to be the most reliable.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-14-2008, 12:10 PM

That seems a little expensive for building it yourself...

jackluo923 · 06-14-2008, 12:48 PM

How about spending $70 for 500GB internal HDD and buy a $15 casem, $100 total.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-14-2008, 01:00 PM

How come the other site brahmasoccer09 posted listed a case as $57 and an eSATA card as $80?

brahmasoccer09 · 06-14-2008, 01:20 PM

Cause that one uses an eSATA for near-internal speed transfers. You can easily make the USB one- a tutorial is here: http://lifehacker.com/software/hard-...ive-253847.php . It's cheaper, but a little slower.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-16-2008, 01:33 PM

How much slower are you talking about?

jackluo923 · 06-16-2008, 02:14 PM

The ESATA II is rated at 300megabyte/s or 2400mbit/s transferspeed. USB 2.0 is rated at 60megabyte/s or 480mbit/s transfer speed. Under optimal condition, you'll get about 250MB/s for ESATA II and only 30MB/s transfer speed. A current 500GB hdd can reach over 80MB/s sustained read speed and over 150MB/s burst speed. So by using usb2.0 interface, you'll be limiting your hdd performance to about 30MB/s.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-16-2008, 02:29 PM

I'm a little confused. Do you mean 30MB/s, oir 30MB per file?

Cheapliquid · 06-16-2008, 02:39 PM

if im not mistaken he means that if you do usb, the read speed will be at 30 mb at a time, if u use the esata card it would be 80 mb.

I have two external hard drives, one 100 gig, another 250 gig, and they were rather inexpensive, a nice western digital is great quality, and do you plan on getting a new computer soon? say.. next 2 years?

jackluo923 · 06-16-2008, 02:40 PM

30mb/s

You've mistaken me
"if im not mistaken he means that if you do usb, the read speed will be at 30 mb at a time, if u use the esata card it would be 80 mb."

Even though the harddrive is capable of doing 80MB/s, if you use the USB interface, the maximum transfer speed will be limited to 30MB/s.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-16-2008, 03:01 PM

Ah, ok. You're just talking about the transfer speed. Although the ESATA would be great, it most likely costs alot more...right?

Yeah, I'm planning to get a new computer soon...when I get the money. That might take awhile.

jackluo923 · 06-16-2008, 03:11 PM

ESATA should be cheaper to make than USB, but ESATA isn't as widespread as USB. Hopefully next year, the ESATA specification will be more popular. If your new computer has a empty SATA port or a ESATA port i highly suggest you buy a ESATA external hdd case.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-16-2008, 06:25 PM

Looks like I'll be getting USB then. My computer is about four or five years old..so. Yeah.

SilentWalrus · 06-16-2008, 06:52 PM

I'd just buy an internal hard drive and get a case.
It's cheaper and you get more space.
Go to www.newegg.com for the best deals.

MasterSprtn117 · 06-17-2008, 07:36 AM

Would I be looking in "External Enclosures" for a case?

CameleonMK · 06-17-2008, 03:52 PM

I have a WD 320GB my passport and I like it. $130 really isn't that steep. And all the colors are just wow.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_e?...sential+320GB+

jackluo923 · 06-17-2008, 04:05 PM

I think he's looking for a 3.5" external hdd.

First of all, there are couple flaws with WD passport ( i have 320gb wd passport aswell, except i got it for free)
1) Sometimes it does not start because it requires more than 500ma @5v thus sometimes gives you BSOD or does not function at all.
2) The drive spin down to save energy thus when it spins up, sometimes it'll disconnect other usb devices when it spins up.
3) It's very pricy compared to 3.5" hdd.

A 3.5" hdd (500GB) only cost about $65USD. 640GB 3.5" hdd cost about $70. So he is much better off with a 3.5" hdd in terms of value.

06-14-2008, 11:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	External Hard drives My computer's old and it's only got 40gb. Yes, yes, I know. It's small. Some of you guys probably have a music collection that's larger than that. Maybe even twice as large. Soo...I'm thinking about getting an external hard drive to I can save all the things on my computer I really don't want to lose (music, movies, psp stuff, and family pics) because I think the hard drive might be slowly corrupting. What do I need to look for when buying an external hard drive? I don't one that takes forever to get stuff onto and off of it, but don't really want to pay alot. Any recommendations? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-14-2008, 12:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
brahmasoccer09 Squirt Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 26 Reputation: 13 $zB: 27 Donate	If anything, look for price. The big guns (WD, Seagate) tend to make their own, but lots of their HDs end up being rebranded. Sometimes its easier to buy a big internal one and then just put it in an external case to save the money. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/...2243358,00.asp __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-14-2008, 12:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
Dizzy caucASIAN, but not as cool as ASIANS Moderator Ultimate Zuner Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 6,634 Reputation: 275 $zB: 111 Donate Awards Showcase Total Awards: 4	You can find some excellent deals on HDDs if you look in the Sunday ads. I'll also recommend Seagate and Western Digital... they both have 5 year warranties and tend to be the most reliable. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Dizzy - Founder of zB REDnecks. Master Chief of Hillbillies.

06-14-2008, 12:10 PM	#4 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	That seems a little expensive for building it yourself... __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-14-2008, 12:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
jackluo923 Support Team Senior Zuner Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver BC Posts: 1,275 Reputation: 122 $zB: 759 Donate	How about spending $70 for 500GB internal HDD and buy a $15 casem, $100 total. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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06-14-2008, 01:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	How come the other site brahmasoccer09 posted listed a case as $57 and an eSATA card as $80? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-14-2008, 01:20 PM	#7 (permalink)
brahmasoccer09 Squirt Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 26 Reputation: 13 $zB: 27 Donate	Cause that one uses an eSATA for near-internal speed transfers. You can easily make the USB one- a tutorial is here: http://lifehacker.com/software/hard-...ive-253847.php . It's cheaper, but a little slower. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 01:33 PM	#8 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	How much slower are you talking about? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 02:14 PM	#9 (permalink)
jackluo923 Support Team Senior Zuner Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver BC Posts: 1,275 Reputation: 122 $zB: 759 Donate	The ESATA II is rated at 300megabyte/s or 2400mbit/s transferspeed. USB 2.0 is rated at 60megabyte/s or 480mbit/s transfer speed. Under optimal condition, you'll get about 250MB/s for ESATA II and only 30MB/s transfer speed. A current 500GB hdd can reach over 80MB/s sustained read speed and over 150MB/s burst speed. So by using usb2.0 interface, you'll be limiting your hdd performance to about 30MB/s. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by jackluo923 : 06-16-2008 at 02:40 PM.

06-16-2008, 02:29 PM	#10 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	I'm a little confused. Do you mean 30MB/s, oir 30MB per file? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 02:39 PM	#11 (permalink)
Cheapliquid Jr. Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 341 Reputation: 22 $zB: 197 Donate	if im not mistaken he means that if you do usb, the read speed will be at 30 mb at a time, if u use the esata card it would be 80 mb. I have two external hard drives, one 100 gig, another 250 gig, and they were rather inexpensive, a nice western digital is great quality, and do you plan on getting a new computer soon? say.. next 2 years? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 02:40 PM	#12 (permalink)
jackluo923 Support Team Senior Zuner Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver BC Posts: 1,275 Reputation: 122 $zB: 759 Donate	30mb/s You've mistaken me "if im not mistaken he means that if you do usb, the read speed will be at 30 mb at a time, if u use the esata card it would be 80 mb." Even though the harddrive is capable of doing 80MB/s, if you use the USB interface, the maximum transfer speed will be limited to 30MB/s. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by jackluo923 : 06-16-2008 at 02:56 PM.

06-16-2008, 03:01 PM	#13 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	Ah, ok. You're just talking about the transfer speed. Although the ESATA would be great, it most likely costs alot more...right? Yeah, I'm planning to get a new computer soon...when I get the money. That might take awhile. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 03:11 PM	#14 (permalink)
jackluo923 Support Team Senior Zuner Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver BC Posts: 1,275 Reputation: 122 $zB: 759 Donate	ESATA should be cheaper to make than USB, but ESATA isn't as widespread as USB. Hopefully next year, the ESATA specification will be more popular. If your new computer has a empty SATA port or a ESATA port i highly suggest you buy a ESATA external hdd case. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 06:25 PM	#15 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	Looks like I'll be getting USB then. My computer is about four or five years old..so. Yeah. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-16-2008, 06:52 PM	#16 (permalink)
SilentWalrus Large Walrus Support Team Premium Member Graduate Zuner Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Omaha, Nebraska Posts: 1,435 Reputation: 91 $zB: 1229 Donate	I'd just buy an internal hard drive and get a case. It's cheaper and you get more space. Go to www.newegg.com for the best deals. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Thanks for the sig stkr. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-17-2008, 07:36 AM	#17 (permalink)
MasterSprtn117 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dallas, Tx Posts: 654 Reputation: 29 $zB: 598 Donate	Would I be looking in "External Enclosures" for a case? __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-17-2008, 04:05 PM	#19 (permalink)
jackluo923 Support Team Senior Zuner Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Greater Vancouver BC Posts: 1,275 Reputation: 122 $zB: 759 Donate	I think he's looking for a 3.5" external hdd. First of all, there are couple flaws with WD passport ( i have 320gb wd passport aswell, except i got it for free) 1) Sometimes it does not start because it requires more than 500ma @5v thus sometimes gives you BSOD or does not function at all. 2) The drive spin down to save energy thus when it spins up, sometimes it'll disconnect other usb devices when it spins up. 3) It's very pricy compared to 3.5" hdd. A 3.5" hdd (500GB) only cost about $65USD. 640GB 3.5" hdd cost about $70. So he is much better off with a 3.5" hdd in terms of value. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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