External HD Question

I have never used a USB external HD and I want to purchase one to be used to backup an older laptop and my desktop. I only need about 160 GB. Would I be better off to buy a complete unit or purchase an internal HD and put it in an external case. Also since my laptop is not USB 2.0 I think I should get one that has a separate power suppy. Any thoughts or suggestions, brands, ect. Thanks.

 

This is probably a matter of personal preference. I like to build my own. It's cheaper and the warranty is longer on the drive. There are some models that will run off USB or a power adaptor so you can use what works. If you don't need the power adaptor, then you don't have the extra cord. If you do need it, then it's available.

If your laptop is not USB 2, get a USB 2.0 PCMCIA/CardBus Card for it (assuming it has a slot). USB 1 will be pretty much useless. I think the NEC USB chipsets are pretty well supported by TI and Linux in general.

 

If you often travel with your laptop then i'd suggest getting a self powered 2.5" external laptop hard drive for convenience. I use one on my old x23 thinkpad laptop which only has usb 1.0 and it works fine. Backup/restore is pretty slow so i try to keep image sizes to a minimum size.

 

I believe that the main issue you will see is that using the USB 1.1 specification (12 Mbit/s) the transfer rate will be considerably slower than USB 2.0 (480 Mbits/s). [Useless information at this point – I read that the USB 3.0 (4.8 Gbits/s) specification is planned to be released in the first half of 2008]. Using a drive that has its own power supply is a wise decision in my opinion.
I have purchased two Seagate 320 GB FreeAgent USB drives (not the Pro version) and find them to be excellent. They are 7200 RPM drives and available in 250, 320 and 500 GB with a five year warranty. I’ve searched for chipset information for available enclosures but unfortunately it’s difficult to know what chipset is used because it’s generally not included in the specs provided. NEC USB chipsets generally work well however.

Bruce

 

All 3.5 external drive enclosures will have an external power supply. A 3.5 external will also be much cheaper than a 2.5 type. And if you put it together yourself (only two cables to connect) you will save even more.

But which you get depends on your preferences, and as someone else pointed out, if you will be travelling a lot with it, the 2.5 will be more convenient.