You would have to be more specific with specific models. But it should be noted that drives designed for mobile use typically are designed to take a little more physical abuse than those designed to be installed in desktop PCs. Their read/write heads, for example are designed to quickly move over a safe "landing zone" if they sense they are being dropped. This help prevent the head banging into the platters damaging the head and/or platter. That said, SSDs have no moving parts so they naturally can take a little more abuse. Plus, they generate less heat (always good in confined notebook cases), consume less energy (good for battery run times) and of course, even the slowest SSD can run circles around the fastest hard drives.
So, when you say "mobile" do you mean a hard drive designed to be installed in a notebook? Or do you really mean something like an external drive?
Well, if it is external, you can probably call it mobile. I don't use one. Instead, I have an old computer I re-purposed to use as a backup server. But I have seen lots of problems with external drives of all brands - most having to do with connectivity problems. If you have a choice, I recommend eSATA over USB. But your computer has to support eSATA. If you really need it to be mobile (that is, you take it on the road), then you are pretty much stuck with USB. If it will be staying put in your home, you might want to consider a NAS (network attached storage) instead. These are external drives that connect to your network, not your computer. From there, any computer on your network can use it. The only advice I can really give (until someone with more experience with these comes along) is don't buy the cheapest you find. I would also go for one with USB 3.0 even if your computer only has USB 2.0. This will ensure better future proofing.
How is data write speed for these ? Is not it quite slow to write a bug data line an image back up to NAS drive. Thanks
Thanks, Bill' I got a 1 TB WD. I had one and it worked fine. I have two computers and want two external HD. Jerry
Most local Ethernet networks can support up to 1000Mbps (1Gbps), in theory. USB 2.0 can support up to 480Mbps, in theory. Most transfer speeds never really reach those theoretical limits. A 1000Mbps Ethernet network, could, in theory, transfer ~6GB/minute, or 280 GB/hour. USB 3.0 can support up to 5Gbps (though it is typically closer to 4Gbps) as long as every device (including the cable) can support USB 3.0. Even with optimum conditions, it can take hours to create an image of a large hard drive. But still, how often would you be writing and image to your back up drive? And for that matter, there is no need to sit there and wait for it to get done. You can schedule these things for the middle of the night when you are asleep. I note many connect their external drives via USB to their routers (as many routers support USB these days). This is to allow easier sharing of the device. So the transfer rate would be limited by the slowest link. But it is important note all kinds of things affect actual file transfer speeds - including each drive's performance, size of the file, fragmentation and free space on the drives, and more. Plus much depends on how tasked the computer is too. Well, that will work. Just note that a good, robust backup plan requires multiple backups to multiple devices since backup devices can fail too. And remember "physical" security. What happens if your home burns to the ground, is flooded, takes a direct lightning strike, or is hit by a tornado or hurricane? Or what if a bad guy breaks into your home and steals your computers? He/she is most likely to grab your backup drives too, if they are sitting on your desk next to your computers. So it is always best to have an off-site backup location too - at a trusted neighbors or relative's house - or better yet, a safe deposit box at your bank.
I own the slim one: http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/consumer/backup/backup-plus/#features works like a champ
I bought a WD 1 tb Elements for $55.00 on Amazon. It is one of the least expensive ones. I am not sure why the differences in the prices. Anyone care to explain? I have one, and it works fine. Thanks, Jerry
Actually I once bought a Wireless Toshiba Hard Drive and connected it to the network but the data transfer speed was too slow that I cancelled this plan and started using it as a normal USB hard disk.
There could be dozens of reasons. Not all drives are the same. Different interfaces. Better cooling. Fancier case. Why are these WD 1TB drives different prices? Wireless is slower than 1000Mbps Ethernet even with the best connection. There are too many variables with every setup. Don't assume all NAS devices on all networks are slow.
