External HDD - a good choice?

What is a decent 250 gb External Harddrive? I was looking at the Western Digital Passport but I am seeing reviews about it not supplying enough power. I prefer something small for portability but stability and function is more important. Also under $200.

 

What i should specifically look for there?

 

For 250gb capacity I dont know of many 2.5" external drives.

You could assemble your own external. For example get this drive with this enclosure. Its just about $200 but the case comes with 2 usb cables so it shouldnt have any power problems.

 

Im not a hardware tech genius so I wouldnt know how to put one together. I would rather buy one.

 

In that case get the Western Digital external but also get this cable (for extra power).

 

Hi, see this post. I never did it but seems so easy!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1408755

 

Fujitsu has a 250GB 2.5" HDD:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/15/fujitsus-250gb-slimster-for-ultra-portable-laptops/

...screamer

 

Hi,

I was asked to post a copy of a post of mine in this location - for general info.
Hope it comes over ok, and is helpful to some...

BTW - I got a terrific suggestion yesterday... I have been working with 2 external USB drives (1 to be offsite most of the time), making direct BU's to 1 or the other... The suggestion was just to do a full 'copy' to the 2nd HDD. Terrific and SIMPLE solution, as I have several generatins of BU in separate files/folders on the 1 HDD. Thanks too.

Now for the real suggestion...

= = =
USB problem update

My problem related to the power supply of my Notebook. I was running a USB HD from the USB port on my Dell Latitude D600 - with varying results. Sometimes the backups & images would go to completion - sometimes not!

I solved the problem by:
1. Buying a powered USB hub (no longer need to rely on my laptop power & tiny fluctuations that might occur). [ No fault of the notebook, just that the USB drive could not function perfectly with small varieations in power via the PC. ]
2. Powering the hub through my UPS ( uninterruptible power supply)
3. Doing a data verification after each backup.

Since adopting this method, (knock on wood) I've had great results (all BU's have gone to completion).

= = =

Regards,
G-M-B-up

 

Sorry to bump this thread agin but few questions.

1- Using eSATA drive will always need external power suppy even if it is small one like 2- 2.5 inch HDs?

2- If I have an eSATA HD but no eSATA port for it on my PC, can I use this HD via ordinary USB2 port( obviously loosing the speed advantage though)?

Thanks

 

Aigle

If your motherboard supports SATA,then its an easy,cheap matter to buy a SATA plug bracket/port kit to fit on the case back, plus a cable coming from the mobo to the bracket and a cable from the bracket to the external drive.

Strongly recommend this method over USB-which is much slower and can cause problems with some imaging apps.No advantages at all.

Your external SATA drive will now be full eSATA
e SATA just means external SATA-there is no magic about it .

Yes an external drive needs a separate power supply.

edit;if you have a notebook,not sure of the availability of these kits-I was referring to PCs-otherwise you might have to use USB and I understand that some 2.5" drives can be powered with a special cable from the computer-check with the store,otherwise you may need an external AC adapter.

 

Also, true eSATA is plug and play hot-swappable where the eSATA bracket that HC mentions is not. Here is the ext. enclosure that I bought and also a close-up of what the eSATA bracket looks like. Your mother board must have SATA ports in order for it to work. I use the bracket on my desktop and had plenty of great help thanks to Hairy Coo .
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817173042
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowI... eSATA Ext. Enclosure w/Int.80mm fan - Retail

edit: changed plug and play to hot-swappable.

 

Howdy,Innerpeace-Thanks for the info about plug and play-didnt realise that

 

Howdy Hairy Coo . I just dug out my external enclosure's manual and it said hot-swap rather than plug n play so I mis-spoke . I will edit my other post. I'm also not sure if the manual is accurate or not according to this. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

Does it all depend on the motherboard, SATA version and/or AHCI (whatever that is)?

FWIW, here is what the manual states:

 

Remember we referred to this before when you were setting up your drive, in that you must activate the external drive prior to switching on or booting up the computer,as the manual states.
Guess its a SATA design feature,but would refer to the external Sata bracket only as the internal SATA ports from memory definitely can hot swap.
edit;Sounds like only straight through connections are allowed,except for dedicated situations

 

Yeah, I remember. I don't doubt you one bit. I always power up my drive prior to booting up .

 

Thanks Hiry coo!

Reagrding the issue of fitting a SATA plug bracket/port kit on the case back, one has to do itself? It is to be done with a normal USB HD enclosure or with some special one?
But there are special enclosures in the market with pre-fitted SATA plug bracket/port etc that are better as innerpeace posted.

Am I true? Excuse me for my ignorance!

Thanks

 

You have to fit the bracket and its very easy,but the external enclosure has to have an eSATA port.
Innerpeace was referring to the fact that motherboards which already have as standard an eSATA port/bracket for the case back are able to be hot swapped(instant on),but if your mobo doesnt have this provision you must buy this bracket to fit,which doesnt have hot swap.
All this means is that you must then activate the external drive prior to a new boot up.

Maybe Innnerpeace could advise further as he has just been through the exercise
Check out the website he posted.

 

Hi aigle, there are different external enclosure types that have different internal interfaces for the drive you select such as IDE, SATA and IDE & SATA combination. Then there are the external interfaces that connect the enclosure to your computer. There are many different types and combinations available. For example, the one I bought has both eSATA and USB connections I can use. Since my computer doesn't have an eSATA port, but my motherboard has SATA connections, I had to install the bracket that we have been talking about and like Hairy Coo said, it is very easy to install. It fits within the PCI slots on the back of the computer (mine fit above the modem). You will have to open the case (turn off and unplug the computer first) and remove a blank PCI cover which has one little screw and then put the bracket in it's place. You then plug the SATA connection inside the computer to one of your motherboards SATA ports. That's all there is to it, now just plug a SATA cable into the enclosure and into the outside of the newly installed bracket and your done. My enclosure came with everything I needed.

Other external interface types are SATA, USB, Ethernet, and 1394 (firewire). Combos of 2 types are typical. 1394 (firewire) I think is the fastest and the most expensive. Have a look at the ports on your computer/s to see what you have. You will also need to research what your motherboard has if you go with the eSATA bracket to make sure you have onboard SATA.

innerpeace

 

Hairy Coo and Innerpeace! Thanks for all this explnation!

My laptop has only USB and Firewire ports. I think at the moment I will just buy a SATA external dive with an enclosue that can be attached to USB post. Later at sometime if I buy a new laptop that has eSATA ports etc, I can change the enclosure of HD with eSATA port.

 

Your welcome aigle . Like I said, they make ext. enclosures that include both SATA and USB connections or SATA and firewire connection and even a couple that have SATA, USB and firewire. Here is a link to what I've been looking at. I've already selected SATA as in internal interface and you can look at the different external interfaces and their combos. This site is in the US, but it will give you an idea of the varieties available. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&N=2000090092 1053807123 1054107131&name=SATA

 

I need external HDD too but it must be network model. I have made some research and found that RaidSonic enclosures are very good. HDD is Seagate of course.

 

Thanks Innerpeace! I will have a look!